Burnout Paradise Big Surf Island Hands-On

We downloaded the biggest Burnout DLC to date--the brand new Big Surf Island.

Burnout Paradise has received its fair share of downloadable content, and over the past year, it's definitely led the way in terms of postrelease extras. However, Big Surf Island, released this week, is the biggest and most expensive addition to Burnout yet. For $12.99/£9.99/€12.99, you can now drive over the bridge east of Paradise City and onto a totally new island, complete with new races, jumps, and vehicles. We downloaded the content fresh from the Net as soon as it was released, and we're pleased to say that while it's costly, it's still well worth checking out.

Check out our video hands-on to see Big Surf Island in action!

The big draw of the Big Surf Island DLC is obviously the extended playing area, but there's plenty more to experience other than new real estate. There are a total of nine new cars, including a dust storm buggy, which is open from the off. Big Surf Island is packed to the brim with insane jumps, and the dust buggy is the perfect vehicle to tackle them with because it's fast, light, and agile. There are also plenty of new challenges to complete--15 events, 10 freeburn challenges, and more than 100 billboards, smashes, and jumps to find. We can't profess to have found everything in the add-on, but Criterion promises more than five hours of playtime from the DLC.

The island itself is designed like a playground for the rich and famous inhabitants of Paradise City. Not only are there shops and malls all over the place, but there's also a ski jump at the very peak of the island. This attraction offers the highest jump on the island, but there are many humongous jumps to be had, from construction sites to lighthouses. Exploring this island offers some of the most fun we've ever had in Burnout Paradise because there's just so much barrell-rolling fun to be had with the new buggy.

The races on Big Surf Island take the form of checkpoint races, meaning you have to pass through gates on a looped track rather than race from A to B. There's also a new event type called island tours that is particularly challenging because it involves racing around the island to a very short timer. All in all, though, the new challenges should keep you going for quite a while, and you can still drive them in all of the cars, bikes, and other DLC vehicles that you might have previously bought.

It's an expensive business keeping up with Burnout Paradise's DLC--all of the collected content would cost you £48.54 if you were to download it on the PlayStation Network. That said, Burnout Paradise is still one of, if not, the best arcade racing games on the market, and if you only buy one piece of DLC for the game, then Big Surf Island should be it. Check out our impressions of previous Burnout DLC on our reviews blog, and if you're new to the series, check out the full review of the original game.