[Reefsmoka]

Yes, its free, no strings attached:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/freebies/b...e-box-p/834553

Just click "go to deal" and follow the instructions.

[floppybootstomp]

Nice link reef, can't beat free

However....

It won't run for me, the game crashes.

First you have to download EA's install manager and sign up to their games store, obviously giving your name, address, e-mail and phone number. You don't, for this game, have to give credit or debit card details. EA only spam me about three times a month and as far as I know the install manager is harmless but thought I'd mention it anyway.

After a very confusing purchase sequence it took an hour to download. Then it downloaded and installed a patch.

And on starting, it crashed.

I'm running XP SP3 all latest motherboard drivers on this machine. I upgraded Nvidia video drivers to V260.99, checked I had latest audio drivers (I have), installed all latest Microsoft security updates and defragged. It's worth mentioning that Avast Anti-Virus blocked the installation of the Nvidia drivers, identifying them as Malware so I had to temporarily disable Avast (and am now also considering going back to Antivir).

I lowered the screen resolution and disabled anti-aliasing and still the game won't start, I just get that Window telling me 'has encountered a problem etc....'

This game, incidentally, costs £4.45 from Play.com inc postage.

So, nice sentiments reef but for me I've just wasted some time for nothing. The game is supposed to run ok on XP or Vista according to tech spec.

If anybody else has any luck with this, please let us know here, thanks.

[EvanDavis]

This is about as far as I have got

[floppybootstomp]

Update, I've managed to get the game running.

I lowered the res another notch to 1064 x 768 and I also closed Steam from running in the background, not sure which one worked.

It won't recognise my Logi wireless gamepad though and playing a driving game on the keyboard is like having a bath with your boots on. I may plug the Xbox gamepad in and see if it recognises that.

The game itself? Good car handling, absolute arcade, good fun and completely awful graphics.

I can't play this without using a gamepad though so we shall see.

Also worth mentioning that as the game is downloaded and installed through EA's download manager there is no executable file that can be opened on another machine so I'm guessing the game is restricted to one machine.

And if a hard disk crashes, will EA let you download again any games you've purchased through their download manager.

I don't want to appear ungrateful to reef, it's a freebie but for a 2008 game it's giving all the characteristics of a game made in 2001.

[floppybootstomp]

And finally...

The game won't run at anything higher than 1064 x 768 and won't recognise either of my gamepads so it's goodbye Burnout: Paradise City which is a shame cos it seemed quite good.

Maybe I'll try it on the Xbox if I see it cheap.

[EvanDavis]

I'm still getting no further than my previous post

[Reefsmoka]

Its running maxed out on everything fine for me. I just love doing the crashes down every road, best part of the game!

I've got it on 1920x1080 no probs

[floppybootstomp]

Well, these are my machine spec:

Asus M2N-sli motherboard.
Athlon AM2 dual core 3.2Ghz stock speed.
2Gb memory
Nvidia 9800GT 512Mb
Win XP SP3
All latest updates, software and drivers, plenty of Hard Disk space.

Bit of a mystery

Reef, are you using a gamepad or wheel or a keyboard?

[Reefsmoka]

been using keyboard, need to get a 360 pad on the go for sure though, definatly a pad game!

[Reefsmoka]

Also once you've downloaded and installed the game you can just uninstall the EA downloader tool, though its completely harmless and doesnt run unless you open up the ea download manager itself.