Burnout Paradise and Why It's Insanely Awesome

Burnout Paradise was released a little over a year ago at the standard price of $60. The game was more than solid, and having picked it up on release day I was excited to start playing after I spent hours and hours on the demo. There was a lot to do, dozens of events to partake in, cars to unlock, freeroaming, and of course online play.

Now after several updates and additions (more challenges online, new cars, and the addition of bikes, which were free by the way) the game is only $20 and can be picked up without even leaving your house by downloading it off the Playstation Network or Xbox Live Marketplace. Seriously?

Yup. Criterion has really done an amazing job keeping their fans coming back to drive around in Paradise City. There is even more new content coming out, including a whole other island. Yea, a whole new island. A new "Legendary Cars" pack is out today at the price of $8 and I can only assume the new island will cost money as well. But Criterion has done plenty for them to earn a few more bucks from me.

You might say, "Well I don't like racing games...why do you think I'd enjoy this?" Yes, this game is under the racing category, but it's nowhere close to any racing or driving simulator. This is an arcade smash-em-up-while-driving-really-fast game. If you don't like racing games, that doesn't mean you won't like Burnout Paradise. In fact, I can almost promise you'll enjoy it.

So for $20 you can pick up an extremely fun game with lots of content and fun. Playing with friends online while listening to your own music is some of the best fun I've had with an online game in a while.

Good job Criterion, and thank you.

-Mark