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If you haven't read anything or seen any videos of Burnout Paradise, the developers have decided to expand the series in a way that would make any Burnout fan (myself included) have wet dreams for weeks. The game is coming out on Xbox360 and PS3. The consoles larger CPU power and sheer graphical rendering ability over previous generations of consoles means that they can ditch the confined space of menus, loading and constrained races. Throughout the podcast, it is regularly stressed that there are no set races, but purely a start and a finish. The player makes their own means to get there. There are no crash junctions. The player makes their own at any time. The game features 'Showtime,' which with a press of a button, crashes the car into anything in its way. There are no loading screens and the only menu that features is the map, where you can access stats, records and all sorts of other things.

The developers talk about how they want to give the player complete control. During a 'race' for example, you begin at a start line, with the map showing the finish and that is the only information you have. There is no large green arrow pointing the direction that you must take. There IS a compass, but it’s purely there so you don't get entirely lost. Mostly, the event leaves you to fight, drive and crash your way to the end, whatever route you wish.

The game will feature the usual set of music, handpicked by the developers. They speak about how when they were making the original two burnouts they would have given anything to have real music in and that those people who 'hate them' for bringing EA Trax to the games not to. They choose their own playlist and would have it any other way. The audio in the newest Burnout will go through the same process, but as of yet, they do not have a music list.

There are other enhancements to the game, such as 5 times the variety in traffic type to make sure driving around Paradise City doesn't become stale. The damage that you can inflict on your car is also the same amount that can be done on the other cars. All the cars will be given names and manufactures, thought up by the team and every street is named so it makes it easier when driving around. Finally, there are spray shops that instantly give the car a new colour as you drive through; there are fuel stations that replenish your boost bar and garages that repair your car when taking part in road rage events.

So we come to Online. Your friends that have the game can jump into your city and drive about, crashing, drifting and burning until they're heart’s content. On the side is a list of who's in and it runs through achievements like "Longest Drift," or "Best Incoming," and every time someone breaks it, it flashes up on screen. For those without friends, Criterion stress many times that it'll be extremely easy to play online.

When you come across a friend in your city, you can challenge them to an event. An event (race, road rage, etc) consists of a start and finish, which the player themselves sets and up to 14 other checkpoints. It's also possible to customise the event with various options, like if traffic is on or off, if traffic checking is on or off, or the type of burnout / boost meter you have, from ANY of the games. If you particularly like a course you've made then you can save up to 10 of them to play again with anyone, and as well as that there is a list of recent courses the player has taken part in, which you can call up with anyone and replay.

They mentioned they've been thinking of achievements (for all you X360gamers) but none are finalised or in the game and talked briefly about the mug shot feature that when you take someone down, your mugs hot pops up on screen in whatever rude or comical pose you commit.

It is sounding like the game is really coming together and it will be an absolute blast to actually play, especially online. I cannot wait and will keep reporting any news that arises, as well as their next week’s podcast with any new information.

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