Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box review

Burnout is growing. We have the first paid-for DLC – the Party Pack – plus a restart option and loads of tweaks to the handling (early cars are easier), graphics (brighter) and menus (better arranged). All aim, successfully, to make it easier to have fun. But it doesn’t go far enough. It’s telling that the greatest excitement was generated by the chance to restart races, while the best tweaks were shortcuts and jumps you can see when travelling at speed.

Almost every race we lost in Paradise City was because we got on the wrong road – or didn’t see the right road as it flashed past, or crashed into a nearby wall because at 200mph it looked like it was made of tarmac. It’s still a game about navigating rather than racing.

The Party Pack dodges this by offering quick challenges for bouts of seven-player pass-the-pad action. Nice, though the loading times and START HAVING FUN NOW party sounds can grate. It’s included in The Ultimate Box, but existing owners must shell out. The new cars (Legendary and Toy) and roads (Big Surf Island) downloads are more promising, making this a worthwhile investment for navigation fans but not necessarily for fans of pure racing.

Mar 23, 2009