Dangerous Driving

Dangerous Driving feels just like Burnout, but it doesn't look or sound the part. Due to Three Fields Entertainment's limitations, the game feels like it has a crisis of character. The gameplay is edgy, explosive and violent, while the snowy terrain glistens or the sun peeks over luscious mountaintops in the background, peppered with only the revving of your engine and the pitchy screech of your tires. The solemnity doesn't ruin the experience, but it'll make you scratch your head. At the end of the day, Dangerous Driving scratches a very specific itch that I'm sure many have been waiting to scratch —just like paint against a cold metal guardrail.

In a world where blockbuster racers like Forza Horizon 4 provide big budget mod-cons, Dangerous Driving will be too pared back for some. But for simple thrills and focussed spills, it drives right to the heart of the matter.

Overall, Dangerous Driving is focused. The developer has set out to make a spiritual successor to the arcade games of the past and, to that end, it can be nothing but a resounding success. While there could have been more ambition and left-field, crazier tracks, there aren’t many qualms to be had with its simple design. Dangerous Driving is gaming fast food, but the good kind.

Dangerous Driving is a nostalgic tribute to the racing arcade tradition from the creators of the legendary Burnout series. It’s immediate, fast and quiet fun, but also a little rough.

Its limited budget is obvious but as an unofficial reboot for the Burnout series this is one of the best arcade racers for a long time.

Despite its limitations, in short, it is a pleasure to run dangerously between the slopes of Dangerous Driving.

Dangerous Driving delivers a tight, streamlined racing experience, but that comes at the cost of features that players have come to expect.

Everything a Burnout fan could want is here, but it’s let down by poor AI. If you have the patience, however, Dangerous Driving is a worthy addition to PS4’s bare racing roster. [Issue@162, p.96]

Dangerous Driving simply isn't suited to a mode that won't let you crash. Patched out, or left optional, these wouldn't be enough to stop most from happily reliving Burnout's heyday; currently, however, it would be reckless to recommend. [Issue#332, p.118]

Dangerous Driving hits the perfect melody at certain points when focusing on what the team set out for it to do: be a spiritual successor to Burnout. At its peak, it feels like a Burnout game. The controls and visuals are fantastic and are properly tipping the cap to late 1990s arcade games along with the Burnout franchise. Collisions are massive and there’s a good bit of variety of cars and game modes. What the game does bad really hurts the experience. The AI lacks basically anything and the return rewards of unlocking new modes and cars feels all for nothing.

It's difficult to recommend Dangerous Driving in its current state, even though there aren't many crash-focused arcade racers on the market. Fans of the original series will certainly appreciate a few evenings with this, but it is no way near as repayable as anything from the actual Burnout series.

Gamers who like the idea of a simple Burnout game without many bells and whistles will have a good time with Dangerous Driving.

Dangerous Driving has some hiccups like momentary pauses in tunnels, rare unexpected car swerves (both yours and the A.I.), slowdown, and inconsistent crash determinations, but these aren’t even why the game misses its target. Previous Three Fields titles like the Danger Zone series and Dangerous Golf had a reason for their destruction, but I can’t find it in Dangerous Driving. The racing itself has some thrills due to its sometimes insane sense of speed, but neither it nor the crashes make their mark.

Dangerous Driving can be fun in short spurts. The lack of car manufacturers’ licenses is expected when any game is priced at half the cost of bigger-scale games. But the lack of even a time attack mode means that once players have beaten the campaign, there is little reason to go back besides the inclusion of online leaderboards.

Dangerous Driving bets that spurned fans of Burnout still want more Burnout made by the only people they would trust to make more Burnout. It’s a skilled recreation, albeit one that forgets wild innovation and grinning novelty were as important to Burnout’s identity as racing and smashing up outrageous cars. Dangerous Driving, ironically, is defined by familiarity and comfort.

Dangerous Driving is undeniably fun. Taking out other racers at 200mph always will be insanely enjoyable and Three Fields has taken full advantage of Burnout nostalgia. However, underwhelming crash physics, poorly balanced AI racers, and some technical problems keep their game from being the modernization of Criterion’s classic that fans hoped it would be.

Dangerous Driving is a decent effort to bring back the boisterous, fast-paced racing of Burnout, and while it somewhat delivers on that promise, it's not without its fair share of problems. Technical issues hinder the experience, and one or two issues with handling stop the game from being a top arcade racer. However, the chaos and tension within the various event types makes for some good, old fashioned, adrenaline-fuelled action, and fans of this breed of racing will likely be able to burn a few hours here.

It's not necessarily a bad thing that developers are trying to follow the formulas that worked several years ago, but executing those formulas is where things get tricky and ruin its huge potential. Dangerous Driving can be considered direct competition for Burnout Paradise, a title that released in the 7th generation and still beats DD every day of the week. There is no point in paying 30 dollars for Dangerous Driving, especially now that we have the remastered version of Burnout Paradise for only 20 dollars.

Dangerous Driving is, at best, a rough early prototype of a proper Burnout successor. The basic mechanics and sense of speed are there, but they’re badly undermined by bland track design, infuriating AI, a lack of features, and a host of other issues. Those feeling nostalgic for Burnout would be best served taking the classics out for another spin, rather than taking a chance on this lemon.

A pale imitation of a great franchise, Dangerous Driving just can’t quite fill the hole left by Burnout.