The Big Surf Island Update or BSI, Brilliant Single (Player) Involvement

I think it's worth the 1000 points for the 7 hours play I had including all the 10 challenges done 10 times in Multi-player, people were desperate for that P12 Diamond, lol. (I was on and off line during those 7 hours, so I could have done it a lot faster, but I don't want to rush my 1000MSP, lol)

Though not accurate, it's been 1 year and 6 months since Paradise was released, and The Island/Big Surf Island is the culmination of Community feed back via telemetry (still a bone of contention for me, because if the TD's and Racing worked in the early days as well as voice coms, I think racing would have won over just driving about, but then again there are a lot of new people that just did only that, so hence Free-Burn won over Racing!), website reading/blogging, Showtime Scoring winners (have you found the easter eggs yet)and playing about with the handling and stuff, tweeking if you will, to give you the ultimate play ground, to Stunt Run and Showtime in!

Lots of places to get over 15 million stunt run scores, the Island is a non-stop Stunt Run Paradise if you stick to just playing the game without doing or going for wall tap spins or m4d l33t barrel rolls and easily over 4 million showtime scores, as there is traffic everywhere and a good collection of buses to rack up the scores, though I do find it hard to get across the bridge during Showtime, I could not see any traffic on it, but I was going the other way at the time, lol. But I can see people getting some Huge Scores in the next couple of days.

Back to the Post Head Line, the Single Player Experience on the Island is great! Loved the Road Rules (when they worked right though more of an online problem) Showtime scores (but not very big scores to beat mind), Bike Road Rules Day and Night (only done mine with the Toy Bike, but it was fun to do and because I can), Stunt Runs are fast but rack up good points with all the Jumps and Billboards about, and lots of Air time to be had too!

I thought the way the Marked Man was set up with check points was great, way more than on the main land, gave you a place to go like a real race, like the Road Rages from Burnout 3, but playing Hunt the Blue Guy or whatever name we made up then, it's so long ago. Oh, Chase the rabbit, that was it. Check points for Road Rage would have been a good edition too, but alas no...

Road Rage was just survive until you got your Takedowns, which was fun. And now the Island is out, I went back to the Main Land to test out how good the Hunter Olympus Governor was against hard hitting Pickups and other wieghty cars like the Van and the Old Annihilator too, on one of my two remaining Road Rages I have to do over there. And since they were my last Paradise events, I should have been going for over 27 takedowns in that event, and it was reset due to the Island to 15!!!? So an Easy score to get, lol.

Running down Paradise Keys Bridge for Road Rage was fun, and I love the aggressiveness of the AI, they were flying everywhere and hitting the barrel roll jumps trying to get verticles (sp) on me, lol. I even scored several Barrel roll verticle takedowns too, which was something I aimed to do ever since I saw Paradise was coming out all those years ago!

The Burning Route was fun for the Dust Storm and enjoy the Super Turbo, works well in a "Host" Specified race, but not selectable in a Host Picks type race event?

The Island Tour Races were great fun, it showed a lot of routes/ways around the Island for short cuts and other alternate routes and showed off the great work that the Team have done, in the last year.

I loved the races, they so reminded of what racing in a Burnout game is like, and did them several times, they flowed well, though maybe too many check points added, like the "There and Back Again" race, which could be cut down by half the amount.

The Cheverons from the sky check points were great and I wonder why they were never in the original game to start with?

Finding all the smashes and billboards was fun, and looking for my last ones was like some great treasure hunt, but when helping hn6, I found his last Billboard and smash for him, by shear coincidence, Suffur has the power, lol.

The cars were good unlocks, true I wish I got more, and that they were others than just toys, but it might make some people go back and buy the Toy Car packs, because they are fun, though can cause some nausia due to them bobbing about so much, to help with that, go in-car view ( hint Warped, lol).

The Carson Annihilator Street Rod, is one fast machine, but still not as awesum as the all rounder Hot Rod Extreme, but a good edition to the game for those downhill road times, or so I hear, I tried and failed, lol.

The GT Toy Night Hawk has some speed to it, as well as the Toy P12 88 Special (and its so silent when in Hover mode), take that for a run across the jumps across Paradise Keys Bridge, coming from the main land and see the Air Time rack up. The Toy Bootlegger was alright, the sound effect though funny when you hit the horn does get on ones chest, and the Toy Spirit was good for Showtime. (The P12 Diamond did nothing for me, sorry, and as a prize for doing 500 challenges was a bit lame in my honest opinoin, I was expecting something more unique, rather than a souped up clone.)

So for 1000MSp or whatever price you paid for the single player experience, it's worth it, but it's only equivilant to a night out, around 3 to 7 hours game play depending how rushed or slow you want to be, and with 9 new cars, it could seem a bargin.

Hell, I waited this long, so I had to buy it right, lol.

It does seem odd that for all the hard work the team did, I have to refer it to a night out on the beer, true, way cheaper, but both just as fun, but this is a game add on and I was expecting more? Please Sirs can I have some more?

Now the Multi Player.

The Challenges were great fun, but over so quick since they are a universal 10, amounting to anyone in the room can do them and unlock them.

Then again has anyone done them all, with 2 to 8 players in a squence, to see if there is a hidden unlock, for doing all players?

And whenever hn6 puts up his video of 'Going through the consruction yard Hoops' challenge, you will see you don't have to go up to the roof of the buildings to do it, he did it from the Pit, lol. I even managed it, though not during the challenge, though I am still trying to jump out of the Pit/Bowl, and jumping over Shires to land on the beach for a distance jump and air time scores, I will do it, just got to find the right car, getting close with the Toy P12 88 special.

You can compete for Stunt Runs scores and Showtime, Road Rules for all the vehicals (sp), then that is it!

There are no racing check points/ or racing for that mater on the Island, which is a real shame, and really dessip me off no end, they create this great type of lapped racing, with Cheverons from the Sky, and they don't put them in multiplayer or even on the main land. WTF!

Road Rage, Marked Man, are not even on the Island either, same, with Cops and Robbers! If you start any of these event you have to drive over the Bridge to compete/play them (Cops and Robbers the usual Jump to their start points).

If everyone is on the Island and you start a Road Rage, it does give a good point to race across the Bridge together, and fun could ensue/insue (sp?) but as the TD'd phys' is still off it can be over quite quick, but it does seem to have been tweeked a little.

On another tweeking thing, some of the cars have had some Speed and Boost changes done as well, I noticed the Roadster has gone down by one speed, sure it was a 3 speed not a 2! But I could be wrong?

I find that longevity for the Island is cut to a very short experience, with no online racing, or online Island tour for that matter, and since the Island has been created in such away, that going for mad flat spins and barrel rolls seems to have been cut from the equation as well, the jumps have no real decent run ups or are too steep for speed, to flat spin more than 1300 degrees and the best Barrel Roll I can do is a 6 off the Crane Jumps!

Don't get me wrong, it's early days to find wall tap areas and stuff like that. The Inspiral Car Park has a lot of potential for flat spins. But when you first see the Island in pictures you think 10 barrel rolls and 3000 degree flat spins would be the norm even for new people to the game, well maybe not 10 but you get me, as well as mad jump distances, but the best I heard about was 320 yards jump, and I'm close to that from the Ski Jump, if I make it into the Pit, I might break that 320 mark yet.

I have gone back to the main land with the new cars, and the P12 Toy 88 Special does a 280 yard jump into the quarry with ease and some roof distance landings off Read Lane to the train tracks, and the dust storm does 5&6 barrel rolls from the usual places. But with the Island I was expecting some mad stuff, and alas no, once again dissapointment...

I find that even with all the hard work and time that has gone into this game (It looks very pretty since it's purchased birth), and even with that assumed promise you see it ,you can drive it, which is not true there are crash zones everywhere on the Island, this game has not really been that open to begin with, let alone now.

Yes, it's a driving game, and I think that Alex (have to pick on you dude as you're the boss) has been very stubborn about putting in their trade mark racing from the other Burnout games into this game, I though that was what Criterion were going to deliver, a quality racing game for next gen!

And for me that has not happened, yes they have done some great work, with design and making it look visually pleasing, some hard work trying to get 8 players doing some very interesting stuff, from challenges to stunt runs, showtimes and being able to do them at the same time in the same room if you get me. All at 60fps, but it could have been so much more, and there is probably stuff i can't see that is really amazing, but i expected open world game play, drive anywhere, and so many options to racing or other game modes that I would run out of sticks to wave about!

Audience participation time!

I would like to ask the community from this site or readers of my blogs from anywhere, who have played Paradise for more than 100 hours to try and state what they were hoping for from this game, what is missing, what needs fixing (and bugzilla is still open for any niggly bits, i don't need those type of things listed here, cheers, go there instead, like that god damn lamp post outside the baseball stadium), what could be added, it might not make a blind bit of difference, but I would like to see what you people are thinking and hoping for.

I know some people are very happy with what Paradise is and has become please state that in your comments, but I know a lot of people are very dissapointed, and had expectations dashed. So time to talk about it. And be constructive or at least polite with your distructive comments. And don't diss other people's comments either, if they Like it cool, if they hate it cool, but this is more a wish list of fixes, wants and tweeks, and to some it will probably a waste of time/breath, but I want to see it all collected here for all to see, so keep a lid on the outrage and keep to I wanna see's, wanna does type of thing, rather that, Showtime sux type of comments, thank you for your co-operation in advance, I know you will try very hard, lol.

Some stuff I was hoping for, other than what I have ever written before, lol. Which still counts but i forgot them so time to start fresh, lol.

I know I was hoping for some racing tweeks (like what I saw on the Island but for all of the online modes, Sky Cheverons, Lapped racing, more check point placement spots, {even Yellow Barrier Cheverons too, lol, never gonna happen that one}).

That the motor bike section of the game would be finished, with racing, times, and challenge times collected to a leader boards.

That we would get world leader boards for any type of scoring in any part of the game. (One wish of mine was times for each car per road and race, so it was not always down to the faster cars for those scores). Also that Bikes and Cars could share the same space, in this "open world"?

That Road Rage was like the old school style with a start and finish points, with boost for Blue's and boost lock for Red's. And that you could create the track yourself for all the modes, even a stunt run type of racing too?

That we could manipulate a car's, boost and speed and wieght class, like a special car, and for all boost types as well. Just for fun.

I have others but I'll leave it at that, as some people will think the same as me and some will not and vise versa, and no "I want the plane" type comments either, that was an experiment, and even if it came to purchaseable light, it's not really behind a driving /racing game concept unless there were 8 of them in the sky too, with check points, lol.

Before anyone thinks about it, I do like this game I have spent a lot of hours on it, not as much as some, but I keep coming back in the hope that we will get more or that someone finds an answer to all our hopes for a great all round racing experience, I hope it will be in Paradise, but it could be that Split/Second will be the one for me. I know I am enjoying Fuel, but the online is even messed up on that but its only a week old, and has time for future updates to fix those problems.

Paradise has almost run it's course, it's going to be 2 years old in the New Year, and Criterion may have some more instore for us before that time has come, and I hope so, but after the cost of the equivilant of two games paid for, for the Paradise experience, I was expecting a more solid rounded out game after this time frame?

I still can't believe there is no Island Racing or Paradise enabled Sky Cheverons, or sky markers or whatever you want to call them, in this update! What a real shame imho!

Patience is something I taught myself, so I never know when it's going to run out?

By the way if anyone was watching DownLoad Festival, Limp Bizkit had a great set but their Guitarist was dress as an XBox Live Avatar, lol.