Our friends at Criterion Labs have brought us the latest installment of the Burnout series with Burnout Paradise. The game is set in the open world of Paradise City, and you must explore the city and win races and challenges to progress in the game to unlock new cars. The game’s graphics are absolutely stellar and the game play is relentlessly intoxicating. The detail of the city is impressive, and the car wrecks are one of kind (I spent the first hour of game play just trying to create the most impressive wreck).

Burnout Paradise includes five event types in the game:

• Race: First one to arrive to the finish line wins.
• Road Rage: Take down a certain number of other cars within a time limit (my personal favorite).
• Marked Man: Make it to the finish line in one piece with everybody trying to get you.
• Stunt Man: Reach a score goal by jumping, flipping, spinning, etc.
• Burning Route: Each car in the game has a specific race. It’s only you, your trusty car, and the clock in these.

I never knew crashing cars could be so much…fun.

I wasn’t kidding when I said the game was big. It gets annoying at first when you have to keep switching between the map and the game just so you don’t miss a crucial turn during a race.

Burnout Paradise has by far set the standard for the racing genre on the 360, and it really shows off the console’s technical power. NOCTURNAL’s release of Burnout Paradise works as is on all (firmware modded) NTSC consoles.

Links: ign
Region: NTSC
Release Name: Burnout Paradise NTSC USA-NOCTURNAL
Size: 1 DL DVD, 6.31 GB