Arcade racing games haven’t exactly been plentiful in recent years – nor has EA shown the slightest bit of interest in reviving the best of them all, Burnout (which saw its last new, proper entry in 2008 with Burnout Paradise). And so here comes Dangerous Driving – made by some of the original creators of Burnout, no less – to pick up the slack. The good news for both Burnout and arcade racing fans is that outside of a padded-out campaign and a bit of high-speed frustration, it largely succeeds in picking up the mantel.
Dangerous Driving follows developer Three Fields Entertainment’s own Danger Zone 2, its excellent revival of Burnout’s most memorable section: Crash mode. Dangerous Driving resurrects the rest of the Burnout modes, including races, face-offs, eliminations, burning lap (now called Shakedown), and most notably Road Rage mode. It feels as crunchy and sadistic as ever to strafe the bumper of the car just ahead of you at 150mph, especially knowing you’ll send it slamming into the guard rail in a fiery explosion and be rewarded for it. Later versions of Road Rage races – you get at least one in each of the six vehicle-specific campaigns – add welcome and challenging wrinkles like requiring you to smash rivals into civilian traffic in order for your takedown to count.
