To me, Takedown SLIGHTLY takes the throne due to how innovative it was for the series. It was the first game in the series to include a mechanic to wreck your opponents to get boost back, called “Takedown” (hence ‘Takedown’ in the title).
I think paradise is a better game, but I prefer takedown because I loved the road rage mode where you try to create the most damage, and I like the races not to be on an open map.
I also strongly agree that Burnout 3: Takedown and Burnout Revenge are the best in the series, the most focused and polished… Burnout Paradise is OK but lacks something those other two have.
Whenever I think about Burnout Paradise I think about somebody (I think it was Yahtzee) describing the world of Burnout Paradise as a post apocalyptic nightmare world where cars have taken over, and one lone human hides out in his radio station broadcasting desperately to a murderous mechanical audience.
While it’s possible that a different reviewer applied that hypothetical headcanon to the Burnout series, I believe you’re actually thinking of Ross’ Game Dungeon. Specifically the Trackmania Canyon video, not Burnout.
I love takedown, it is definitely up there with one of my favourite games of all time, paradise however was a struggle to get the motivation to finish.
I just don’t like open world games and the races all felt the same on paradise, all the takedowns felt like it was a repetition of the last and I just wasn’t enjoying it by the end.
Takedown feels more like a racing game, whereas Paradise’s open world lets you more accustomed with its environment, so the answer varies on what i want to play that time
I used to be a Takedown purist; but I kinda lean on the side of Paradise on the other side of having 100%'d the pre-remaster version without the DLCs added and shit. The only place I feel Paradise is lacking is we don’t get Aftertouch anymore, and there’s so many missing takedown types from Takedown and Revenge.
I do love how they created fake manufacturers and models to get around not having to license real-world manufacturers, too.
Paradise, revenge, and takedown, I played lots. While I liked them all Paradise has my vote. Has the driving mechanics and the crash mechanics of the main games but adds exploration and fun challenges.
Reading these replies , I’m going to have to watch some videos on Burnout 3. I played it back in the day but I’d forgotten things like aftertouch to wreck more vehicles.
I played through games 1 & 2 a few years back and I loved the Crash Junctions.
Having been playing Burnout: Paradise recently, I now see what’s missing. Its a fun racer but stripped of a lot of what came before.