When EA announced Burnout Paradise as an open-world racing game, news sites revelled in the concept of a sandbox-style Burnout experience. When it released, that concept held steadfast in the eyes of many critics, who hailed the game as the rightful heir to Oblivion as the ultimate sandbox video game. It’s an understandable view, given the freedom Burnout Paradise offers; players can roam a large area that’s full of separate, optional objectives. This, coupled with the deliberate downplaying of the main progressional arc (license upgrading), promotes the feeling of being let loose within a sandbox.

I, however, believe that the term sandbox doesn’t do Burnout Paradise justice. Neither does the supposed antonym of that term, linear. I believe the appropriate description for it is progressional, in that the game places emphasis on the player progressing through the game, with progress being from the first time the player loads up the game to 100% completion of the game’s objectives. This is not a linear progression from a start point to an end point because the path in between is not set. One could argue that, because there’s no obligation to progress through the game in such a fashion, that the game is not progressional. I would argue that players are always progressing through the game, intentionally or unintentionally, such is the nature of Burnout Paradise’s design.

Firstly, the game provides a stat within its pause menu that informs the player how much of the game has been completed (Percentage Complete). Underneath this stat is information detailing what’s contributing to the player’s percentage of completion, such as how many of the city’s evens have been found, how many billboards have been smashed through, and how any jumps have been jumped over. Apart from the afore-mentioned license upgrades, which are as I said deliberately underplayed, this Percentage Complete stat is the best indication of a player’s progress through the game, or indeed the best indication of how well the player’s played the game, outside of multiplayer-associated information. In fact, apart from the Time Played stat, it’s the foremost registration of a player’s time with the game, beyond the acquiring of new cars and bikes from completing certain objectives.

Nope, wasn't me, and never will be...

It’s not unusual for a game to feature such a stat, but what’s unusual about Burnout Paradise is how much it ties everything to this stat. Almost everything a player does in the game can potentially contribute to the Percentage Complete stat. Every road driven down represents a potential time trial to beat. Every gate smashed through adds to the total of smashed gates. Even simple, seemingly isolated things like a barrel roll contribute to this stat through in-game awards. While the freedom to do anything within reason and in whatever order in Paradise City is unarguable, the umbrella over all of these possibilities is the Percentage Complete stat. Any expression of self beyond basic driving, be it through speed, style or destruction, will most likely contribute to this stat. Maybe I’m being too literal about the term sandbox, but the concept shouldn’t be about finding all the various ways to manipulate the sand that’s within the box.

Maybe I myself am placing too much emphasis on how Burnout Paradise underscores and promotes completion, but I’ve yet to even mention how the game ties in achievements (Xbox 360) and trophies (PlayStation 3) to its play. The game is littered with these system-associated rewards that are mandatory for every game now. The rewards tie in closely with the different progression arcs within the game, such as mentioned above, and very closely to the main Percentage Complete stat. I’ve been playing Burnout Paradise on the PlayStation 3, and it easily has the most trophies I’ve ever seen in a PS3 game. So far, I’ve earned 31% of the trophies on offer, and I think that equates to roughly a 1:1 ration in terms of percentage to trophies. That’s the thing, though; the percentage of trophies accumulated, as opposed to the X-out-of-1000 system employed with GamerScore for retail games. A percentage, at least in my mind, leads me more to the idea of completion than a score, even if I know what the score is out of. Maybe it’s as simple as associating the term 100 percent with completion of a task. So, even the PlayStation trophies are making me view Burnout Paradise as progressional, as something to be wholly completed. Their frequent obtainment makes sure to remind me of it, too.

So what’s going to stop me from completing the game, and seeing 100% by Percentage Completed  on the start menu, or obtaining that Platinum trophy for getting all the other trophies within the game? The answer is not that I’m sensible, or busy, or that I’m not good enough to complete the game. Like most traditional video game players I have a completist streak in me, and I’m enjoying the game so much that I’d be prepared to do so – if I could. Thankfully, at least for my own personal hygiene and social needs, one of the trophies is awarded for taking a photo of yourself with a USB camera  that’s connected to the console. Happily, I have no such thing, and am not prepared to buy one just to complete this game. So, knowing that the end point on my progressional journey is impossible, I’m allowed to progress as far as I want along it until I get bored by the game, basically until the point it starts to feel more like work than fun. That doesn’t make it any less progressional and any more of a sandbox, just because I won’t complete it. It just means that I won’t be able to get a seat on the bus all to myself through special, anti-olfactory superpowers. What it does mean, however, is that the use of  sandbox and linear in video game criticism need a review, because progression within a video game is not limited to such vague, all-encompassing terminology. Burnout Paradise is not a traditional sandbox game, and it’s certainly not a linear game. So what is it?

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