Paradise isn't perfect but things like open world, shortcuts, online and showtime help the game acheive a higher status
Burnout Paradise is an open-world racer in the truest sense. After you load in, everything you want to do both online or offline is available to you in the massive overworld. The map has numerous dots, each of which is a unique event, whether it's a race, Road Rage (where you must cause a set number of opponents to crash), Marked Man (running a gauntlet filled with aggressive enemy cars), or various other contests. Just pull up, hit both triggers, and you're in. This holds true for the online mode as well, allowing you to seamlessly set up and send invites to a variety of events all while tooling through the landscape. The sheer scope of what's available to you at any one time is impressive, and evokes a more user-friendly version of Test Drive Unlimited.
The racing itself, both online and off, is also top quality. This game moves fast – shockingly fast at times – and you'll hardly ever see a skipped frame or a trace of pop-up. That's really something when you consider just how detailed this world is. Even after a few days, I was still uncovering hidden areas, routes, and jumps. The driving mechanics are in the classic Burnout style – just realistic enough to give it a sense of verite, but more concerned with delivering speed and thrills than accurate physics modeling.