Burnout Paradise: Say hello to the ECTO-1, General Lee and KITT 'parodies'

by Xav de Matos { Jan 10th 2009 at 3:15PM }

As you're aware, the upcoming premium DLC for Burnout Paradise will throw four new cars into the mix on Paradise Island. While we've only really spotted the Jansen-88 Special in action, three of the wholly original creations have been kept under wraps ... until now. On the latest episode of CrashTV, Criterion Games have revealed the final three vehicles. Say hello to the Manhattan Spirit, above. You may recognize it ... but trust us it isn't what you think it is. Check out the latest episode of CrashTV after the jump as well as another video of semi-related interest (if you grew up in the 80s).

Gallery: Burnout Paradise: Legendary Cars

Jansen 88 Special vs. DeLorean time machine

[via Joystiq]

CrashTV reveals all four new rides

That other song would have been too obvious.

Tags: burnout-paradise, criterion, criterion-games, electronic-arts

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ShadyGrady @ Jan 10th 2009 3:20PM

Say Hell?

Viridium @ Jan 10th 2009 3:41PM

I'm game. HELL!

Digital Limit @ Jan 10th 2009 3:24PM

Any news on when the patch for restarting a race comes out? Driving back to the start of a race to try again has to be one of the biggest oversights in the history of gaming. At least given the standards this very series established, eesh. So frustrating.

Viridium @ Jan 10th 2009 3:41PM

I kind of miss the lack of a proper Crash mode, myself. :( But restart option would be great also.

EgoCheck616 @ Jan 10th 2009 4:30PM

After getting my elite license and unlocking every car in the game, I have to admit, the "omg restart race pl0x" argument just seems like a cry for help over the fact that some people can't win at Burnout.

I prefer not having the ability to restart. It made approaching the online challenges MUCH easier because I knew where everything was.

Dude @ Jan 12th 2009 2:22AM

@EgoCheck616

No, you're wrong. But thanks for the "above it all" opinion.

Digital Limit @ Jan 11th 2009 10:59AM

Of course the issue is that people aren't good at the game. And in the getting good lies the fun, if you know anything about game design. However, the progression is tedious and leans into frustration, something not-so related to fun. It's a design oversight that should never have made it into the full game. I understand the limitation is due to their online functionality, but most people won't even bother with that feature.

Phydeaux @ Jan 11th 2009 1:34PM

Nope, wrong. If you're looking for an easy way out by having a quick restart option, you're quite simply a whiner and are completely missing the point of having an open world game, and should go back to the previous installments of the series.

The absolute ONLY way to know your way around the city and thus get all the collectibles (smashes, billboards, etc.) and be comfortable enough to find the shortest routes on the fly during races and the like is to do the double time of doing an event, failing, and working your way back from a different point of view to try it again, better this time because you've got a better bearing on where you actually are and where you're going.

If there was a quick restart to the game, then there would've been no point to them wasting all that time to make an open world game. Why don't you just spit in Criterion's face while you're at it.

Phydeaux @ Jan 11th 2009 1:39PM

"I understand the limitation is due to their online functionality, but most people won't even bother with that feature."

Oh, and if there was ever any notation that you don't know what you're talking about and shouldn't be solicited for any advice, it's this. Playing online is the MEAT of the game. Based on the total hours I've spent online and offline, it's half the gameplay. It was the main tenet of their advertising campaign.

But sure, keep on about games that don't fit your needs but are fine for the rest of the hundreds of thousands that have played it.

Digital Limit @ Jan 11th 2009 3:12PM

"If you're looking for an easy way out by having a quick restart option, you're quite simply a whiner and are completely missing the point of having an open world game, and should go back to the previous installments of the series."

And that is exactly what I have done. I've purchased the *good* games in the series that had a focus on speed and on fun, not on tedium and frustration. Pausing the check the map, angrily driving back to the start of the race, and wasting my time searching for collectibles when I could be doing what I was trying to do in the first place, i.e. play the meat of this so-called "racing" game, is not anyone's idea of a job well done, and with that it's not beyond help. A simple "restart race" feature for singleplayer would be painless and in no way undermine the open world. You're both desperately defending a game you love despite this change doing nothing but improve an almost positive experience.

Phydeaux @ Jan 12th 2009 12:03PM

"And that is exactly what I have done. I've purchased the *good* games in the series that had a focus on speed and on fun, not on tedium and frustration."

So you like pushing buttons and not strategizing or figuring out within the confines of the game's architecture what will make you good at it. Maybe you play the wrong games, nay, have the wrong system. WarioWare seems to fit better to what you're looking for in a game.

"Pausing the check the map, angrily driving back to the start of the race,"

Which, you've got two different things you can do here. You can go back and get a better feel for the road OR you can start another event nearby where that one terminated.

"and wasting my time searching for collectibles"

Smashes help you find routes for your racing, which we'll get to in a second, and billboards and super jumps give you a feel of the cars' capabilities so you don't over or under compensate jump distance, steering, tricks for boost, etc. before you get online and utterly fail a race.

"when I could be doing what I was trying to do in the first place, i.e. play the meat of this so-called "racing" game,"

But this is not a series of tracks for you to do over and over again offline and then take to it online. We're talking about an open world where routes can change and are determined by the players. You need to be familiar with how those work and how to stitch one together in order to constantly win.

"is not anyone's idea of a job well done,"

More than a few publications and awards shows have bestowed "best driving game" to Burnout Paradise. More than a million people have registered to play online.

I think you're wrong.

"and with that it's not beyond help. A simple "restart race" feature for singleplayer would be painless and in no way undermine the open world."

YES. IT. DOES. Why? Because if you have to cheat your way around the city and are completely unaware of your surrounding, then you become one of the fuckups I have to constantly contend with in challenges or team matches.

"You're both desperately defending a game you love despite this change doing nothing but improve an almost positive experience."

el oh el wut

For what it's worth, Paradise is my first Burnout game. I'll never understand the hard on that people have with the previous installments.

Digital Limit @ Jan 12th 2009 11:51PM

I just want to play Burnout, not study for a racing test.

My idea of fun is not spending time "learning the city" and it's definitely not forgetting one race while I play another. I like to focus on one task, learning the nuances of my preplanned route as I race it and doing so as many times as necessary in succession; the previous Burnouts made this possible and I miss that.

On a side note, I despise DJ Atomica =]

Phydeaux @ Jan 13th 2009 11:32AM

"On a side note, I despise DJ Atomica =]"

Curse you and your attempt at unifying us on something totally irrelevant that I have to agree with.

ChuckJ @ Jan 10th 2009 3:40PM

These guys dont even mention that the cars are from movies. These guys I suppose are over seas and just dont have a clue?
I thought everyone has seen Back To The Future, Ghostbusters, and Knight Rider.

Alex @ Jan 10th 2009 3:45PM

It's probably a copyright thing.
I've seen all those films.

MrMuggs @ Jan 10th 2009 4:42PM

Just because you don't live in the US doesn't mean you don't know what Ghost Busters is. Wow! Do you think they just randomly created a car that looks EXACTLY like the one in the movies? Also, when a company is based outside of the US they actually have employees that work outside of that country. They communicate with people outside of their office. It's a global world. It may seem crazy to you to consider looking outside of your little world but there are things such as the Internet, email, DVDs and telephones!

The reason the Ghostbusters, Back to the Future and General Lee cars aren't referred to as such is due to copyright and licensing issues. By creating these cars that oddly look similar they avoid any licensing or copyright infringement issues.

Doug @ Jan 10th 2009 6:09PM

Um, topic creator: Can you be MORE stupid?

Man it's hard to believe people are walking around out there like this.

Geoff @ Jan 10th 2009 3:50PM

"Hell," parodies.

myabsolution @ Jan 10th 2009 3:54PM

Now everytime I hear the word Ectoplasm, I think about the newish South Park episode where Randy Marsh says " uhhhh. there was a ghost here, did you see it? poured its ectoplasm all over me"

KineticOnline @ Jan 10th 2009 4:08PM

Its just not KITT without the red lights :(

charles @ Jan 10th 2009 4:38PM

Thats not the general lee, its the car from the movie Vanishing Point (1971).

Doug @ Jan 10th 2009 6:09PM

Um, no.

MrMuggs @ Jan 10th 2009 4:43PM

Did anyone hear the guy when referring to the General Lee car say, "And it looks amazing in orange." Haha.

It's kind of like games that don't have an official NFL license so they name all the players similar names.

barnaby french @ Jan 10th 2009 10:29PM

I cant wait for the new dlc i love burnout paradise.

Also the "restart race" thing is dead. It only affects ppl when close to finishing your licence or if your not that good at the game. tip - when racing offline press pause to scope out the best route, cpu racers will be paused also and they rarely take the best way = easy money.

Or just do a different event after losing the race, each race will take you over to the other side. so if you lose a race - start another where you are after just losing and that race will end back near the event you originally wanted to retry.

You could also use the junkyard save exploit- save in your nearest junkyard before the race then you can reload near the race start if you bomb out.

The things that need to be fixed are the street lights at night and the whole traffic car spawning issues. And a no takedown zone for challenges, for people who want to actually get the challenges done some time this century.

Also - i hate the fog. I hate that fog so much. I would rather some rain so at least it would change up the gameplay (slippery racing) but i think that night/day cycle is enough.

Perfectance @ Jan 11th 2009 5:57PM

Oh Yeah! Even more of a reason to buy this DLC.

aggrazel @ Jan 12th 2009 10:23AM

Yeah, I know its early but, I'm going to go ahead and say that this will be the best DLC of 2009. Or ever, depending on your perspective.

If you ever asked me what I want in a driving game its a flying delorean and well, this is about as close as it gets.

These guys rock so hard.