Live out your fast-and-furious fantasies with this urban-racing game.
Burnout Paradise EA; Xbox 360, PS3 4.5 stars
Set in the fictional metropolis of Paradise City—where the grass is green, but there are no girls, pretty or otherwise—
Burnout Paradise is the fifth game in EA’s hit automotive-action franchise. While popular racing series like
Gran Turismo and
Ridge Racer specialize in reproducing souped-up vehicles in stunning detail and running them on beautiful but soulless tracks, the
Burnout games have always been built around living, breathing cities, where every intersection offers plenty of choices—left, right or straight into a wall.
Burnout Paradise breaks new ground for the series: Instead of unlocking sections of the city piece by piece, as in previous installments, the entire urban landscape is available from the start. But
Paradise’s open-ended nature can also work against it, forcing drivers to seek out the action rather than having it thrust upon them. Not that getting into a race is very difficult—just pull up to a stoplight, rev your engine to challenge another motorist and put the pedal to the metal.
The real fun happens online, where up to eight drivers can race through the streets or compete to catch the most air in
Dukes of Hazzard–worthy stunts. And if you and your racing opponents set up your consoles’ Web cams, you can enjoy the game’s most memorable feature: Force someone else’s car to crash, and the cam snaps an agony-of-defeat “mug shot” of the unlucky victim for your viewing pleasure.