Burnout Paradise - Banjo, you cŵn arse!!!!

Tragic Magic wrote:Got some points today so I'll download this on Thursday.

suzzopher wrote:

Tragic Magic wrote:Got some points today so I'll download this on Thursday.

It's free.

Tragic Magic wrote:

suzzopher wrote:

Tragic Magic wrote:Got some points today so I'll download this on Thursday.

It's free.

You're shitting me!?

This is awesome news.

FishFingers wrote:That trailer stinks of "come back and play our game" but they know it just isn't going to happen.

Tragic Magic wrote:Holy shite! That's wicked!

Eighthours wrote:I don't think the extra island's going to be free, unless Criterion have said otherwise recently. All indications earlier in the year were that it would be charged for.

Eighthours wrote:I don't think the extra island's going to be free, unless Criterion have said otherwise recently. All indications earlier in the year were that it would be charged for.

The Burnout franchise didn’t just show up to the extreme racing genre party in some flashy, high-end set of wheels. That’s not Criterion’s style. Instead, this superstar of the extreme racing circuit first sideswiped every parked car it could find before jumping a ravine; eventually landing smack dab on the competition’s body work. Yeah, Burnout literally squashes the competition with its addictive blend of racing and vehicular homicide-committing action.

Criterion’s latest Burnout SKU is Paradise City: An open world which features an entire metropolis worth of real estate begging to be inundated with bits of burnt rubber and sheet metal scraps.

In a push to bring out the personality of the breathing world that is Paradise City, Criterion decided to use several, very distinctive car classes instead of its usual homologated offering. Although not officially licensed, the vehicles in the muscle, hot rod, SUV and exotic classes have lines iconic enough to make them easily identifiable by any gear head.

The same iconic styling of the Burnout Paradise’s four wheelers goes for the motorcycles that will soon be coming in a “Bikes Pack” download (which is a part of Criterion’s “Year of Paradise” DLC push that intends to keep Burnout Paradise’s persistent world fresh for a long time). The Firehawk V4 is copy of any number of the large displacement sport bikes of today, with the performance to back up its flashy looks. The Nakamura FV1100 is a naked (devoid of body fairings) bike that sounds like a Japanese burner, but looks more like a Ducati Monster when it gets moving.

The FV1100 is a bit more forgiving than the V4 (the bikes have individual attributes just like the cars of Burnout Paradise), but both bikes are real performers out there. You can’t really “stunt” them off of the jumps like you can with Burnout Paradise’s autos (with the aid of the handbrake), but the sheer speed of each machine allows for some crazy-long jumps, and you can do doughnuts if that gets you going. Tip back the left stick and you can pop wheelies on the bikes too. Try that in a car.

A slight push forward on the stick puts the rider– who can be chosen as male or female– into a tight tuck to keep speed scrubbing to a minimum. The result is a sense of speed that is ridiculous even for the breakneck-paced Burnout lineage.

Each bike and driver is meticulously rendered to blend right in with the amazing car models already available within Burnout Paradise. Riders have a sizable set of animations which add a great deal to the realistic look of the two-wheel action. For instance, you’ll catch riders twisting their spines to look back for passed traffic, or sitting upright to stretch out a bit during lower speed sections. Each turn brings a believable lean animation into play, and you’ll even be greeted with the proper backpedaling rider animation when it’s time for “reverse.” Adding to the visual flair of the bikes are the new dusk and nighttime scenes as well, which feature excellent headlight projection effects. You’ll notice the beams reflecting believably off of the road’s surface, but the look is even more impressive when the bright halogen filaments bounce off of the ultra-smooth surface of an oncoming vehicle. Dynamic weather also adds a new look to Criterion’s latest, but we wouldn’t go expecting this update to add a PGR 4 level of meteorological intricacy into the normally sunny Paradise City.

One thing that you won’t see with the new Bikes Pack is a flailing rider when one of these babies is dropped. If the wreck is what most would consider severe (as in head-on into a barrier at high speeds) the user is simply reset around the point of impact. Lesser accidents have in-game cut scene cinematics similar to what Burnout Paradise offers up for the cars, but you probably won’t see the kind of motorcycle carnage that we’ve all come to expect from Criterion’s epic franchise. Those used to the lay-down animations of the MotoGP series will also be a bit let down. Luckily, this is not a huge detriment since the rest of the bike visuals are robust.

And speaking of robust, you’ll want to turn up the volume when either of Burnout Paradise’s bikes are revving over 10,000 RPM. Fellow motorsports enthusiasts D.I.C.E. helped Criterion out in the sound department, mic’ing both a Ducati and a “Gixxer” (Suzuki GSX-R) for the in-game effects. The result is nothing short of phenomenal, especially when these beasts are wound tightly when barreling through a tunnels.

Since the Bikes Pack is affiliated with a Burnout title, we needn’t tell you that what you can do on these machines defies the law of physics in nearly every frame. That’s ok, since this is what actually makes the bikes add-on worthwhile. Even though the motorcycle riding in Burnout Paradise is borderline fantasyland, the controls are responsive enough to make you forget that Sir Isaac is rolling over in his grave every time one of the riders twists his/her right hand. You’ll still wreck if you aren’t paying attention, but the majority of the time it’s just about care-free, arcade-style riding pleasure.

It’s nice to see that Criterion has such a serious plan for updating Burnout Paradise; the Bikes Pack is a solid add to the ‘Year of Paradise” initiative. Not only will the Bikes Pack allow you to just tool around on two wheels in Burnout Paradise, but Criterion has also made sure that the motorcycles will have their own objectives. There are seventy Freeburn (online) challenges designed just for the bikes, in fact, not to mention thirty-eight moto-specific local events to choose from. It’s obvious with this kind of commitment from Criterion that we’ll see even more bike models in future downloads, not to mention additional modes and challenges.

Hero of Canton wrote:Wasn't the entire game supposed to be coming out in downloadable form on PS3, or did I just imagine that?