For quite some time, Criterion Games' Burnout franchise has been at the forefront of the arcade racing genre. It's spanned across four different last-gen consoles and seen multiple evolutions over the course of its seven year run. Paradise is the latest entry in this series, and much like its predecessors, makes some radical changes to the formula that dramatically alter the experience. While the inclusion of an open world adds a level of immersion that hasn't yet been seen in Burnout, it also introduces a few minor issues that prevent the game from meeting its true potential.

The first thing you'll notice upon booting up the game is that there are very few menus to be found. You're immediately placed in the free roaming environment of Paradise City, with only a brief tutorial explaining what to do and how to do it. The city itself is humungous, and will most likely appear intimidating upon first glance - and to a certain degree, it is. However, once you begin to explore, you'll start to learn the ins and outs of where to go and general navigation will become much more natural. Along the way, you'll also find secret areas, jumps, and billboards to destroy, which are fun little asides when you don't feel like racing.

The series' incredible sense of speed is still around.

Ultimately though, the meat of the single player game lies in its various events, which you can activate by pressing both the left and right triggers at an intersection. Each event consists of one of four different modes - marked man, road rage, stunt run, burning route, and the standard race - and the paths you'll take to complete them vary depending on where you are in the city. As for the events themselves, they're all pretty different from one another. The marked man challenge requires you to evade an onslaught of racers that are trying to take you out before you reach the finish point. Road rage essentially has you doing the exact opposite, by attempting to take out a target number of vehicles before time expires. Stunt runs involve you reaching a certain score by activating boost, completing jumps, and breaking through billboards in the time allotted. Burning routes are less interesting, and merely consist of time trials that are only available based on the car you're driving, but provide an upgrade to your vehicle if you finish in time. And finally, races are just that - you need to get from point A to point B ahead of the competition.

If you're familiar with the Burnout series, then you've probably seen a few of these events before. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with them, their integration with the open environment causes a few problems. For one, many of the races can be overly difficult unless you're very familiar with the route you'll be taking. Since races don't restrict you to set paths, it's entirely possible to veer off course in the wrong direction, costing you the victory. The game attempts to remedy this by letting you know when a turn is coming up in the HUD, but due to the very fast nature of the gameplay, it's likely that you'll only have a second or two to make the necessary turns. When coupled with the fact that you that have to drive all the way back to a specific intersection to restart, this can lead to some aggravation. It becomes more serious of an issue later in the game when you need to complete almost every event to upgrade your license, as you'll wind up spending more time driving back and forth than doing anything else.

Speaking of which, progression through Burnout Paradise occurs in the form of various driver's licenses. With the completion of an event, you earn points toward your license, and when you earn enough, you'll upgrade to a new one. Better licenses grant you the ability to use improved cars, as well as let you unlock new ones. In addition, every few victories will net you the option to add a new car to your roster - you'll just need to take it out first. For the completionist, you can also tackle additional challenges and tasks for every street in Paradise City, but doing so isn't especially fun, and given how many roads exist, it'll take longer than it's worth.

That is, unless you to activate "Showtime," which is the effective replacement for the crash mode found in previous games. By pressing the left and right bumpers at the same time, your car will enter this mode, and start tumbling out of control. The goal here is to cause as much damage as possible by slamming your vehicle into oncoming traffic. You can help to accomplish this by slightly navigating with the left thumbstick and providing forward motion with boost. When you obliterate a vehicle, your boost meter slightly recharges, and with enough practice, it's entirely possible to keep a crash going for minutes at a time. It's very satisfying to cause massive pile-ups, and though it may not have the depth of crash mode, it's still a welcome addition to the game.

Despite all of these additions and modifications, this is very much a Burnout title. The incredible sense of speed that has been prevalent throughout the series is still around, and the intense focus on crashes and real-time damage is better than ever. It's this same formula that has been a large part of the franchise's success over the years, and there's no exception here. The over the top speed and crashing simply provides an experience unlike any other racing game out there, and it is a large part of what makes Burnout Paradise so enjoyable.

Fortunately, the game is made even more exciting when you take the action online. Joining a multiplayer session is a simple process - just hit the right on the D-pad, select quick match, and a few seconds later, you're playing with other drivers. This process is as seamless as it gets, and navigating through Paradise City with up to eight players is a mostly lag-free affair. Once in, the options you're presented with are quite vast. You can choose to take part in races, attempt to beat stunt scores, takedown other drivers (with camera support to see their reactions), and participate in cooperative challenges. The challenges are the most compelling choice, as there are 350 in all, and they require all drivers to participate. Tasks range from boosting for a specified amount of time to more elaborate activities like power parking and completing tricky jumps or barrel rolls. Some of these do tend to repeat based on the amount of players in a game, but they're all fun enough to warrant several tries anyway, so it's not that big of a deal. Without question, the multiplayer dramatically extends the life of this game, and dedicated players will undoubtedly spend hours and hours taking part in all that it offers.

Many of the game's events are much more fun when you take them online.

As far as the graphics go, Paradise excels in this department. The visuals have without a doubt taken the proper leap to the next-gen, and everything from the updated car models to the real-time shadowing all looks phenomenal. The motion blur and camera perspectives effectively convey the incredible sense of speed and the crashes are spectacular sights to be seen. In fact, you can tell that the developers spent a lot of time designing the crash system. Cars will often tumble down the road in true Hollywood fashion or crush like a tin can in a head-on collision. All the while, shrapnel and glass will fly everywhere, and the collateral damage from the surrounding traffic will continue to take the accentuated chaos to whole new levels. Overall, the graphics are impressive, and they fully utilize the power of the console.

The sound, on the other hand, is less than stellar. DJ Atomika (the announcer who guides you through the game) is quite possibly one of the most annoying characters ever created. Once he tells you everything you need to know, anything further will likely consist of painfully corny dialog and useless tips that will compel you to scramble for the setting to shut him up. The music is also all over the place, and the few decent tracks that do exist are punctuated by artists like Avril Lavigne, with songs that are so out of place that they actually detract from the experience. Thankfully, the sound effects fair a bit better and all of the engine noises and crashes sound great. Still, it's a shame that the rest of the audio comes across as extremely sub-par.

As a whole, Burnout Paradise is a great game. While its open world aspect may have introduced more problems than innovations, the classic Burnout formula still stands strong and offers a fun, exciting racing experience. The multiplayer will undoubtedly keep dedicated players coming back long after the single player game has worn out its welcome, and the new Showtime mode is an amusing diversion. On the flipside, a little more streamlining and the option to restart events at any time would have drastically reduced some of the frustration that's bound to be had. Issues and all, Burnout Paradise is still another excellent entry in the series, and a must-try for arcade racing enthusiasts.