- Search: More on Burnout Paradise

There's trouble in Paradise, but you'll love most of it.

Burnout Paradise takes a different path than previous games in Criterion's racing series. Rather than simply hopping behind the wheel of a classy car and driving through a series of pre-loaded racing events, you must navigate through a living, breathing city to find your challenges. Paradise City divides into eight separate quadrants, all interconnected through streets, shortcuts and overpasses. You'll cover this terrain repeatedly, going from one part of the city to the other as you participate in numerous events.

These events vary, similar to those introduced in other Burnout games. Road Rage requires you to destroy as many vehicles as you can before you run out of time or trash your vehicle beyond repair. Routine races pit you against other drivers in a battle for a first place victory. Best of all, the new Marked Man stages offer their own unique thrills, as you attempt to survive a "point A to point B" run while avoiding other cars. There are other events that are unlockable with certain cars, but you'll get most acquainted with these three.

Races are just as thrilling as always. You'll swerve around corners, smash through hidden shortcuts and fly through the air with mind-boggling jumps. The gameplay is sharp, as you can easily control your car. However, be prepared for some aggressive artificial intelligence. Opponents fly out of nowhere, suddenly sending you bumper first into a brick wall. It would've been nice to have indicators to show where they're at, but that would've taken away from the game's raw intensity.

There is a problem with some of the races' structuring, though. You're shown a map with a beginning point and an ending point. However, if you're not used to Paradise City, taking even the slightest wrong turn could get you lost. Say you see your location on the map and figure that the next left will get you where you need to go. However, you take the left and accidentally end up on an overpass. You then have to turn around and try to regain the lead, only to find that you dropped all the way to seventh or eighth place.

It's also worth mentioning that the lack of an instant restart option is an even bigger problem. If you're losing a race, you must finish it before moving on to another event. Even worse, there's no option for restarting. If you lose an event, you must drive all the way back to the beginning - no matter how far away it is - to do it again. Many people complained about this when the game's demo came out over a month ago, and we can certainly see where they're coming from. However, it's not a crucial enough flaw to ruin Paradise's innovative design. It's just something to consider reworking for the inevitable sequel.

One other thing Criterion should consider for the next Paradise is the return of Crash mode. Its replacement, Showtime Mode, has some strategy to it as you crash your car into traffic to rack up points. However, Crash has more appeal - and dynamic range - overall. You'll toy around with Showtime for about an hour before you begin yearning for more vehicles to decimate.

Negatives aside, this is still an outstanding racing game. Paradise City is excellently designed, a sprawling city with skyscrapers and exquisite details galore. There are no pedestrians, oddly enough, but they'd just distract the racing action. The graphics move at a buttery smooth sixty frames per second, interrupted only by slight loading times between events. The cars look excellent, especially when shattering into thousands of pieces following a brutal wreck.

The music selection isn't bad either. The game opens beautifully with Guns n' Roses' "Paradise City" and varies from there. It's great to hear some of Burnout's old-school rock themes make a return, although we probably could've done without Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend". Car engine noises sound authentic and loud, and the crash noises are cringe-worthy. The DJ also makes a return, offering pieces of advice on your racing skills. Fortunately, you can play your own custom soundtrack to drown him out.

Although the open-world environment has its negatives, it still provides plenty of spectacular moments. You can interact with other racers online through the PlayStation Network, challenging them in real-time for quick racing action. If you have a PS3-compatible USB camera, you can also capture snapshots to store in a gallery. Nothing beats catching your buddy off-guard in a crash and storing his or her reaction on your hard drive to treasure forever. The ability to hunt down exotic cars all over the city to put in your personal garage is marvelous, too, along with the dozens of unlockable cars you find after each event.

Overall, Paradise definitely isn't lost. If the game had Crash Mode and the ability to instantly get back in a race, it could've easily scored a nine. The graphics are top-notch, the gameplay still kicks and the online/off-line interaction is lots of fun. If you're a driver looking for something that sets itself apart from the simulation field, you'll happily welcome this little piece of Paradise.

Our Final Score: 8 (Good)