Crippled by mechanics.

User Rating: 5 | Burnout Paradise X360
First things first, I love burnout. If you don't want a racing sim theres no game than can compare with the brilliant sense of speed that burnout provides. No game gets your heart pumping like burnout does when you're speeding past oncoming traffic, nearly missing cars on the left and right, shooting into the air off huge jumps and finally, pancaking your car into the side of a building. I prefer the xbox version for the custom soundtracks, because listening to dragonforce while you play really completes the experience.

Unfortunately, Paradise's incredible gameplay is crippled by the open world. You are told to get from one point in he city to another and can take any route you choose. So you have to constantly pause the game to look at the map, plan your route, and then follow your mini map on the hud to make sure you aren't missing your turns. It makes you feel like a lost tourist and when you miss a turn, you just might be screwed for that race. The racing is so fast paced that if you blink too long, you are going to wreck. But, you're supposed to be watching your your mini map for upcoming turns. This makes the game unplayable, which is such a disappointment considering the fact that the driving is so good.

Another big disappointment with Paradise is the lack of local multiplayer. The online multiplayer is great; you just jump online from the game world and then you've got real player in Paradise with you. But, it's really unfortunate that you can't race around with a friend considering local multiplayer was so much fun in past burnout games.

I dont' think I need to talk about graphics or sound and all that jazz, you can get that from gamespot. I just thought I'd give my thoughts.