MacHouse game rating: 8.5/10






Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box is a new car racing game published by Electronic Arts for PC. The game was released in February 5. It’s not a totally new game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 users because Electronic Arts published Burnout Paradise for these video game consoles on January 22, 2008.

Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box consists of three expansion games on top of Burnout Paradise (Paradise Cars). Burnout Paradise Bikes is a motorcycle version of Paradise Cars. According to Criterion Games, the game developer, Burnout Paradise Bikes comes with ’38 new against-the-clock race events.’ Apart from the multiplayer game of Burnout Paradise, Burnout Paradise Party lets you compete with as many as 7 players. And Burnout Paradise Cagney adds three more challenges including Road Rage, Stunt Run, Marked Man on top of Race plus new cars and other features.

Burnout Paradise isn’t exactly a typical car racing game. Typical ones let you buy parts after entering and winning a competition, right? You won’t buy parts or vehicles in this game. You will drive like crazy all the time. But this game isn’t crazy enough to make you run over pedestrians.

Screenshot 01 – Source: MacHouse

For those who haven’t played Burnout Paradise, I can tell you that this is the most complicated car racing game that I have ever played. And let me tell you why I think so. While playing the game, press the escape key, and you will see Driver Detail. The ultimate goal of this game is to reach 100% completion. Screenshot 01 shows that my completion percentage is 29%. In order to reach 100% completion, you will have to do a lot of different tasks including winning challenges, ruling roads, smashing fences, breaking billboards and more.  






Challenges

Screenshot 02 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 03 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 04 – Source: MacHouse

Pressing M on your keyboard, you will see the navigation map of Paradise City. There are a lot of colored icons at street intersections. (See Screenshot 02.) Let me go to an intersection at South Bay. As shown in Screenshot 03, there is a mini map. The lighter yellow arrow indicates the location of my vehicle. And there is a yellow symbol at this intersection. If I press A + Z, I can enter a challenge called Marked Man. Marked Man is a challenge where you will win when you reach a goal indicated by a red finish flag icon. (See Screenshot 04.) While driving, you will be attacked by two or three invincible black cars. (See Screenshot 05.)

Screenshot 05 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 06 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 07 – Source: MacHouse

Another kind of challenges is Race. Stop at an intersection with a blue symbol and press A + Z. (See Screenshot 06.) It’s just a simple race where you will win when you reach a goal before others do. Again, your goal is indicated by a red finish flag icon. (See Screenshot 07.) In many cases, you will have seven opponents. Occasionally, it’ll be a 1-vs-1 race. No matter how many opponents there are, you will have to get the 1st place to win the race. Or your effort will end up meaningless. A tough part of this challenge is that you can easily get lost. So you will have to constantly switch to the navigation map screen to check your current position and destination.

Screenshot 08 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 09 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 10 – Source: MacHouse

A green symbol, as shown in Screenshot 09, indicates a different kind of challenges. In Stunt Run, you have to perform stunts and earn points during a short allowed time. Screenshot 10 shows that I have to score at least 87,000 points to win this challenge.

The fourth kind of challenges is Road Rage, which is indicated by the red symbol. (See Screenshot 11.) Road Rage is the easiest one when you first start out with Paradise Cars. All you’ll have to do is to make opponents crash their cars during a short time. There is no goal that you have to reach. When you first start out, the number of cars that you have to crash is one or two. But this number will increase as you complete one challenge after another. Screenshot 12 shows that I have to crash at least 14 cars.

Screenshot 11 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 12 – Source: MacHouse

At the beginning, your driver’s license is Learner’s Permit. If you win two challenges, it will be upgraded to Class D License. Then win seven more challenges to have it upgraded to Class C. It’ll take another 15 wins to have it upgraded to Class B. Getting a Class B license will be quite easy. But you have to win another 26 challenges for Class A. That’s quite tiring. And if you win 40 more challenges, your driver’s license will be upgraded to BurnOut.

Screenshot 13 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 14 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 15 – Source: MacHouse

Occasionally, you will see one additional kind of challenges. It’s indicated by the red symbol with a star. (See Screenshot 13.) Spur Burning Route is similar to Race. But you will have a time constraint. Screenshot 14 shows that I have to reach the Observatory in 2 minutes and 22 seconds or less. If you win a Spur Burning Route challenge, you will be awarded with a new vehicle. (See Screenshot 15.)






Billboards & Smash

While driving around Paradise City, you will run into a lot of fences with Private Property signs. (See Screenshot 16.) Screenshot 17 shows that I just smashed one of them. There are 400 fences in total.

Screenshot 16 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 17 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 18 – Source: MacHouse

You will also see a lot of red BurnOut Paradise billboard signs. There are 120 of them. (See Screenshot 18-9.) Reaching a particular billboard sign is not always easy. Taking a look at Screenshot 20, I managed to get to the top of a parking lot building. And I tried to jump through a billboard sign down below. But my car won’t reach it. (See Screenshot 21.) Oh, boy… I have another 69 billboard signs to break.

Screenshot 19 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 20 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 21 – Source: MacHouse

Roads Ruled & Showtime

While driving, you will often see street names at the top screen. Then a timer will suddenly appear. Screenshot 22 shows that somebody has set a time record of 01:26;40. The thing is that you can’t easily locate the destination on the navigation map. Where is my destination in this case, anyway? Honestly, I’m not so sure. Lambert Parkway? No. That’s the starting point. And it’s not 9th Street, either. 9th Street is just one that I’m approaching. Screenshot 23 indicates another name. CommonOrGarden is not a destination, either. It’s the name of the person who has set the time record.

Screenshot 22 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 23 – Source: MacHouse

If you successfully set a time record, the color of the street sign will become light gray. Screenshot 24 shows that I, Tom Bluewater, own South Bay Expressway. Checking back Driver Details, my Roads Ruled score is still 0 out of 64. (See Screenshot 25.) What’s going on? I haven’t completely owned South Bay Expressway. Now, I have to perform a Showtime.

Screenshot 24 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 25 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 26 – Source: MacHouse

Pressing S, you will enter a Showtime mode. (See Screenshot 26.) Then a dollar amount will appear at the top of each nearest car. (See Screenshot 27.) All you have to do is to roll your vehicle and hit as many cars as possible. As you hit more cars, the boost meter (the meter shown at the bottom left corner of the game screen) will rise. As far as it’s not empty, you can roll your car over and over. You really want to hit as many buses as possible. Screenshot 28 shows that I have already hit two buses. And my vehicle is approaching another bus. 1 bus is worth $6,000! And you see a
+1 sign above $6,000? Hmm… What does +1 indicate?

Screenshot 27 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 28 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 29 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 29 shows that the cumulative dollar amount of the cars that I’ve hit is $342,950. The bus serves as a multiplier of 1. I have hit a total of four buses. And the distance that my vehicle traveled also counts. The number of yards multiplied by 100 will be added to the damage amount. So my total score is ($342,950 + $1,482 x 100) x 4. And it’s 1,964,600. (See Screenshot 30.) Finally, I’ve been recognized as a record breaker. (See Screenshot 31.) Checking Driver Details again, Roads Ruled is now shown as 1/64. (See Screenshot 32.) Yay!

Screenshot 30 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 31 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 32 – Source: MacHouse

Paradise Bikes

It’s no offense to the game developer, but Burnout Paradise Bikes is a bit boring. There are no billboard signs to break. There are no Keep Out fences. And there is only one kind of challenges. It’s a time trial. If you approach a red symbol with a wheel inside, you can enter a Burning Ride challenge. (See Screenshot 33.) It’s boring because… Taking a close look at Screenshot 34, there is nobody else, right? It’s a simple time trial with no opponents that you have to complete alone.

Screenshot 33 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 34 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 35 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 35 shows that I’m at an intersection with a plain, red symbol. It’s kind of grayed out in the mini map, right? The time is 07:58 PM. If I wait till 08:00 PM, the symbol will turn into one with a crescent moon. (See Screenshot 36.) Midnight Ride challenges are available between 08:00 PM and midnight. Well, Midnight Ride is no different from Burning Ride. It’s just a time trial. Screenshot 37 shows that I need to go to the Observatory in 3 minutes and 1 second or less. After breaking a record, my Learner Bike License says it’s 31% complete. (See Screenshot 38.)

Screenshot 36 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 37 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 38 – Source: MacHouse

More about Paradise Cars

The navigation map shows several more symbols other than color ones. (See Screenshot 39.) Can you see the red symbol inside a yellow circle? This symbol indicates a junk yard. There are several of them scattered around Paradise City. If you go to a junk yard, you can switch your vehicles. If you want to play Paradise Bikes, that’s where you need to go. If you crash your car three or four times during a challenge, it will be in a critical condition. That means the competition will be over if you crash your car one more time. In such case, look for an auto repair shop. (See Screenshot 41.) Its location is indicated by the tool symbol on the navigation map. If you go through it, the car will be put back in a perfect condition.

Screenshot 39 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 40 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 41 – Source: MacHouse

There are two more drive-through stations. Forget about the paint shop. If you go through it, you can change the color design of your vehicle. There are several gas stations in Paradise City. (See Screenshot 42.) They are not exactly gas stations per se. If you go through one, the boost meter will be filled. Boost? It’s acceleration like stepping on the gas pedal.

Screenshot 42 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 43 – Source: MacHouse

There are several more ways by which you can increase the boost meter. Screenshot 43 shows two labels (Near miss, Oncoming, Air) above the boost meter. ‘Oncoming’ will appear when you drive on the wrong side of the road. If any of the following labels appears, the boost meter will increase.






Oncoming
Drift
Air
Near miss
Traffic check
Crash escape
Tail gating
Slam
Shunt






Occasionally, you will be passed by a fancy car. (See Screenshot 44.) Follow and drive it into a complete crash. And the vehicle will be sent to a junk yard. And it’ll be all yours. (See Screenshot 45-6.)

Screenshot 44 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 45 – Source: MacHouse

Screenshot 46 – Source: MacHouse

Unfortunately, the game application (1.0.0.1) is quite unstable. The screen can freeze before you see ‘Press any button’ after launching the game . In such event, you will be forced to restart your computer. If you perform a Showtime, there is a good chance that you will see the application error shown in Screenshot 47 at the end. After playing the game for about 15 hours, I was forced to restart the computer four or five times. In a matter of two hours or so, the game application crashed six or seven times while I was performing a Showtime.

Screenshot 47 – Source: MacHouse

Related articles:

Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box with Boot Camp – Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box Game Play Video Part IV – 28 Minutes
Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box with Boot Camp – Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box Game Play Video Part III – 16 Minutes
Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box with Boot Camp – Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box Game Play Video Part II – 18 Minutes
Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box with Boot Camp – Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box Game Play Video Part I – 34 Minutes






Burnout Paradise The Ultimate Box is a product of Eletronic Arts and Criterion Games.