Burnout Paradise Demo Hands-On

By Justin Calvert, GameSpotPosted Dec 5, 2007 5:13 pm PT

We check out the Burnout Paradise demo ahead of its December 13 release on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Stunt runs are quite unlike anything that has appeared in a Burnout game previously, and would perhaps best be compared to the trick score challenges found in skateboarding and snowboarding games. In the demo you'll be tasked with scoring 50,000 points in just two minutes, which was a daunting prospect for us initially. Jumps, spins, and barrel rolls are the stunts that will net you big points on your run, while bonus multipliers can be earned for getting big air and crashing through billboards. Unsurprisingly, lengthy stunt combos are the key to success, and individual tricks are quite easily strung together using low-scoring boosts and drifts.

Although there are only three solo events unlocked in the demo version of Burnout Paradise, there are plenty of other things for you to do without taking the game online. There are 15 billboards to crash through, some of which aren't easy to reach. There are six "super jumps'" to complete using ramps that are marked with flashing lights. And there are no fewer than 34 shortcut fences to crash through. All of these numbers are tracked in Burnout Paradise, along with the stuff detailing your longest drift, your biggest jump, and your best stunt combo that you'd expect.

Crashes and collisions look to be as spectacular as ever.

When you're ready to take the Burnout Paradise demo online you'll find that doing so is as easy as pulling your car over, tapping right on the D pad to pull up an online menu, and then deciding whether you want a public or a friends-only environment. The only online mode available in the demo is "Freeburn Online," which affords you and up to three other drivers the freedom to do whatever you please, while constantly tracking and comparing achievements such as those mentioned above. If you're hosting the session you'll also have the option to initiate challenges for your group, which are cooperative rather than competitive. It's conceivable that the challenges differ depending on how many players there are in the session. Only two of us were playing on this occasion, and we had three quite different challenges to choose from.

The "Wave Jumping" challenge simply tasks you with jumping over each other using ramps located on the beach. The "Smash and Grab" challenge requires you to smash through six billboards. And to beat the "Drift and Near Miss" challenge, the pair of you will need to accrue a total of 40 near misses and 4000 drifting yards. Although the challenges are cooperative, it's worth noting that the latter two track individual scores as well as your total, so there will still be plenty of opportunities for you to prove that you're better than whomever you're playing with.

Burnout Paradise's online modes will encourage cooperative as well as competitive play.

Last but not least, we should mention that both versions of the Burnout Paradise demo support the game's "mugshots" feature, so if you and your friends have cameras attached to your consoles, you'll get to see photos of anyone you take down that are snapped immediately after they crash. "Smugshots" (victory shots of yourself that will automatically be sent to opponents you've bested) aren't supported in the demo, but in the finished game you'll get to send them out and receive them regardless of whether or not you and your friends are online at the same time. For example, you might log on and receive a smugshot from a friend of yours who beat one of your high scores the previous night while you were sleeping. We should also mention that while the demo version of Burnout Paradise supports only four players online, that number will be doubled in the finished game.

Burnout Paradise is currently scheduled for release in North America on January 22 and in Europe on January 25. Expect more information on this one next week.

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182 Comments

  • Staryoshi87

    Posted Dec 27, 2007 7:42 pm PT

    Burnout is in definitely in my Top 5 list of games for the first half of 2008. I just paid off my pre-order today... I love the demo and I can't wait!

  • Fellwinter

    Posted Dec 25, 2007 10:51 pm PT

    i can't stop playing this demo!! what a great way to start out 2008... the feel of this new Burnout is so amazing... the multiplayer on the demo is such a great time! everything about it... the flow of the action and takedowns, working on your jumps, practicing power parking, cool challenges that can be collectively completed, and the speed!! oh boy the speed!!! a must play. I CANNOT wait to get full access to Paradise City, learn its secrets and just have a great online and single player experience.

  • rhys_101

    Posted Dec 23, 2007 12:32 pm PT

    This Demo is amazing and cannot wait to have the full version the online is so funand the mugshots crack me up

  • SinisterRhino93

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 5:38 pm PT

    I can't wait to get my hands on this game

  • skee_uk

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 5:49 am PT

    demo plays quite good, grafix are clean and crisp

  • ewingmel

    Posted Dec 14, 2007 7:57 pm PT

    Is it true that the demo does not allow you to race other players because they are having problems getting that part of the game to work online?

  • mad_tyger

    Posted Dec 12, 2007 11:07 am PT

    I really like the new direction the team is taking! Hopefully, the game will be awesome!

  • rosscero

    Posted Dec 12, 2007 6:47 am PT

    nice... burnout always rox!!!!
    I play since the first!

  • SukkaMan

    Posted Dec 11, 2007 9:50 am PT

    Sounds really good. The original formula was great to begin with, but it seems that they have managed to renew the series almost completely and still maintaining the same amount of awesomeness. Something that not many popular series have managed to pull off.

  • TheScallywagg1

    Posted Dec 10, 2007 4:43 pm PT

    classic burnout + tony hawk = awesome?

  • purified-7

    Posted Dec 10, 2007 4:36 pm PT

    looks like a good game

  • MikeySSH

    Posted Dec 10, 2007 4:07 pm PT

    i'm gonna have too much fun with the smugshots lol

  • masterspodi

    Posted Dec 10, 2007 3:08 pm PT

    This game looks insanley bad@$$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • p5ilocyb3

    Posted Dec 10, 2007 1:53 pm PT

    wicked stuff... definitely pick this up for the ps3

  • Arkam_Asylum

    Posted Dec 10, 2007 9:21 am PT

    love the series. can't wait.

  • Khoo1992

    Posted Dec 10, 2007 9:05 am PT

    race is never perfect, and this game proved how damage is done to your races!!!!

  • GunGriffin

    Posted Dec 10, 2007 4:33 am PT

    This game will rock! I always liked Burnout, This game looks like it will finaly show off what the PS3 can realy do with the RSX GPU that sits in it, as well as the killer Cell CPU that will handel the phisics! It sure dose look great thats for sure! Heres hopeing EA finaly hits one outa the ball park like with some of their early games IE BF1942 (PC), BF: Modern Combat (Xbox/PS2), and of course games like Burnout: Legdands (PS2/PSP/Xbox360).

    Yes this game has crash mode, and it has some new twitsts to it as well! This will be the game to buy for PS3 owners if all goes well!

  • thanatose

    Posted Dec 10, 2007 3:58 am PT

    This game looks great, I'll have to make sure to pre-order it.

  • drpapimalo

    Posted Dec 9, 2007 7:08 pm PT

    this game will be one of the greaters game next year along with grand turismo 5.

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