After some meetings today, I had the chance to spend some time with the Burnout Paradise demo. I really miss the traffic checking. No, I mean I really miss it. I've gotten into a lot of accidents by trying to check traffic into opponents or trying to refill my boost meter. While Paradise handles a bit differently from Revenge, it still looks and feels like Burnout . . . and that is a great thing. The addition of a commentator, DJ Atomica, is a change of pace. Personally, I don't know how prerecorded commentators in a game could ever be good. The fact that I haven't heard, "I can see my house from here" during my play time already means it is a good thing.

I really enjoy the Picture Paradise feature. It may be kind of odd for me to say, but going into a screen saver mode where classic music plays as you get a black-and-white tour of the town is a neat touch. Better than just looking at an idling car in the middle of a road. After all, who doesn't like Mozart's Horn Concerto #4? Seriously. Anything less would just be uncivilized.