Joystiq [PlayStation]

Realistic and powerful. That's how the cars in Burnout Paradise are being described. Their engines are loud, their paint is shiny, their speed is ferocious! Basically, the cars are pretty badass. Built from the ground up instead of using an existing engine, Criterion's Burnout Paradise has a lot going for it. The neatest feature is the damage physics. Ramming a pole at extremely high speeds will result in car-wrapping goodness, with details mirroring all those old crash test dummy videos. Sometimes, if you're especially violent in your wipeout, you can crack your vehicle right in half.

Online racing is incredibly simple and incredibly seamless. Invite a buddy to race and when the person accepts, the race begins. No menus apparently. No waiting. This was demoed on the PS3 version, so we know we'll be getting this seamless feature. Chances are, the 360 build will get the same thing. The point is this: we're not getting shafted this time.

Every street has "race rules" across the 30 square mile city, so again you won't be bothered by pop-up menus or interrupting boxes of text to tell you the rules. It's hard to imagine how they'll do this, since it's nearly unprecedented, but it sounds lovely. There's a lot more to this game than meets the eye (no, they don't transform), with tune-up shops, crash mode, freeburn and more. Check out the rest of the preview if you're curious. It's worth the read!