Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

After spending a very unhealthy amount of time playing the PS3 demo of Burnout Paradise last night, I’m a little divided on my final impression. Their decision to roll with an open city environment, very similar to what we see in Test Drive: Unlimited, is flawlessly demonstrated in the demo. The lack of load times here is key to the fun factor of the series and I’m thankful they pulled that off. My only concern is if this is the proper direction for the series.

Burnout, to me, is all about the racing. I enjoy Crash Mode or Road Rage from time to time but in the end, only the Race mode had the legs to keep me coming back for more. Unfortunately, through all my time with the demo, I couldn’t find one race event. It’s possible that I somehow joined the wrong games or missed all the race events for the entire evening but I don’t think that’s the case. As I said, my love for this series is the pure racing, the incredible sense of speed combined with the wrecks has yet to be topped. I don’t enjoy tediously hunting down and driving through billboards or competing for the most hang time off of a jump. There are also, “parking” challenges that I couldn’t find anywhere. That doesn’t sound very speedy or crashy to me.

I understand it’s just a demo but seeing as they decided to demonstrate their new product as more of a sandbox-style racing title instead of an actual racing title leads me to believe their focus has shifted. It’s too early to pass judgement but I’d like to hear from everyone else on your early impressions. I know it looks great, sounds great and the networking is spectacular. I’m concerned about the game itself; the Burnout I know and love.