The Burnout series has established a good gamer fan base thanks to it’s differences to the more grown up, serious racer Gran Turismo, and it’s back in the form of Burnout Paradise - which will bring a vastly new driving experience even to fans of previous Burnout titles.

What industry developers have dubbed ‘open gameworlds’ are relatively new, and only started to appear in the dying days of the XBox and Playstation 2 shortly before the current-gen consoles hit the shelves, but already you can now find them in games everywhere you look. Despite this, Burnout Paradise developers Criteron have decided to use the open gameworld within Burnout Paradise as a main talking point when promoting this game.

In a way you can understand it, as it is still infact quite a rare environment in what you would consider to be standard arcade-racing titles - which is exactly where Burnout fits in, isn’t it? Well it may have done in the past, but Burnout Paradise looks to take the series out of that particular genre and break into it’s own with a huge, living and breathing city which your races reside in - and the vast majority of that city is completely destructable which makes for countless hours of driving mayhem.

Fans of the series may be daunted when they find out that you are no longer restricted to certain routes when racing - and will now have to improvise on the go as you attempt to reach the finish line first by working out the best possible route. To do this successfully on a regular basis you will need to learn the countless ins and outs of Paradise City, or at least give yourself a good grasp of what is where - which can be done surprisingly easily by making a note of the many major landmarks scattered around and where they are in relation to other places, you will soon know where you are and where you need to be heading.

Needless to say you don’t have to race all of the time. You can instead choose to explore the city, with no restrictions on where you can go or how long you can spend driving around at your own leisure. This is obviously the best way to get yourself used to the layout of the city and is in it’s own right an incredibly enjoyable experience - as practically everything you come across as you burn down the motorways and side streets is completely destructible!

The city itself feels like a far more realistic version of those seen in games like Midtown Madness some years ago, only far more life like in terms of building detail as well as the graphics applied to the cars you drive and the cars you crash through - also known as the traffic.

The actual racing gameplay itself has changed very little from previous games in the series, so if you have played a Burnout game before you will pick up the controls in no time, but as gamers I think we have come to take easy controls in racing games for granted - there isn’t really anywhere developers can go wrong.

There are a number of different game modes as you will have come to expect from such games. Perhaps the most interesting are crash mode and showtime mode. Showtime mode in particular is great fun, as you are tasked with various crazy stunts, and rewarded for your efforts with cold hard cash.

Also, it’s worth mentioning the online multiplayer games! It’s easy to jump into the online world of Burnout Paradise, simply press right on your D-pad to popup your online menu from which you can choose to hook up with other online players in a game already created or alternatively, set one your own up. What proved to be a trend setter for future games including Grand Theft Auto IV, the games city acts as the multiplayer lobby so you can keep yourself entertained as you see fit whilst waiting for the actual online game to begin. There are countless challenges to face online, so if you’re going to buy Burnout Paradise, the multiplayer gaming should be one of the main reasons you do so.

Some fans of previous Burnout titles may find themselves alienated by the sudden change of direction for the series, but arcade-racer lovers with a hint of destruction-derby-loving in them will surely love it. A great racing game with a great twist.

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