Electronic Arts are taking their popular Burnout series in a new direction, with the introduction of a free-roaming environment in their latest game in the franchise, Burnout Paradise on Xbox 360 and PS3. EA still say that the game will retain its sense on speed, but the open world will create a ‘deeper, ever more immersive driving dream’.

On PS3, Burnout Paradise will take advantage of the rumble feature of the Dualshock 3 controller and both formats will allow the use of their prospective cameras (Playstation Eye and Xbox live Vision) so gamers can take snapshots and mugshots during races and send them to friends.

It also looks as though there won’t be a lobby system online. It seems that we’ll just jump into the persistent game world, pull up to traffic lights, rev our engines and then challenge people within the game. It’s all very Test Drive Unlimited.

"This is the true beginning of next generation racing. On PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360, we are delivering a game that brings brilliant graphics into HD at 60 frames per second. Burnout Paradise does something that no other Burnout game has ever done – it gives the player full control on how to play the game,"said Alex Ward, Creative Director at EA Criterion Studios. "At Criterion, we have a long history of delivering stand-out software on the PlayStation consoles. The entire team is fired up about the opportunity to carry that heritage into the PLAYSTATION 3 generation." Burnout Paradise is due for release in Q4 2007.