Talk about a wild ride. Add next-generation audiovisuals to the eye-popping collisions and gut-wrenching sense of speed the Burnout series is renowned for, and you get an incarnation that would have insurance claim adjustors shitting bricks. Players are placed in living, breathing 3-D urban playground Paradise City (complete with eponymous Guns 'N Roses theme song) where you chart your own "crash course." And it's a damn good time, whether burning rubber solo or teaming with up to seven additional friends in dozens of stunt-prone challenges.

Freedom of choice is the most marked improvement to the formula; you have the newfound ability to pick how, when and where you'll race. You'll discover destructible props, hidden shortcuts and all manner of events, with options to chart your own course through time trials and nudge opponents into guardrails. Granted, it's often necessary to backtrack, and you'll frequently find yourself repeating the same showdowns or spending tiresome hours attempting to unlock new contests and vehicles. Even so, there are always several more waiting just around the bend.

Between barrel roll-inducing leaps to headfirst skids into nearby scenery, with so much to see and do (let alone access in terms of hidden secrets), value for the money is unquestionable. Most of the enjoyment comes from seeing how much shattered glass and splintered metal you can spray across the game's gorgeously rendered streets. Featuring this much jaw-dropping mayhem, this satisfyingly barbaric game is the closest thing we'd advocate to actually succumbing to road rage.