Burnout Paradise : DEMO IMPRESSIONS! (newfangled poll too!)

[Purge]

POLL NOTES:
You can vote for up to 3 categories, and should you change your mind, you may do so in the poll as well.
Note that Silver Gamertag folks can put down inaccessible now, and then change it when you can get the demo. 
One more thing, the rest of the poll isn't just based on the demo, so don't exclude yourself from the IN/OUT stuff.
If you guys like this kind of poll, I might just make it regular practice to put one up (or others can instead.. there's no magic to it).

Demo for Burnout Paradise is available on the Live network (gold members this week; silver next). PS3 is also supposed to release this one.

I had a chance to play this for 5 minutes. It's now a free-roaming city, and intersections are your game type triggers. (stop at the light, and hit the gas and brake at the same time). I like it, but the free-roaming is going to take some getting used to. Running a race and hitting the wrong direction FTL.

Overall, definately worth the 850MB download. I just wish they would have a) let me skip by the chatty-cathy opening, and b) let me select more than just a muscle car.

[IkeVandergraaf]

You needed a fancy poll for this?

[JCC]

You left out one option: Since I am a silver customer and MS treats us like shit, I have to wait till next week to try the demo! 

[EngineNo9]

You need to read more, JCC.

[Calvin]

Oh shit, its OUT??? Eff me and eff work, I want to play this game so badly. I guess it will wait till I get home.

[Soulchilde]

Oh shit, its OUT??? Eff me and eff work, I want to play this game so badly. I guess it will wait till I get home.

Damn it! I was on Live before I went to work and I didn't check.  WTF.  Will get it as soon as I get home

[Purge]

You needed a fancy poll for this?

Well, I was going to do a "what does Ike smell like" but there's too many options. I mean, how many vertebrae animal variants are there (57749 according to wikipedia), and they all have 4 basic secretions (urine, feces, saliva, and sweat) and that's not counting pheremones and glandular, or blood etc... So, that works out to roughly 11,114,169,906,041,678,641 (57749^4) poll options.

I guess what I'm trying to say, Ike, is that I didn't want to break the forum.

[JCC]

You need to read more, JCC.

Damnit. My bad.

[wonderpug]

Why are all the poll options just the number 1?

[CeeKay]

Why are all the poll options just the number 1?

because that's who number 2 works for.

[Caine]

looking forward to trying this out tonight. 

[The Grue]

Think I will try the PS3 demo since I have heard it looks better.  If I am really feeling motivated, maybe I will do both to compare for myself .

[Ridah]

Locked out of the demo for a week so I won't have any impressions until the thread is forgotten.

[Purge]

This thread won't be forgotten, Ridah, and neither will you be.

[TheMissingLink]

Rolling around felt like Burnout.

And since I've put 70+ hours on Revenge, I'm not sure I'm going to grab this one.

FWIW, I've been sitting here, trying to connect to an online game for about 5 minutes.  It would be fantastic if a service I pay for actually worked when I wanted it to.

The crashes look really cool, though.

[metallicorphan]

liked the demo,gonna try and buy it day one for the 360


and can i just say that i got the 800 or so mb in 20 minutes.....i'm liking this no silver thing for demos in week one,....800mb would usually take well over an hour,LOL

EDIT:oh and missing link ,i tried to connect online as well(even though i already was signed in)..i think the EA online goes Live when the game is released

[TheMissingLink]

That doesn't make much sense, as the game prompts you to press right on the d-pad to look online for matches.

[Purge]

It also uses the Live Vision camera.

Can you guess what my DMV photo looks like? Go ahead... guess.

[Laner]

Rolling around felt like Burnout.

And since I've put 70+ hours on Revenge, I'm not sure I'm going to grab this one.

FWIW, I've been sitting here, trying to connect to an online game for about 5 minutes.  It would be fantastic if a service I pay for actually worked when I wanted it to.

Before you get too snarky there , EA runs their own servers... blame them.

[JCC]

Before you get too snarky there , EA runs their own servers... blame them.

If EA runs their own servers, can Silver members play Burnout mutiplayer online? If not, why the hell not?

[CeeKay]

This thread won't be forgotten, Ridah, and neither will you be.

who's Richard?

[denoginizer]

Before you get too snarky there , EA runs their own servers... blame them.

If EA runs their own servers, can Silver members play Burnout mutiplayer online? If not, why the hell not?

EA runs the Madden servers too.  Can you play Madden?

[TheMissingLink]

It looks as if it just took EA a little bit of time to get their servers up and running.

Once I downloaded the PS3 demo in the same amount of time that it took me to download the 360 version, I was able to jump online and play with 3 other people.  I hopped on to the 360 version and it works now.

The Live Vision camera is cool.  The PS3 version says only "USB Camera" so maybe other options are supported?

I couldn't tell any differences between PS3 and 360 versions.  Both run at a nice framerate and look just fine.

[JCC]

Before you get too snarky there , EA runs their own servers... blame them.

If EA runs their own servers, can Silver members play Burnout mutiplayer online? If not, why the hell not?

EA runs the Madden servers too.  Can you play Madden?

I wouldn't know, I don't own Madden for the 360.

[IkeVandergraaf]

I think JCC makes a valid point.  That said, I will d/l this when I get home.  Either way, however, I expect to pick up the game, unless it really really sucks.  I like Burnout.

[denoginizer]

Before you get too snarky there , EA runs their own servers... blame them.

If EA runs their own servers, can Silver members play Burnout mutiplayer online? If not, why the hell not?

EA runs the Madden servers too.  Can you play Madden?

I wouldn't know, I don't own Madden for the 360.

Sorry.  I didn't mean to sound rude.  I was just trying to say that even though EA runs servers for stat tracking, lobbies, and matchmaking, once the game starts one of the players still acts as the host.  So my guess is that you will need a gold account to play Burnout

[JCC]

Sorry.  I didn't mean to sound rude.  I was just trying to say that even though EA runs servers for stat tracking, lobbies, and matchmaking, once the game starts one of the players still acts as the host.  So my guess is that you will need a gold account to play Burnout

Heh, I didn't think you were rude at all. I didn't know that anyone but MS hosted multi-player games on the 360, and that MS still required Gold for you to play them online. I'm still a 360 noob! I do plan on checking out the demo next week. Although I haven't really clicked with Burnout before, this one looks way cool. Hopefully the single player is good.

[TheMissingLink]

Seriously, last impressions...

Online was...okay.  It was like Test Drive: Unlimited, but different.  You have to go into multiplayer to race around with other players.  And it would update you on everything, longest drift, biggest air, when somebody crashed.  No clue if the game supports normal races or how many people were in a race.

Getting x many points is an event?  Ugh.  I thought Burnout was about racing/crashes?

During the races, I spent less time RACING and taking down opponents, and more time looking at the teeny map, finding out where to go. 

Not really digging the direction that the Burnout franchise is taking, but whatever.  Many will enjoy it, I'll pass.

[Simon]

Not sure what to think really, I love the Burnout series but I'm not entirely sold on the new game format. It looks and drives great and tearing through the city is complete fun, but I already miss being able to just race and do straight up crash events. I'll probably pick it up but I'll hold off for some reviews, especially to see how the game fairs after playing it a while.

Anyone else notice the CompUSA billboards?

[javahead]

This was one of my favorites at the EA show in October

[jersoc]

It also uses the Live Vision camera.

Can you guess what my DMV photo looks like? Go ahead... guess.

your wang?

[denoginizer]

I liked it.  Great graphics.  Locked 60 fps.  Big open city.  I also liked how the game gives you cues when you are supposed to turn and tells you what street you are on.  Overall I was impressed.

[Purge]

It also uses the Live Vision camera.

Can you guess what my DMV photo looks like? Go ahead... guess.

your wang?

No ... yours.

heh. Middle finger. Something every cop needs to see when I get pulled over.

[Bullwinkle]

Not sure what to think really, I love the Burnout series but I'm not entirely sold on the new game format. It looks and drives great and tearing through the city is complete fun, but I already miss being able to just race and do straight up crash events. I'll probably pick it up but I'll hold off for some reviews, especially to see how the game fairs after playing it a while.

Anyone else notice the CompUSA billboards?

The billboards made me laugh out loud.  So funny, yet so sad.

The poll seems to be showing a difference of opinion to what I'm reading here (other than Purge's undersized wang or oversized middle finger).  I'm in the not so impressed crowd.  I think the game looks amazing and drives great, but I got bored looking for the right intersection pretty quickly.  Hasn't the "free roaming city" thing EA has been cramming down our throats for years now been dead for at least two of those years.  Give me an effin menu.  If you want to give the people an option to tool around the city driving into paint shacks for shiny new oh-look-it's-orange-oh-wait-it's-green paint jobs fine, but give me an effin menu so I don't have to deal with it.

When I downloaded the demo, all I wanted to do was try out a crash event.  That's it.  Just one little crash event.  Maybe there's one lurking at some intersection with a barely visible stoplight, I don't know, but I got tired trying to find it.  I found the stunt race which I thought sounded cool, but it started in an area with no immediate ramps.  I zoomed around, crashing into things and scored 2,000 of the 50,000 points I needed.  Irritating.  Shortly thereafter I found the beach which has ramps aplenty, naturally.  I tried to call up the menu for a Retry Last Event option. 

The map said, "Tough crap for you, maybe you'd lke to try our great online mode instead." 

I said, "Can I at least set up a waypoint to get back to the stunt race." 

"No," said the annoying map, "but if you're good at reading useless street signs you may be able to find it."

The street map thing was especially bothersome.  In one race, I tried following the mini-map, which is all but useless when you're flying into oncoming traffic at 100 MPH.  I saw a street sign blink at me and assumed I was meant to turn.  I turned.  Another blinking street sign and another turn.  Suddenly, the mini-map screamed at me with a black border showing that I'd driven to the edge of the world.  The Country Club was somewhere up North.  DAMNIT.  Well, I thought, I'll just restart the race...

"Maybe you'd like to try our great online mode instead..."

[EngineNo9]

I haven't gotten to try out the demo yet, but this sounds exactly like what I was afraid of.  Like they took something that worked great and fucked it all up. 

[CeeKay]

I grabbed the demo off of XBL, but I think I'll wait a week or so before playing it 

[TheMissingLink]

I haven't gotten to try out the demo yet, but this sounds exactly like what I was afraid of.  Like they took something that worked great and fucked it all up. 

They've taken the fun out of an arcade racer, imo.  I mean, driving around a city is cool in premise...but every moment of my 70+ hours with Burnout Revenge was RACING like a madman or CRASHING like a crazy person.  If I want to drive around a city, I'll fire up Test Drive: Unlimited.

[Gratch]

The poll seems to be showing a difference of opinion to what I'm reading here (other than Purge's undersized wang or oversized middle finger).  I'm in the not so impressed crowd.  I think the game looks amazing and drives great, but I got bored looking for the right intersection pretty quickly.  Hasn't the "free roaming city" thing EA has been cramming down our throats for years now been dead for at least two of those years.  Give me an effin menu.  If you want to give the people an option to tool around the city driving into paint shacks for shiny new oh-look-it's-orange-oh-wait-it's-green paint jobs fine, but give me an effin menu so I don't have to deal with it.

When I downloaded the demo, all I wanted to do was try out a crash event.  That's it.  Just one little crash event.  Maybe there's one lurking at some intersection with a barely visible stoplight, I don't know, but I got tired trying to find it.  I found the stunt race which I thought sounded cool, but it started in an area with no immediate ramps.  I zoomed around, crashing into things and scored 2,000 of the 50,000 points I needed.  Irritating.  Shortly thereafter I found the beach which has ramps aplenty, naturally.  I tried to call up the menu for a Retry Last Event option. 

The map said, "Tough crap for you, maybe you'd lke to try our great online mode instead." 

I said, "Can I at least set up a waypoint to get back to the stunt race." 

"No," said the annoying map, "but if you're good at reading useless street signs you may be able to find it."

The street map thing was especially bothersome.  In one race, I tried following the mini-map, which is all but useless when you're flying into oncoming traffic at 100 MPH.  I saw a street sign blink at me and assumed I was meant to turn.  I turned.  Another blinking street sign and another turn.  Suddenly, the mini-map screamed at me with a black border showing that I'd driven to the edge of the world.  The Country Club was somewhere up North.  DAMNIT.  Well, I thought, I'll just restart the race...

"Maybe you'd like to try our great online mode instead..."

This sums up my thoughts pretty well.  I really dislike this whole "open world" movement in racing games.  I buy these games in order to race (or crash), so let me jump right into a race.  Don't make me drive around for 5 minutes trying to pick out a tiny icon on a tiny map in order to find it.  I didn't have any problems finding my way during the couple races I tried, but I can see how it would be a major bitch if you happened to get off-track.  And having to look at the map instead of paying attention to the race sucked the fun right out of it.

Pretty disappointed in the demo overall. As much as I have loved the past Burnout games, I'll be skipping this version.

[Harkonis]

I really like this game a lot.  They removed the stuff I didn't like about the burnout series (the intentionally driving through cars and the like) and the added the open world aspect which I've really grown to love.

There is still the same racing feel that you loved in the old games, you just have to start an event to get it.  Not sure why people are having an issue with that.

I played multiplayer for almost 3 hours yesterday and even on the smaller area of town provided and with only 4 people and not many actual objectives, we were all having an absolute blast.

The mug shot on the xbox live camera when you take someone down was funny as hell too.

[Gratch]

There is still the same racing feel that you loved in the old games, you just have to start an event to get it.  Not sure why people are having an issue with that.

In the old games, I could push 2 buttons and start a race.

In this demo, after driving around for a while I finally found a stoplight that allowed me to start a race.  I ended up coming in second place by a hair, and wanted to give the race another shot.  Instead of being able to do that, I had to try and navigate the roads back to the starting point, which took a few minutes (I was having a hell of a time reading that little map).  That simple gameplay mechanic annoys me enough to not buy the game.

Granted, I typically don't care much for "open-world" games to begin with.  This one just seems very unintuitive and frustrating.