User Score
9.0

Universal acclaim- based on 534 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 25 out of 534
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  1. May 25, 2023
    10
    Burnout 3:Takedown is peak of the burnout series. even when you never played racing game or any video game at all. you would have a great time playing this masterpiece. great handling, banger soundtracks, satisfiying gameplay loop and progression, Sound is great, and finally it just a banger game. 10/10
  2. May 25, 2023
    10
    Best game of all times, i loved playing it on my ps2. God i miss those days, were the best for racing games
  3. May 26, 2023
    10
    Best OST, amazing gameplay, just fun! Although maybe not as cool as Paradise, still a 10/10 for me
  4. May 25, 2023
    10
    One of the only arcade racing games with basically no faults. Game's got incredible polish and is just extremely fun, simple as that.
  5. May 25, 2023
    10
    ''Just High Octane Fun'' Really brings a lot of memories and revisiting this game is just a blast highly re-playable.
  6. May 25, 2023
    10
    Definitely the best racing game I've ever played. I played it again recently and it's still as fun as it was when I was a kid. Play it if you have the opportunity, much better if you have friends.
  7. May 25, 2023
    10
    An absolute blast to play. If you want an awesome racing experience with speed, crashes and carnage, this is the game for you. It pretty much defined every Burnout game that followed.
  8. May 26, 2023
    10
    The best driving game ever made - perfect combination of fun, destruction, competition, and racing. Still playing it 18 years later.
  9. May 26, 2023
    10
    This game is MASTERPIECE, you should buy it, i never had fun after 30 seconds in a rating game, and i keep having fun
  10. May 27, 2023
    10
    Best game I ever played. Highly recommend. Better than gran tourismo 4
  11. May 28, 2023
    10
    This is the best racing game ever created and nothing can change that. From soundtrack to gameplay is phenomenal. Wish it were remade.
  12. JWG
    May 31, 2023
    10
    This game is the GOAT of all racing games! There is nothing that is more fun, addictive, and easy to jump straight into the action!
  13. Jul 27, 2023
    10
    One of the best games ever for when youre pissed off
    dj stryker is pretty funny
  14. MarkT.
    Sep 9, 2004
    9
    Not normally a racing fan, but this is great fun - marred only by a couple of things: a poor soundtrack (does anyone know how you can change that?) and the continual repetition of training videos (can they be turned off?)
  15. BenC.
    Nov 25, 2004
    9
    It sounds brilliant and the demo is so much fun. Cannot wait to get into town and buy it. The guy who gave it a 3 is an idiot (are you trying to say that Pro Evo 4 is rubbish!) Give me a break.
  16. Mr.Kilowatt
    Sep 17, 2004
    9
    All of the really important factors, like playability, control, FUN they got right. My only complaint is the music and the very annoying DJ Striker. Turn off the music and you've got a perfect game.
  17. IvanF.
    Sep 20, 2004
    9
    The sense of speed depicted in Burnout 3: Takedown is magnificent. The graphics are beautiful and the crashes are rendered spectacularly. If there were less load times, the game would receive a 10.
  18. JonnyB.
    Jul 25, 2006
    9
    Not as great as the xbox version. The better xbox graphics make the game have a little more realistic looking crashes.
  19. GaryB.
    Oct 21, 2004
    9
    This is just a well-made, fun game without a lot of the usual racing game crap to deal with. There is one thing that is creepy about it though. The enthusiastic DJ (from SSX 3 I think) is constantly condoning vehicular homicide. That's cool and all, but he's so upbeat about it. "Smash into 30 cars and kill everyone!" See, it's kinda creepy if you think about it. If it were This is just a well-made, fun game without a lot of the usual racing game crap to deal with. There is one thing that is creepy about it though. The enthusiastic DJ (from SSX 3 I think) is constantly condoning vehicular homicide. That's cool and all, but he's so upbeat about it. "Smash into 30 cars and kill everyone!" See, it's kinda creepy if you think about it. If it were a game with a darker tone, then it wouldn't seem so out of place. Not a big deal of course, but something to think about. I think it would be balanced out if you could kill pedestrians, children in particular. Expand
  20. SPEEDDEVIL
    Sep 20, 2004
    9
    This is an awesome game. The best racing game out now. But it doesnt feel like burnout anymore and quite long loading times. But still what a game.
  21. SamF.
    Aug 9, 2005
    9
    If You want Crazy Crashes and loads of Fun get this Game. Its simply awesome. The Fun factor is amazing, But if your looking for realism then go buy GT4 Because this game is purely arcade gameplay with fast racing, wild physics and Sick Crashes. The Only thing that annoyed me was the Multipliers that really ruined the game beacuse Once you get a 2x or 3x multiplier you getting Gold Medal If You want Crazy Crashes and loads of Fun get this Game. Its simply awesome. The Fun factor is amazing, But if your looking for realism then go buy GT4 Because this game is purely arcade gameplay with fast racing, wild physics and Sick Crashes. The Only thing that annoyed me was the Multipliers that really ruined the game beacuse Once you get a 2x or 3x multiplier you getting Gold Medal Is Way too easy. Expand
  22. JohnD.
    Nov 17, 2007
    9
    This game is so near the perfect game... It's so much fun, but the only thing that starts to get frustrating is crashing into other cars (thank god this flaw was fixed in revenge).
  23. Aug 12, 2010
    9
    This by far the best Burnout game to ever come out. It has everything you could want: crashes, fast cars, and a large array of track variations. Overall, a very good game!
  24. Nov 21, 2011
    9
    Burnout 3 has been my first and last racing game, and not surprisingly my favorite racing game. All of the game modes are very fun and the World Tour took me forever to finish. So far I haven't had any problems with this game.
  25. Apr 11, 2016
    9
    Absolutely stunning. One of the best games there are on the PS2. It gives you a real sense of speed (even the slowest cars) and the fastest cars make you feel like they're doing 300! I don't see how you could improve on this game...but still let them try.
  26. Oct 27, 2014
    9
    I absolutely loved this game when I was younger and still love it today. It has great graphics for a 2004 game and has great racing mechanics and a truly satisfying mode where you get to blow up all cars in sight.
  27. Apr 3, 2015
    9
    17 hours it took me to finish this(didn't care about the golds). Dang that's good. The world tour is split into 2 parts: Race events and crash events. Crash is simple and fast and you're give a small intersection of part of road where you gotta drive up as fast as possible and crash into traffic causing the most collateral damage and picking multipliers. Very fun stuff. You also get you're17 hours it took me to finish this(didn't care about the golds). Dang that's good. The world tour is split into 2 parts: Race events and crash events. Crash is simple and fast and you're give a small intersection of part of road where you gotta drive up as fast as possible and crash into traffic causing the most collateral damage and picking multipliers. Very fun stuff. You also get you're race events going from simple races to trying to takedown tohe most racers in the alloted time.

    Good sense of progression with cars mostly being unlocked in categories such as musle, sport, super classes. But at the end of the day it's all about speed and the ragdoll car physics. The game rewards you by driving dangerously and crashing in this game is a thing of glory. Your car will simply flip out sometimes 30 feet in the air and with a press of a button you can control your fall in slo-mo.

    Seriously it's hard to beat this franchises for a rotation game in between more serious fare. It's perfect escapist and fully worth any price given what it gives back. I will review the other titles in the franchises so look'em up to see which the best in the end.
    Expand
  28. Jul 13, 2016
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Awesome game it has 179 levels I think, the only thing I hate is the lakeside special event that I lost around 140 times and you don't know who will go to first place in single except yourself. Well there are many things that this game does right like graphics, collisions between cars, walls, destroying trucks, racing without much traffic, multiplayer, soundtracks, announcer, colors for your car and challenges. What more do we need in a racing game? The game is fast paced and unpredictable. Expand
  29. Sep 10, 2023
    9
    "Burnout 3: Takedown" is one of the best arcade racers of all time. Featuring a blistering sense of speed and slick visuals, it was a huge improvement over its predecessors (also made by Criterion Games). Released in Sept. 2004, "Takedown" was a huge critical hit with some publications even naming it the best video game of the year. That was a major surprise since "Grand Theft Auto: San"Burnout 3: Takedown" is one of the best arcade racers of all time. Featuring a blistering sense of speed and slick visuals, it was a huge improvement over its predecessors (also made by Criterion Games). Released in Sept. 2004, "Takedown" was a huge critical hit with some publications even naming it the best video game of the year. That was a major surprise since "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas", "Halo 2" and "Half-Life 2" were also released in '04. I remember playing the demo at a GameStop and being so impressed that I bought it a few days later. Needless to say, I didn't regret it. This was the most memorable PS2 game I played along with "Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty" and GTA: Vice City. I would give it a 9.4 out of 10. Expand
  30. Nov 5, 2020
    9
    It's until today the best arcade racer ever released for any kind of video gaming platform. In my opinion PS2 handles it better than Xbox since it's better optimized to support Criterion's RenderWare engine.

    The graphics are still stuning to date and the sense of speed is pure madness, even though the fastest cars reach something near 340 km/h, you feel like driving over 400 and the
    It's until today the best arcade racer ever released for any kind of video gaming platform. In my opinion PS2 handles it better than Xbox since it's better optimized to support Criterion's RenderWare engine.

    The graphics are still stuning to date and the sense of speed is pure madness, even though the fastest cars reach something near 340 km/h, you feel like driving over 400 and the risk is unmatched. The damage model is by far the most accurate you can get from a videogame, smashed cars look really close to scrapped cars in real life accidents and no other game, not even Racedriver: GRID was able to match this level of detail.

    I'm playing it right now for the third time. Played it as a child, as a teenager and now as an adult and the value stays the same, incredibly fun, insanely hard and outstandingly gorgeous. Needless to say the soundtrack is remarkable and one of the best of all times.
    Expand
  31. Jun 18, 2019
    9
    What a beautifull game to play with friends or solo, great campaigns, i started to play it about a few months, PS2 never gets old!!!! One of the best car crash games, beautifull graphics ans playability !!!!!!
    5 stars recomended !!!!
  32. JonnyS.
    Dec 10, 2004
    8
    That guy who gave ti a 3, wot is he on man? he takes games way 2 seriously, this game is wiked trust.
  33. BurnOut
    Sep 30, 2004
    8
    Mindless fun for a while.
  34. LukeT.
    Oct 2, 2005
    8
    Brilliant move from the previous games in the Burnout series. "Road Rage" mode is the best part of the game in my opinion and I do recommend going online.
  35. MarkM.
    Jan 7, 2005
    8
    The only reason I rated this game an 8 is because of the horrible soundtrack. The only decent song is The Ramones (side note: for you youngsters out there who think Green Day or Blink 182 are punk, go buy a Ramones CD or download a few Black Flag or Dead Kennedy's songs -- then, and only then, will you truly know what punk is). Other than the music, however, this game is a blast!! The only reason I rated this game an 8 is because of the horrible soundtrack. The only decent song is The Ramones (side note: for you youngsters out there who think Green Day or Blink 182 are punk, go buy a Ramones CD or download a few Black Flag or Dead Kennedy's songs -- then, and only then, will you truly know what punk is). Other than the music, however, this game is a blast!! I've never played the Burnout series before, so I can't compare it to past games. All I can say is that this game is a blast! Oh, and a NOTE TO HAT M. -- um, I drive a car every day as well ... have for almost 20 years. The difference is that I don't get to go 180 mph into oncoming traffic, push the jerk who just cut me off over a guard rail, nor do I get rewarded for causing $600K in damage after causing a 30-car pile up. If that's what YOU do every day, you are either the worst driver in recorded history, or learned to drive in Atlanta. I dunno ... maybe someone at EA games was mean to you or something. Expand
  36. Conrad
    Oct 3, 2004
    8
    Exellent game. Few problems - DJ is crap, soundtrack is crap and everything gets a bit repetitive after a while.
  37. SteveM
    Sep 10, 2004
    8
    Great game, shame I was forced to totally shut off the appauling music. Lazy Generation as its theme tune!? The loading times are extremely long also and the terrible "are you REALLY sure you want to quit/save?" rears its ugly head way too often. Apart from that, its good.
  38. BenN.
    Nov 15, 2004
    8
    Crash fm sucks, but the rest is brilliant.
  39. May 14, 2012
    8
    I really love this game its challenging and you can unlock bunch of cars. There is nothing better than crashing cars in other cars. In my option this is best driving game ever made.
  40. Oct 3, 2015
    8
    El mejor juego arcade de carreras , ostias como panes , accidentes brutales , todo un juegazo divertido sobretodo para pasar un buen rato entre amigos .
  41. Aug 19, 2016
    8
    La velocidad y la jugabilidad en este juego no tienen similar en la PS2, los gráficos geniales para la época y las variadas secciones por desbloquear hacen de este juego el mejor juego de carreras de la PS2 y uno de los mejores de la sexta generación.
  42. Dec 22, 2020
    8
    Great game but I do have several complaints:

    1. Why can't you turn the camera in After-Touch? That would be incredibly useful in both races and Crash Mode. Oftentimes the game gives you a camera perspective that is totally useless in these situations. 2. Sometimes it feels like the game is downright trolling you with the placement of cars. I get that racing through traffic is a
    Great game but I do have several complaints:

    1. Why can't you turn the camera in After-Touch? That would be incredibly useful in both races and Crash Mode. Oftentimes the game gives you a camera perspective that is totally useless in these situations.

    2. Sometimes it feels like the game is downright trolling you with the placement of cars. I get that racing through traffic is a staple of the Burnout series and that randomly placed cars add an extra level of intensity and excitement. BUT, oftentimes there is absolutely NO WAY to avoid some of those unless you're a clairvoyant because they're e.g. behind hills or tight turns, or you just couldn't see them because of overdone lens-flares and glimmering asphalt. The only sensible way of dealing with these situations theoretically would be to slow down, which goes against everything this game stands for (and also isn't an option when you're doing a difficult time trial). So in the end, it often feels like you crashed simply because the game f*cked you over, not because you made a mistake.

    3. Speaking of trolling: The AI. Most of the time is is suuuuuuper rubber-bandy, which is annoying in and of itself. I get that rubber-banding is common in racing games, but if you take it too far it creates this situation where 80-90% of a race doesn't matter at all, because everybody can catch up to anybody at any given time, so only the last lap of the race is really important (which is of course where I make almost all of my mistakes lol).

    Conversely, sometimes during a Face-Off, the polar opposite happens: You crash one time quite early in the race and then your opponent is 5, 8, 16 seconds ahead of you and you just CANNOT catch up to him anymore, no matter how well you're driving, which is BS as well.

    4. Expanding on the opponents: The rules on what causes a Takedown seem really incosistent. Sometimes you crash into them with full force and they will keep driving as if nothing happened, and sometimes the lightest graze will sed them flying off of the side-rails (or even no touch at all as with the "Psyche-Out"). Similarly, I'm often yelling **** because I find many crashes to be unjustified. The hit-boxes just seem weird.

    5. The soundtrack, awesome as it is, could be more expansive. 40 songs seems like a lot, but if you've been playing for some time, it does get a little repetitive (especially since there are likely some songs which you're going to want to skip). I think the Xbox version allowed you to play your own songs off of the Harddrive, but in the PS2 version, that's of course not an option.

    6. More race tracks would've also been nice, although I do appreciate the different variations and combinations of each one.

    Sooooo, those were my nit-picky criticisms of one of the greatest arcade-racers of all time! lol
    Overall, the game is still amazing and a lot of fun, the feeling that you get from expertly racing and drifting through these courses while dodging traffic and listening to one of the best video game soundtracks ever is pretty much unparalleled to this day. So if you haven't played it, I absolutely encourage you to find a way to do so! (*cogh* PCSX2 *cough*)
    Expand
  43. May 23, 2021
    8
    One of the best racing games ever! It is chaotic and fast paced.

    Seeing how you wreck your opponent in crash cam is so satisfying.
  44. Aug 11, 2010
    7
    I totally with you! Its good to see that majority people find this game exciting, thrilling, and majorly addictive. Though this game is really huge when u play the career mode. But gives u a bit of a challenge. Involves major crashes, High speeds, and hectic driving. It's a fantastic experience! whoever doesn't like this game. obviously. can't do it.
  45. Oct 6, 2022
    7
    this game was very difficult and the point cars had more stamina than in any other game in the series. it also has the worst songs in the entire series, and hard to get cars. no wonder my favorite is paradise because everything in it has been perfected
  46. OcsirbS.
    Sep 10, 2004
    6
    The single player ROCKS! However, EA totally screwed up multiplayer with disconnects every several minutes. They should have left the servers to M$.
  47. WillM.
    Sep 16, 2004
    5
    New graphics are nice. New cars are cool. Did they play BurnOut 1 & 2. Irritating. Not to be played again!! I'll wait for GT4 and play BurnOut 2.
  48. Tim
    Apr 18, 2005
    5
    I guess I'm the only one who found it more annoying than fun. The graphics are nice, but the physics are pure arcade, the DJ is irritating and it's mainly just focused on crashing and "boost." Overall, it seems designed for players who--physically or mentally--aren't old enough to drive.
  49. Jan 30, 2021
    5
    For me, the game handling feels cineastic but fake. Destruction Derby on PS1 felt real, Flat Out 2 on PS2 feels real, but Burnout 3 doesn't. I tried the game for some hours, but I don't like it at all. In contrary to all other of my 20 PS2 racing games, I never played it again and don't feel like playing it ever again. For me, it feels like a lie, when reviews rate this game that high.For me, the game handling feels cineastic but fake. Destruction Derby on PS1 felt real, Flat Out 2 on PS2 feels real, but Burnout 3 doesn't. I tried the game for some hours, but I don't like it at all. In contrary to all other of my 20 PS2 racing games, I never played it again and don't feel like playing it ever again. For me, it feels like a lie, when reviews rate this game that high. It's more of a thing of taste in my eyes. Expand
  50. HatM.
    Oct 24, 2004
    3
    This game is ok, but way overrated. OOHHH!!! LOOK AT ME!!! I GET TO DRIVE A CAR!!!! Give me a break. I drive a car everyday and it's no big deal. Video games are supposed to be an escape from reality, where you get do something you can't do in real life. But it's becoming increasingly popular to do stupid things in video games that you can do in real life like drive. It This game is ok, but way overrated. OOHHH!!! LOOK AT ME!!! I GET TO DRIVE A CAR!!!! Give me a break. I drive a car everyday and it's no big deal. Video games are supposed to be an escape from reality, where you get do something you can't do in real life. But it's becoming increasingly popular to do stupid things in video games that you can do in real life like drive. It won't be long before we have "Put On Your Pajamas and Brush Your Teeth: The Video Game." Why don't people try a game where they get to experience something new, like A Dog's Life. In that game you get to be a dog!!! Has anyone here ever been a dog?!! No, it's something new and that's why you should play it. You waste time in video games driving cars or playing football or buying property or delivering pizzas, when you could escape reality. So why are games like the Sims popular? Because people are stupid. People as a whole like bad movies, bad music, bad politicians, bad books, and of course bad video games. It's because of those people that the video game industry is going to hell. But ya, Burnout 3 is OK, but come on, let's try something new people. Expand
  51. Mar 24, 2016
    2
    This is suck game for knuckleheads . bad graphics for 2004 , suck phisics . This is baddest criterion games game . Good soundtracks , but Burnout Legends soundtracks better than Burnout 3 Takedown .
  52. Mar 5, 2022
    2
    I Thing This Is An Ok Game But Compared To Midnight Club It Is Pretty Lacking
  53. Oct 4, 2022
    1
    I had to create an account on here to warn anyone that thinks about playing this game.

    DON'T! Don't be blinded by fanboys on their nostalgia trip because this game is truly sh*t. 1. The camera. Half of the time your car blocks the view (especially on a steep road) of what's in front of you which results in unnecessary crashes. But the worst thing about the camera is when it NEEDS
    I had to create an account on here to warn anyone that thinks about playing this game.

    DON'T!

    Don't be blinded by fanboys on their nostalgia trip because this game is truly sh*t.

    1. The camera. Half of the time your car blocks the view (especially on a steep road) of what's in front of you which results in unnecessary crashes. But the worst thing about the camera is when it NEEDS to show you absolutely every f*cking useless, mundane takedown in slow motion while your car continues driving off into god knows where (because you can't see it). So it basically results in you getting crashed 50% of the time because your car drove off into a wall or into some random car in the traffic, which brings me to my second point.

    2. The traffic. I don't know if the game designers intentionally programmed it to be this way, but it seems that every time you hit a curve there is always some bus or random car right in the center of the trajectory of the path of your turn. Half of the time you can't even see the cars in the distance because they all get mixed up with the game's background graphics. You can especially see that on Europe's snow maps. Everything is white and all of a sudden you got crashed into a car because you didn't see the head lights.

    3. Graphics. Anything that's beyond 10 feet is unrecognizable... kinda problematic for a fast-paced racing game where you NEED to see the upcoming traffic but can't even differentiate the cars from the street so in practice you're crashing into a car that seems to have appeared out of thin air because they had the same color as the tarmac.

    4. AI. Now I know how unfair racing games' rubberband AI can be but this game seriously takes the cake.
    Let me describe the AI with one word: brutal.
    Especally evident in the second half of the game where a lap takes 2-3 mins to complete and god forbid you crash only once or twice during the race. You have a better chance of restarting it than catching up to the enemies. Let me put this straight: you can drive the fastest car of your class while the enemy drives a lesser car and he's still gonna be faster than you. Oh and while the enemy only needs to chafe you for you to crash, you will need to batista bomb his *ss in order for him to crash because otherwise they'll drive on like you were just some annoying mosquito.
    But the worst thing about the god awfully unbalanced AI is: You can take them down 4 times in a row and they'll still be back on your *ss in a split-second. BUT if you crash just twice, do you know how far behind you're gonna be? 7-10 seconds (about 3 seconds if you crash once). Have fun catching up to that sh*t with a car that's statistically faster but slower in practice than your enemies' cars.

    5. Controls. I'll keep it short. Have fun steering as soon as you press the boost button.

    I've said enough. If you've read it all - thank you for taking the time to read my rant.
    To the game desgners: A royal f*ck you from me for creating this abomination of a "racing" game.

    TLDR: Worst camera in a racing game. Brutal AI that leaves absolutely 0 room for error in races that last for 6 mins. You can't recognize sh*t from a short distance because the graphics suck. And the traffic is programmed to always take appear in your trajectory in order to take you out but never the enemies.

    Verdict: 1/10 because the music is kick *ss. But I'd recommend to listen to the music on spotify rather than playing this pile of steamin' sh*t.
    Expand
  54. Apr 25, 2021
    0
    This game is bad because it is a driving game, the jiggle physics are terrible.
  55. May 25, 2023
    0
    Its not GT2, Its not GT4 and its certainly not Revenge. Burnout Revenge is the peak of the franchise and everyone needs to know that
  56. May 25, 2023
    0
    Masterpiece!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awards & Rankings

2
3
#3 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2004
4
#4 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2004
Metascore
93

Universal acclaim - based on 52 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 52 out of 52
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 52
  3. Negative: 0 out of 52
  1. A strong candidate for the coveted Game of the Year award, Burnout 3: Takedown is one of the best arcade racing games to come out in years.
  2. Cheat Code Central
    90
    I absolutely hate the music which is a mix of cheap-sounding alternative and punk.
  3. Damn near flawless in almost every way shape and form. Brilliant visuals, ear pleasing audio, highly addictive game play, and enough modes and tracks to keep you busy for months on end.