Platinum Trophy #7: Burnout Paradise Remastered
Date Earned: 2nd April 2018
Dopamine Index:
Burnout Paradise launched all the way back in 2008, and it remains my favourite open world racing game to this day.
Anyone who knows me will be familiar with my love for this series, and while I prefer the stage-based approach of the older titles, Burnout Paradise Remastered serves as surviving evidence that Criterion Games was operating on another level 20 years ago.
The remaster itself is fine, but even if it was a simple port job, I’d still love it — more so than the myriad modern options available to me.
I’ve got nothing against the likes of The Crew Motorfest or Forza Horizon 5; I enjoyed them quite a bit, actually. The thing is, Burnout Paradise was so ahead of its time that its online features still feel like they outpace games released now.
The game begins in its offline state, loading you into Paradise City to wreak havoc on your own terms, but a simple press of the d-pad activates online play and seamlessly slots you into a lobby. It’s practically instant; it felt like magic in 2008, and it’s still impressive in 2026.
But it isn’t just the online features that make it my favourite open world arcade racer. The driving is, if you ask me, first rate; drifting is delicious, steering is responsive, the handling changes subtly depending on your vehicle, and the sense of speed is unmatched.
Paradise City itself is small by modern open world standards, but it’s so tightly designed. I can navigate it in my head. There are many memorable landmarks and distinct areas, and the whole map is dense with events to complete, shortcuts to find, and billboards to smash.
It’s brilliant. The cars are brilliant, the racing is brilliant, the crashes are brilliant, the soundtrack, the way you start events by spinning your wheels at the traffic lights, auto-repairs at petrol stations, DJ Atomika chiming in with some nonsense — it’s all brilliant.
This series of features is about Trophies; I barely gave them a passing thought as I played through Burnout Paradise Remastered.
Looking through the list now, it’s not a particularly difficult set, perhaps save for one that asks you to meet up with seven other players in a specific location. That’s one that’ll only become more difficult with time.
Other than that, though, this was probably my most effortless platinum so far. Just a sheer pleasure. It always makes things easier when it’s a game you love this much.
Cheers, Burnout Paradise Remastered.
Do you have the platinum Trophy in Burnout Paradise Remastered? Let us know in the comments section below.