Criterion WILL be supporting PlayStation Trophies in a future update of Burnout Paradise. It won’t be the Codename: Cagney update, but Trophies will be coming to Paradise soon.

Now, if that wasn’t enough excitement for the week, Criterion is adding Timed Challenges – a new feature that’s coming to Burnout Paradise online in Codename: Cagney that gives you even more ways for you and your online friends to get together and have amazing fun with cars.

If you’ve not played Burnout Paradise before, you may not know about what we call “Freeburn” or “Freeburn Challenges.” So if you haven’t, here’s the deal:

Burnout Paradise is about having fun with cars in a massive, open-world city. Sure, it’s about racing and other game modes, but one of the things that really sets Paradise apart is “Freeburn.” Up to eight players meet online to just mess around in their cars – see who can drift the furthest, get the most air, spins, barrel rolls, drive furthest in oncoming traffic, etc.

Freeburn Challenges are a part of that mode – special challenges that the host of the online game can activate for everyone to do together.

A challenge can be anything from simply driving in oncoming traffic or finding a billboard and smashing it, to lining up all of your teammates and jumping over them. It’s about teamwork and having fun, and there are 350 of these challenges to play with.

Now, Timed Challenges are a new set of 70 Freeburn Challenges that are coming with the Codename: Cagney update that add an extra, but exciting, element – a timer.

When a Timed Challenge is started, players must meet in a specified place within Paradise City. Once there, a timer begins to count down and the team of players must race to complete a challenge in the world in the shortest time possible. If you’re all successful and beat the clock, your best time is put on a leaderboard.

Sounds simple? It is, but it’s loads of fun, and that leaderboard drives everyone back for “just one more go” because you know you can shave a few more seconds off your best time!

3 New Freeburn Game Modes:

Online Stunt Run

• This is 8-player simultaneous online Stunt Run – everyone competes for the highest score within the 2 minute time limit and you can play anywhere in Paradise City.
• An on-screen display shows all player scores, so you can easily see how you're doing.
• Earn multipliers for taking each other out but you lose your combo score, if you're taken down.
• Eliminated players are greyed out of the scoring area but can exact brutal revenge by chasing after players that have managed to keep their combos alive beyond the time-out.
• For the first time, you can drive alongside someone as they complete a billion score in Stunt Run - you can absolutely use this mode to try and show off to your friends.

Online Road Rage

• This is an 8-player online team event.
• At the start, everyone chooses their team (red or blue).
• One team of "runners" has to drive to a checkpoint then the finish – they can only see one checkpoint ahead.
• The other team has to take them down. These guys can see the checkpoint and finish and choose whether to wait and ambush in key locations, shortcut to the action if they get left behind or just follow the pack and cause chaos.

Online Marked Man

• We randomly choose a "Marked Man".
• There's an intense few moments, while all players wait for the selection to be made – you want to stay close to other players, so you can hit the Marked Man, as soon as he's selected but far enough away that that you can run like hell if it's you that's the Marked Man.
• The target is selected and a 90 second timer starts – you get 1 point if you survive and 1 point if you take down the Marked Man. After 90 seconds a new Marked Man is selected at random.
• If you're the Marked Man, you can't see the attacking players on the map, your car is a little slower and you don't get boost.
• The session usually consists of around 10-12 minutes of intense gameplay depending on the number of players involved.

70 New Freeburn Challenges

-- 70 new timed multi-part Freeburn Challenges
-- Leaderboards for these challenges that log your best time (as well as those people who did it with you)

Vehicles

-- Hunter Olympus
-- A secret Criterion Car!

New liveries

-- Rossolini Tempesta Dream
-- Two fan-created liveries the Oval Steel Racer and Inferno Hippie Van
-- A secret Criterion livery!

Custom Soundtracks

-- Custom Soundtrack support on PS3

Other high-priority fixes and updates

-- If you're in a 3 or more player challenge and a player drops out, the remaining players can still complete it (subject to it being a challenge that can handle this!)
-- "Previously" section on the search games list now displays Challenges, Today's Best and Freeburn game modes, making it loads easier to decide which game you want to join
-- You can now view Leaderboards and Options in an online game
-- You can now mute other online players in the show players screen
-- You can now mute yourself if you have a PS3 Eye/Eye toy
-- We've increased time-out for online races, and if all players complete the races within the timer, then you go straight to results
-- The Airfield has been changed to help with the drivability of the area and make it a little easier to complete the hoop challenges
-- Online cars now show damage - roll up to the start in a half-destroyed Hunter Cavalry and everyone else will see it!
-- Added a stronger display message if you rule all of Todays Best
-- The Easy Drive menu & Challenges page now loops from top to bottom
-- Fixed the navigation system so that it takes into account the next check point in a race
-- Fixed traffic not reappearing in Freeburn after a no-traffic race
-- Fixed online races using Lawrence Road - it's been reporting finish distances with a little inaccuracy
-- Revised 30+ car resets following crashes
-- All new sound effects added for Easy Drive
-- Driving backwards in Road Rage now ends the event as it does in Marked Man
-- Option to invert camera axis for the look around camera on right stick
-- Online player information made accurate on the instance a player goes through a checkpoint in races
-- If you set VOIP mix to zero it is now saved correctly
-- 1080i support for "almost HD" sets
-- Improved the Standard Definition rendering on PS3
-- New highlight to show the player in Today's Best
-- Easy Drive fades out if it's unused for 20 seconds
-- Boost chaining no longer possible by drifting in open areas

Feel the adrenaline course through your veins as you take to the road for the first time in Paradise City, where the action is all around you. Explore the city, discover events, and look for the best opportunities to crash, jump and pull signature takedowns. In Burnout Paradise you’re given the keys to the city, but it’s up to you to earn the keys to the meanest and most dangerous cars on the street, and earn your Burnout licence.

With true open world freedom, seamless 'EasyDrive' online multiplayer, four unique single-player events, and hundreds of online Freeburn challenges, Burnout Paradise thrusts gamers into an incredibly vivid HD world that pushes the limits of the PS3 and Xbox 360. The white knuckle action explodes as players pull up at any stoplight and spin their wheels to jumpstart the action.

Spectacular bone-crushing crashes and an unparalleled sense of speed will always be a hallmark of Burnout games but Burnout Paradise ups the ante with an all new game design that expands the experience into a deeper, ever more immersive driving dream.

Some of the key features that set Burnout Paradise apart include:

• True Open World Freedom - The entire city will be available from the outset, giving players the freedom to explore this immersive world known as Paradise City. Experience open world driving Burnout style as the action begins with you, but it doesn't have to end.
• EasyDrive Online Social Gaming - See your friends online with the EasyDrive Friends List and connect with them instantly without having to wait or exit your game. Burnout Paradise is revolutionizing the way players jump on and offline, making it as simple and quick as possible.
• Single-player Events - Choose from Race, Marked Man, Road Rage, and Stunt by pulling up to the numerous stoplights in the game to initiate the event. The action isn't forced any longer, as players have the freedom to start and even end a challenge at their leisure.

Burnout Paradise will have you feeling every bump, crash, scrape, and collision using Sony's new DUALSHOCK 3 Wireless Controller with rumble feature for the PS3. The EasyDrive online Friends List keeps the action flowing on the PS3, as players get into a challenge with three easy taps of a button. Once the competition heats up, players can grab snapshots as they rip through opponents and collect candid Mugshots of friends and foes alike using the PLAYSTATION Eye. The Xbox 360 version of the game features Mugshots using Xbox LIVE Vision.

Burnout Paradise, rated E10+ by the ESRB and 3+ by PEGI, is currently available worldwide on PS3 and Xbox 360.