Burnout Paradise Remastered Is The Answer To Need For Speed Not Satisfying Your Speed Needs

A few years after EA acquired Criterion Games in 2004, the publisher shifted the studio from its self-grown racing franchise Burnout to the publisher's own Need for Speed series. The results have been less than satisfying. The most recent installment, Need for Speed: Payback was revealed to be, to no one's surprise, a delivery system for loot boxes.

As such, the announcement of Burnout Paradise Remastered can only be taken to be confirmation that Payback isn't satisfying as many player's needs as EA wanted, compelling the publisher to turn the warm comfort of a familiar brand. This enhanced version of Criterion's classic open-world racing game will launch on March 16 for around $40 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

EA has yet to confirm if grass will be greener and if girls will be pretty, but they've promised that when Burnout Paradise Remastered takes players home, it will take them to a place with 4K resolution support for PS4 Pro on Xbox One X and native 1080p / 60 fps visual performance on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Burnout Paradise Remastered will include almost all previously released downloadable content. The only exception being the Time Savers Pack, a purchase that let players unlock every vehicle in the game. Although the remaster is coming first to consoles, both digitally and at retail, EA said it will later release a Windows PC version exclusively in its Origin store.

Originally released in January 2008, Burnout Paradise was the last main entry in Criterion's Burnout series before Criterion was tasked with Need for Speed games. 2004's Burnout 3: Takedown and 2006's Burnout Revenge were similarly beloved installments. 

Burnout Paradise Remastered is being developed by Criterion in collaboration with Guildford, U.K.-based Stellar Entertainment Software. A representative told Polygon that there are currently no plans regarding the Nintendo Switch for Burnout Paradise Remastered.