Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box (PC)

The Burnout series, one of the most intense and exhilarating racing series out there has always dodged the PC platform but this time round developer Criterion was kind enough to bestow their latest title, Burnout Paradise upon us PC folk. The PC port of Burnout Paradise was released a while back but sadly never made it to stores in India due to certain custom issues that never got sorted out.

Anyway, the point here is that Burnout Paradise is one of the most awesome ports out there and if you haven’t played this game till date make sure you get your hands on this bad boy ASAP either through Steam or international sites like Play-Asia.com that ship games to India.

As far as content is concerned the Ultimate Box boasts of 80% of the same content as its console counterparts and since we’ve extensively spoken about all of that in our review, today we’re going to be talking about all the new content that constitutes The Ultimate Box.

For starters the Ultimate Box – available for the PS3 and Xbox360 as well - ships with a lot of the (free) DLC that was made available to console owners last year. You have the Cagney update that introduced modes like Marked Man, Stunt Man and Road Rage to the multiplayer side of things. You have the Bikes update that adds bikes as well as a brand new day and night cycle to the game. There’s no doubt that the bikes in this game are blazing fast but on the flip side they severely limit the amount of game modes available. There’s no Road Rage, Marked Man or any of the above mentioned events while you’re on two wheels. All you can do is zip around streets setting Road Rules and breaking online/offline records.
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Also included in the Ultimate Box is the much hyped Party Update that stays true to its name and is an utter blast with a few friends (and a wee bit of a frothy liquid that rhymes with deer). This basically allows up to eight players to play on the same console/PC through a series of time based challenges, one by one. Choosing the Random option will let the game choose the modes for you so you could be driving on the wrong side of the road in one challenge while in the next you’ll be breaking a certain amount of billboards before your friends do.

Another new feature implemented in the PC (as well as the PS3 version) is the inclusion of an in-game browser where you can check up on your in-game stats, compare your stats with friends and even purchase new content from their online store. As of now it doesn’t boast a lot of content but you have the Legendary Cars pack (that includes the Back to the Future car, Knight Rider and more), the Toy car pack, The Boost car pack and more.

And finally we come to the biggest improvement of them all that now allows you to restart an event if you feel like. This means you don’t have to physically drive up to the starting point if you fudge a race up; simply stop racing, bring up the menu, hit re-start and boom! you’re back with a new lease on life. If for some reason you fall in love with a particular race or a Road rage event, you can even replay that very same event to your heart’s content. This was one of the biggest gripes people had with Burnout Paradise and I’m glad Criterion listens to their fans (the restart option has been included in The Ultimate Box across all platforms).
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Visually the game is stunning. The PC port is enhanced by higher resolutions and sharper, crisper visuals. Watching your car go through various stages of deformation in slow motion is a sight you’ll never get bored off. On my mid-range rig (mentioned at the end of the article) I maxed out all settings (except for Anti Aliasing that I left at 2x) and was running the game comfortably at 60 FPS without the slightest hitch no matter what mayhem unfolded on screen. Major props go out to Criterion who’ve managed to make such a technically sound port in a time when most developers give us PC folk the raw end of the stick. On the flip side I was really disappointed with the fact that you still cannot upload your own music in the game and are forced to listen to the game’s crappy and rehashed OST. Also why the fk can I not mute the annoying DJ??

Minor gripes aside, Burnout Paradise for the PC is a brilliant game. It’s an improved version of Burnout Paradise and it includes tons of extra content, console owners had to pay for. It’s got a robust online community and a plethora of single player modes to mess around with. You even have awesome modes like Cops and Robbers and the upcoming Island update to look forward to. And seeing the way Criterion are constantly supporting this game (be it free or by charging owners), this is one awesome investment you won’t regret even if the PC version (not available in India) is a bit on the pricey side.

**This review was based on the Steam version that costs ($40). The Ultimate Box is also available for the PS3 (Rs. 1999) and Xbox 360.

Reviewer’s Rig:

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Intel Core 2 DuoE8200@2.66 GHZ2.00 GB RamNVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512 MB