Exciting over the announcement of a remastered game proves how dramatically the market trend has changed in 2018. Those who see the glass as always half empty will see it as an easy way for publishers to make money cheaply. Conversely, people who prefer to see the glass half full will find that remasters, and to another extent remakes, allow the new generation of gamers to experience old glories in a new light. We won't take sides, not this time, but we won't hide from you that finding the bitumen of Paradise City, with Guns'N Roses in our ears, did us a lot of good. With Burnout Paradise Remastered, it's the return of old emotions, which we had almost forgotten. The pleasure of rediscovering raw gameplay, without fuss or frills, where you can drive at top speed without worrying about piloting halfway between simulation and arcade, because the developers had not had the guts to prevail. No, here, the brake pedal is almost useless since smashing cars and eating walls is a bit of the whole point of the title. Burnout Paradise was one of the pioneers of a decidedly arcade racing game to feature a fully open world, and in 2018 it hasn't – quite – lost its luster. The piloting, the crashes, the gameplay, the sensations, everything has remained intact, as at the time and it is only the plastic that has taken a big hit in the face. The sheet metal is crumpled, but it can be repaired, my mechanic whispers to me in the headset. And among the great promises issued by Electronic Arts, Criterion (as a supervisor) and the studio Stellar Entertainment (which really got their hands dirty), this restored version of Burnout Paradise will not be in vain. 1080p 60fps on PS4 and Xbox One, 4K 60fps for the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X versions, the best you can expect from current hardware.
"TAKE ME DOWN TO THE UNDERGROUND"
Promises on paper are kept. Once the game is launched, whether you are on a 2013 machine or their "enhanced" version as they say, you immediately feel the benefits of "60 frames per second", especially when it comes to a game race. It's fluid in all circumstances, whereas one would have thought that certain accidents could cause a few frame-rate drops. In about 8 hours of play for the purposes of this test, that never happened. Amen. In terms of the visual facelift, however, it is less efficient. Admittedly, Full HD and 4K are indeed present and we still manage to detect a difference between the two versions, but roughly speaking, this Burnout Paradise Remastered has not evolved much since its origins in 2008. Of course , the textures are more beautiful, especially less blurry, but do not expect a big miracle. Apart from a few models that have taken advantage of significant improvements (such as cars and vegetation), the rest remains quite close to what was done 10 years ago. The buildings are still just as basic, some elements of the decor very geometric, while the display distance remains quite limited for a game that appears in 2018. Some of you will find us a bit demanding, but when you eat remaster and remakes frequently for more than 5 years, we are still able to demand a minimum of effort, especially when we are asked to slap 40€ for a game of which we already know all the layouts by heart.
Of course, the textures are more beautiful, especially less blurry, but you shouldn't expect a big miracle. Apart from a few models that have taken advantage of significant improvements (such as cars and vegetation), the rest remains quite close to what was done 10 years ago.
So of course, at this price, we find all the DLCs that were released in the months following the release of the game. This means that we immediately find the motorcycles (4 in all), the toy cars (13), legendary cars (also 4), boost vehicles (2), "Big Surf Island" cars (9) and of course the Police cars (35), which makes a total of 75 additional vehicles. Enough to enrich the lifespan from the start, knowing that the second map, that of Big Surf Island is also accessible when it was sold for a fortune at the time (not far from 15€). Moreover, if there is one thing where Burnout Paradise Remastered does not disappoint, it is in its content, of great richness of course, but also of a great variety with many challenges to achieve everywhere in the world. town. Of course, since then, all open-world racing games have more or less taken the same formula, but with such explosive driving of this Burnout and the Takedowns to be carried out everywhere, when you want, it's still a bit panacea. Guilty pleasure, even if we don't forget that this remaster is still quite light compared to what is done today.
