Burnout Paradise

[Scratch]

I just bought Burnout Paradise for the PC on a whim. I haven't played a single racing game on the PC since NFS Most Wanted and after the really bad sequels (Carbon, ProStreet and Undercover), I needed something to get my racing fix on the PC.

Never played a burnout game before, since this is the first time it has been on the PC. Lets just say, burnout is very different from the occasional NFS titles I was used to playing. I love every moment I spend in Paradise City. Well, except for the times when the lousy DJ comes on. :tup:

Oh and the game is obviously a port of the console version, but it is decent and plays really smoothly. The cluttered menu navigation is the only thing that makes it 'console-like'.

I wish the game had been released through Steam though, that way your friend's list could have been better manageable.As of right now, doing Freeburn Challenges online is hard, since most players don't cooperate and just repeatedly crash into you.

Not to mention Steam is just awesome.

[Cigol]

I have the downloadable version on the PS3, it's a cool game, but I haven't gotten very far. There's apparently something like 75 cars to collect, and I think I only have about 12. I was also driving around the other night and I realised I was driving in some areas I'd never seen before. It's not a new game, I've been playing it quite a bit on and off.

I love every moment I spend in Paradise City. Well, except for the times when the lousy DJ comes on

I didn't like him at first, but I found it to be a pretty neat feature the more I played. He always sounds authentic, as if he's saying things naturally right there and then - but I guess an option to turn him off wouldn't go amiss.

Not to mention Steam is just awesome.

Yeah, but I honestly think Valve should take a ganders at Games For Windows Live as it's both faster, and prettier... having to use it whilst playing the DoW2 beta made me a little more appreciative of it.

[gdf]

To be honest Steam and Games For Windows Live should just unite, Valve can bring their library to Xbox 360 and everyone can be happy.

[Chris]

I picked this up on PC the other day as well. I've been having a lot of fun with it and it seems like a really great port from a technical standpoint. It runs great on my machine at 1920x1200 with the options turned up. I'm extremely impressed that there has been no noticeable framerate loss or anything, considering how fast everything is going constantly.

[n0wak]

It really is a great game. Anyone have any opinion on the new Party Mode features?

I've been considering buying this on the PS3 since it's a nice, well priced bundle. It's one of a few games that I wouldn't mind goofing around in, starting from scratch (I have 100% on the 360 version ), but don't know if the new features are worth it and whether I should just wait for the new island instead.

[miffy495]

I have the downloadable version for PS3 as well. Love it. Though I haven't played since the latest patch. I hear you can actually restart a race now, which was driving me fucking batty in the past. True?

[Chris]

I have the downloadable version for PS3 as well. Love it. Though I haven't played since the latest patch. I hear you can actually restart a race now, which was driving me fucking batty in the past. True?

I've also heard this, but I can't figure out how to do it.

[toblix]

What do you mean "the downloadable version"?

[Cigol]

On the PS3 hit 'right' on the d-pad. Then scroll down to restart. I think the menu is accessed with the F1 and F2 keys on the PC (based on comments I've read). I've just come back from a session myself, having finally achieved my B license. It's a great game to just drop into and lose yourself for an hour or so. It'd be nice if you could join online games with only people near your level of completion though. I'm sick of going up against humvees and F1 police cars.

Anyone have any opinion on the new Party Mode features?

Joystiq didn't like it. I'm looking forward to the cops and robbers addon though.

What do you mean "the downloadable version"?

PSN.

[miffy495]

Yeah, similar to GT5: Prologue, for $40 you can download the full game from PSN and never have to worry about stupid disks again. It's very nice.

[Chris]

Yeah, similar to GT5: Prologue, for $40 you can download the full game from PSN and never have to worry about stupid disks again. It's very nice.

That's pretty cool. The PC version is also like that; it cost me $40 and even though I went with a retail version, you can just put your code into your already-downloaded demo and it turns into the full game. It's like shareware! There's also a digital download option.

[Scratch]

I have the downloadable version for PS3 as well. Love it. Though I haven't played since the latest patch. I hear you can actually restart a race now, which was driving me fucking batty in the past. True?

On the PS3 hit 'right' on the d-pad. Then scroll down to restart. I think the menu is accessed with the F1 and F2 keys on the PC (based on comments I've read).

You can restart/cancel a race by accessing the ingame menu called "EasyDrive". On the PC, when using a gamepad just hit right on the d-pad or when using the keyboard using the right on the numpad.

The F1 and F2 keys are only for navigating the menu options when you pause the game. It's the keyboard alternative to using the shoulder buttons on the gamepad.

[Chris]

You can restart/cancel a race by accessing the ingame menu called "EasyDrive". On the PC, when using a gamepad just hit right on the d-pad or when using the keyboard using the right on the numpad.

The F1 and F2 keys are only for navigating the menu options when you pause the game. It's the keyboard alternative to using the shoulder buttons on the gamepad.

Can you do that after failing a race, or does it have to be when you're still in the race? Also, does it work for non-race events?

[gdf]

Would it be worth trading in my X360 copy and just getting Ultimate Box for PC?

[Scratch]

Can you do that after failing a race, or does it have to be when you're still in the race? Also, does it work for non-race events?

Yes. After failing a race, the option changes to "Restart last event". And you can restart any event.

[kuddles]

I was too impatient to see if Steam would eventually get it, so I bought it off Direct2Drive.

I must say I’m highly impressed, they’ve done a hell of a job optimizing this thing for the PC. I can run it with everything on high and 8xAA. Also, the game seems to have it’s own vsync/triple buffering built in, since it ran smooth as butter with no screen tearing even when I got into a particularly intense crash.

As for the gameplay, I’m liking it a lot. It’s probably the first racer I’ve actually gotten into in a long time. I assumed it would be off-putting. I had no idea what compelled me to buy it in the first place, since "open world arcade racer" sounds exactly the opposite of what I would like.

But I love just driving around and goofing off and then trying out an event whenever I feel like it. Maybe I'll hate it more once the inevitable increase in difficulty through rubber banding kicks in. Seriously, I just started it up last night with the idea that I would goof around for half an hour, and I ended up playing for nearly three hours straight without realizing it. I know I'm late to the party, but this game is fantastic so far.

I hope Criterion/EA gets rewarded for this effort. I have a friend who works in marketing for a game publisher who told me that the reason there’s so many bad ports of console-to-PC games is because the cost of doing a good port is much higher and yet the increase in sales is negligible, so making a decent PC port is actually seen as a bad business decision. It’ll make me sad if he’s right.

[T-Matt]

I really love this game. I think they did a good job of doing updates to keep it fresh on the console.

[Vorlonesque]

Anybody know if it'll have mod tools eventually. I'd love to see that happen...I imagine a Stunts mod could be amazing with this game!

[Nappi]

When I bought the game about six months ago, one of the major selling points was the developer's commitment to constantly expanding the game. That way I knew that a sequel wouldn't be announced a month after the purchase (something that actually worries me occasionally when buying "older" games). I wouldn't be surprised if this was also one of the reasons the downloadable version did so well.

The DJ felt a bit annoying at first, but to my surprise I soon got used to him. I was actually very impressed when he at some point said something like "We have noticed that some of you have been coming up with your own challenges [in Freeburn I guess] and we would like you to share them with us". I hadn't noticed him saying anything topical before. Or after that for that matter, but it might be because I turned the tip system off in the settings when I started replaying the game.

I'm glad they finally added the option to start races again. It didn't bother me as much as it seemed to bother some players as I usually just started another event after failing one. Some of the more difficult burning routes where a bit annoying because of that however. My only minor complaint about the latest patch (apart from the EA account thingy) is the new highlighting of billboards and jumps. Those blue cones look really weird and unnecessary to me.

I like this game a lot. And as it has never started to frustrate me, I keep coming back to it regularly when I just want to have a little fun.

The soundtrack could be a lot better though and I hope Criterion will add an option to play your own songs in PS3 while playing...

[Cigol]

You can already play your own tracks, it's buried in the options screen somewhere. I stumbled upon it myself.

[Nappi]

Really? I knew there was Custom Soundtrack option but I thought it was just for customizing their soundtrack: removing songs you don't want to hear, changing the order etc.

I guess I'll have to try that again.

Thanks!

EDIT: Awesome! Bye bye Axl! Bye bye Avril! Bye bye Perry!

Edited February 15, 2009 by Nappi

[toblix]

[Nappi]

More like.. Edited February 24, 2009 by Nappi

[Cigol]

So I've just got around to trying some of the legendary cars. I personally opted to buy the Delorean and Kitt separately as I wasn't overly keen on the chunky, non-steery Ghostbusters van and have never ever watched a single episode of the Dukes of Hazzard. Not sure if they are worth the price (either separately or as a pack) to be perfectly honest but they are a lot of fun to drive and hover around in, the Delorean especially, and the quality of the models and sound effects is at least consistent with the rest of the game.

It still would have been nice to have had some more features associated with the vehicles though. Something a little more fully fledged.

The Kitt car could pursue criminals and take them down for example, have a special ability where it can narrowly avoid accidents by flipping onto two wheels and occasionally talk in a camp voice when you run a red light. The Delorean should be able to go back in time as well, to the days when Burnout was more of an outrun type affair. Well okay that last one is a bit far fetched (although I'd pay for it), I'm just saying something beyond a fancy looking car with new handling characteristics would have been preferable.

But it is what it is, and it'll get more use when or if they get around to releasing new areas no doubt.

Edit; Time to use the custom soundtrack option and feed it these two tracks;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuZRrXY4EQE

Edited February 23, 2009 by Cigol

[toblix]

So anyway, I just bought this the other day, stumbling upon it on the PS store and seeing it was dirt cheap. So now I've been driving around, doing some of the various types of challenges, etc. It seems like there's a billion things going on everywhere, though, which makes me wonder what the main things to do are. I've been driving around on my own, doing the challenges. Is there multiplayer? How does it work? What does the party pack I also bought do? What are "road rules"? Is wrecking your car harder when you're not in an event?