Burnout Paradise: Big Surf Island

In early 2008 Criterion Games released the seventh instalment in the Burnout series. Now, midway through 2009, they are still releasing brand new content, aimed at extending the Paradise experience. To this date, there have been 8 DLC packs released. This blog will be focussing on the latest addition to the game: Big Surf Island.

Let's start with Burnout Paradise itself. This is one of my most favourite racing games ever. The career mode has you doing races, stunt runs and traditional road rage events, with each win/success edging you closer towards your Burnout License. You'll work your way up through the ranks, to eventually earn yourself the Burnout Elite License. In this sense, it's much like any other racing game that you've played. However, Burnout Paradise really comes into it's own with online play.

Without an Xbox Live/PSN connection, Burnout Paradise is a very average game, which I probably wouldn't recommend. If you have either of these connections, then I would definitely recommend that you purchase this game. There are hundreds of online challenges, designed to get you working in groups of 2-8. The online challenges are what makes this game so unique. They could be anything from gathering your team of drivers at the top of a car park, to each doing 10 barrel rolls over a specific jump. You can also race against other people, if the challenges aren't your thing.

Anyway, onto Big Surf Island. This DLC will add a new area onto the current map. Over a long bridge, you will arrive on Big Surf Island. The area is not the biggest, and disappointed me a bit. Despite costing 1000 Microsoft Points, the island adds just 10 new online challenges (for me, the most important thing). It does, however add more smashes, billboards and 15 mega jumps for you to find and complete. Another issue I had with the island was the lack of creativity in deciding on the new Xbox 360 achievements. While I'm sure that everyone loves some easy gamerscore, Big Surf Island more or less gave them away. 110G could be achieved, with the achievements taking about 10 minutes to complete all of them. There was also not an achievement to 100% the island, which disappointed me. Achievements are meant to be something you aspire to get, and without a 100% achievement, I had little motivation (other than a few new cars) to complete this section of the DLC.

Despite this, Big Surf Island was a nice addition to the Burnout Paradise world. Despite the latest piece of content being slightly disappointing, I'm definitely hoping that Criterion continue to add new content to this wonderful game, and I'll certainly be looking forward to testing it out.

[PROTOTYPE]™

Developed by Radical Entertainment, Prototype was released in North America on June 9th 2009. The player takes on the role of Alex Mercer, a seemingly human man, who has shape shifting powers. When the game begins, you wake up, with no recollection of who you are, or what has happened to you. Throughout the game, you "consume" many enemies, to try and track down where you truly came from and, of course, who is responsible. Great.

The actual storyline within Prototype will probably set you back about 5-6 hours, depending on difficulty and player skill. Once you have completed the game, you will also unlock New Game +. This new mode will allow you to restart the story mode, but maintaining all of your acquired upgrades. This adds a new dynamic to the story mode. However, once you're complete there's plenty more to do.

There are loads of "events" which can be completed, earning you extra EP (experience points) which will come in useful when upgrading your character, which we'll come to later. These events are split into different sections. For example, there are "Glide" events, which require you to jump from certain buildings and land within a certain area, earning you a medal (Gold, Silver or Bronze) each giving you different amounts of EPs. But, there are also fighting events. You can bat for both sides, if that's your thing, fighting as a military soldier against the hordes of infected. Or, you can lend assistance to the infected themselves, wiping out the military threat in the process. Either way, there's much fun to be had with the events.

Another "mini-game" within Prototype is the Web of Intrigue. The web begins when you consume your first Web of Intrigue target. This opens up a whole new objective in the game, and this is the place where you'll discover who you really are. There are four Xbox 360 achievements within the Web of Intrigue, but I won't ruin the fun by revealing what you'll discover.

I mentioned the upgrades earlier on, and these are probably the most important tools in getting you through this game. By spending your hard-earned EP, you'll be able to purchase new powers, which allow you to shape shift, giving you an increased arsenal of weaponry. Each of these upgrades has advantages and disadvantages, with some being good against vehicles and large crowds of enemies, and others which are designed for fast, agile combat.

Prototype is, however, not a perfect game. Despite the large amounts of content included, the events can quickly become repetitive and tiresome. The storyline, as I said earlier, is only 5 to 6 hours, and, personally to me, has little replay value. Once you have completed the story once, and then maybe a second time with New Game+, there's little else to do - story wise.

This game, in a way, gives itself a new genre, it is very unique, and while it is a very new and impressive idea, it is far from perfect, and there is much room for improvement within the game. As far as recommendations go, I would definitely say its worth a rent. If you're impressed then pick up the full game, and if you decide its not your type of game, then don't. Prototype did impress me whilst I played it through, and I hope to see new and improved games close to this idea in the future.

Welcome

Welcome to my new Game Review and Preview blog!

I will be reviewing as many games as I can get my hands on in the coming months and hopefully giving you accurate information about my thoughts of the games. I will also be previewing games which I am looking forward to, giving you up to date information and screenshots.

I've almost finished my first review, and will probably be posting it at some time tonight, so hang around and be sure to check back regularly.