Burnout Paradise takes a different path than previous games in Criterion's racing series. Rather than simply hopping behind the wheel of a classy car and driving through a series of pre-loaded racing events, you must navigate through a living, breathing city to find your challenges. Paradise City divides into eight separate quadrants, all interconnected through streets, shortcuts and overpasses. You'll cover this terrain repeatedly, going from one part of the city to the other as you participate in numerous events.

These events vary, similar to those introduced in other Burnout games. Road Rage requires you to destroy as many vehicles as you can before you run out of time or trash your vehicle beyond repair. Routine races pit you against other drivers in a battle for a first place victory. Best of all, the new Marked Man stages offer their own unique thrills, as you attempt to survive a "point A to point B" run while avoiding other cars. There are other events that are unlockable with certain cars, but you'll get most acquainted with these three.

Races are just as thrilling as always. You'll swerve around corners, smash through hidden shortcuts and fly through the air with mind-boggling jumps. The gameplay is sharp, as you can easily control your car. However, be prepared for some aggressive artificial intelligence. Opponents fly out of nowhere, suddenly sending you bumper first into a brick wall. It would've been nice to have indicators to show where they're at, but that would've taken away from the game's raw intensity.

There is a problem with some of the races' structuring, though. You're shown a map with a beginning point and an ending point. However, if you're not used to Paradise City, taking even the slightest wrong turn could get you lost. Say you see your location on the map and figure that the next left will get you where you need to go. However, you take the left and accidentally end up on an overpass. You then have to turn around and try to regain the lead, only to find that you dropped all the way to seventh or eighth place.

It's also worth mentioning that the lack of an instant restart option is an even bigger problem. If you're losing a race, you must finish it before moving on to another event. Even worse, there's no option for restarting. If you lose an event, you must drive all the way back to the beginning – no matter how far away it is – to do it again. Many people complained about this when the game's demo came out over a month ago, and we can certainly see where they're coming from. However, it's not a crucial enough flaw to ruin Paradise's innovative design. It's just something to consider reworking for the inevitable sequel.

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