Burnout Paradise DLC

I have to give credit where credit is due to Criterion Games and Electronic Arts for adding plenty of extra content to Burnout Paradise. Last year the Paradise City experience grew with lots of free add-ons, but this year, players hoping to take some of the new cars for a test drive have been disappointed to find a price tag attached to the latest downloadable content.

The Legendary Cars  are most likely to entice players sitting on the fence. How could anyone who remembers the 1980s fondly skip out on the chance to drive cars based on, say, Doc Brown's DeLorean time machine or the iconic Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters? Each car in this set is lovingly crafted to look remarkably like their beloved source vehicle, yet just different enough to not completely infringe on someone else's copyright. The would be Ecto-1, for instance, sports the familiar lights and siren when the L3 button is pressed, yet has "We Listen 2 U" painted on the back door. The Paradise version of the DeLorean hovers slightly off the ground on command (again, with L3) and leaves twin fire trails when boosting that give stunt runs a bit of flare. Legendary Cars are for those who wish to show off for online friends and rivals, but offer little in new functionality for those unfamiliar with the source material.

Boost Specials , on the other hand, are all about tweaking the rules of the road. The Montgomery Hawker Mech is the real showpiece here with its glowing soft neon lights and variable boost system. Press the L3 button at any time to cycle between Speed, Stunt, and Aggression modes, meaning that the Mech is the most versatile car in all of Paradise City. It takes practice to master, but the end result is worth it. The other car in the set is the Carson Extreme Hotrod, an old fashioned hot rod with a locked boost system capable of unlimited and nearly unstoppable boost. It can be a pain to control at high speeds and is incredibly fragile, but experienced players will find it to be the next best thing to steering a rocket through downtown Paradise.

The Toy Cars are the most expensive set (along with Surf Island) of extra content released as of this writing. These nine vehicles are scaled down versions of familiar Burnout Paradise vehicles reminiscent of Matchbox cars, and while they are certainly cute, they don't seem to bring much to the table. They're just about indestructible, yes, but they are just as wreckable as their nontoy cousins, coming to dented stops instead of disintegrating on impact. They also tend to run slower than traditional vehicles (which is to be expected somewhat; after all, they are toys). Like toys, they are fun to play with for a few minutes before loading them back into the box. Don't expect to make much progress on your way to earning your Burnout Elite license behind the wheel of a Toy Car.

Rounding out the downloadable add-on collection is the Party Pack , an offline multiplayer mode for when friends come to visit. The Party Pack cuts the Burnout Paradise experience into bite-size challenge chunks and awards points for completing various objectives. Up to eight players pass the controller between events such as, for instance, scoring the most air time, performing barrel rolls, smashing billboards, and other such tasks. While a good idea, the execution is only as enjoyable as players make it. How often does one assemble up to eight people in the same room who love Burnout Paradise? There's no need to bother with this pack if one typically ride through Paradise City without passengers.

33 new cars come in the Cops and Robbers DLC pack. All the cars are cop cars and for the most part, they’re reskins of other cars from the game. All of the cop cars have different stats -- some have high speed but have a weak body, some are in the middle, and some have a strong body but are pretty slow. They all have different boost stats, too, but it’s not important, as all players lose the ability to boost when in Cops and Robbers mode. It’s an odd choice, and you really have to change up your strategy with the lack of boost.

Up to eight players can play together in Cops and Robbers, with four players making up each team. Everyone needs a cop car in order to play Cops and Robbers mode. Once you’re engaged in the mode, the cars for the Robbers will change in design a little -- the sirens are removed, and the cars are all painted red.

Both teams will start off together as a group an equal distance away from the first gold stash. When you're given the go, it’s a mad dash to get to the gold first. When someone gets the gold bars that are floating magically over the road, the gold bars will appear directly behind the vehicle and the car will lose half of its speed. Gold bars are heavy! One nice touch with this mode is that you can turn the traffic on or off. While it’s easier going through this mode with no traffic, I suggest always playing with traffic. It’s a lot more fun and traffic could play in your favor more times than not. My major complaint with the DLC is with the game’s notifications. Every time either team is getting close to their base with the gold, a large notification screen pops up telling you how far the team is away from their base. It’s very obtrusive and blocks a good deal of the screen. I got into a few wrecks because I couldn’t see where I was going. That mild complaint aside, Cops and Robbers is definitely worth picking up. It's a lot of money ($10) for just one mode, but I had a ton of fun with it.

Smashes, 12 roads to rule, 10 Freeburn Challenges, and 15 Events. Like I said, unless there is one last gate that you cannot freaking find, you should have no trouble getting 100% completion of the island. Thankfully, these collectibles are much more manageable than ones found on the Burnout Paradise disc, due in part to their more vibrant color scheme.

Beyond the incredible scenery, "Big Surf Island" brings another great thing to the table: a sweet line-up of vehicles. How I've managed to get this far into a review about a racing game without mentioning a single vehicle, I don't know, but that's not to say the new cars are bad. In fact, the Carson Dust Storm, a dune buggy, has replaced the Jansen 88 Special as my favorite Burnout Paradise vehicle. It's somewhat fragile, especially when going head-to-head with other cars, but it offers extremely satisfying control, and is small enough to zip around Big Surf Island's narrower areas.

For once, gamers are getting DLC that actually "expands the experience." Burnout Paradise was and continues to be a fantastic game, but this new content adds the one thing it was really missing.Whether you've done all there is to do in Paradise City, or you just recently purchased Burnout Paradise, "Big Surf Island" shouldn't be passed up.

Burnout Paradise has been a bright spot this console generation, and these extra packs and add-ons add some additional fun to the experience. Some are more worth your money than others, however. The Legendary Cars and Boost Specials are highly recommended, while the Toy Cars and Party Pack offer neat diversions that lack longevity. There are at least two more expansions on the way to Paradise City in the future, so there's still more to see down the line. Don't burn through your downloadable add-on budget just yet.

Marco Cecilio, NoobFeed