Burnout 3 is the series’ high-water mark, at least in my opinion. It too was fantastic, but there’s a lot to be said for bespoke, curated tracks, where every corner, kink, and bend is deliberately crafted for maximum enjoyment. Burnout Paradise, a very firm fan favourite, took Burnout into an open world. This changed the dynamics of the racing and it didn’t feel like Burnout should. The follow-up, Burnout Revenge, was also a great game in its own right but it introduced what it called “traffic-checking” (which was the ability to plough through cars travelling in the same direction as you). Sadly they literally don't make them like this anymore. Burnout 3 remains as playable today as ever and it’s befuddling that no developer (including Criterion itself) has managed to capture the pure joy of arcade racing quite as perfectly as Burnout 3 does since. What began as a quick dabble to refresh my memory has descended into a rekindled addiction. Crash Mode (where you hurtle into packed intersections to cause as much damage as possible) beckons and hours vanish in a blink. It’s the circuit I lapped more than any other, racking up takedown after takedown, passing the controller amongst friends way back at the start of my career in the media industry. Within moments I’m back across the nuances of Burnout 3’s simple and accessible handling a dab of brake and I’m powersliding around the game’s Silver Lake circuit, crunching into opponent cars and revelling in their slow-motion destruction. Burnout 3’s incredible Road Rage mode is my first destination and the years between visits slip away instantly. In 2004 Burnout 3 was an incredible amount of fun. “However, most importantly (and certainly most admirably) it’s quickly clear that Burnout 3: Takedown is timeless in a way only the very best games get to be. And three? Whoever wrangled Burnout 3’s music was, like, really, really into pop punk. Two, the constant babble of DJ Stryker is still wholly unnecessary but, over a decade on, also slightly quaint in the same way as, say, a time capsule full of original MySpace profiles would be. One, 11-year-old games don’t look their best on a TV the dimensions of which suggest it ate the previous TV. Kick it in the guts, Barry!Booting up Burnout 3 after an entire generation on the shelf several things are quickly clear. In contrast to the first two instalments of the Burnout series (which were published by Acclaim) Burnout 3: Takedown was published by EA (which acquired Criterion just weeks before the release of Burnout 3 and, co-incidentally enough, the final bankruptcy of Acclaim). High fives for life for the person who invented the Aftertouch Takedown.īurnout 3: Takedown was developed by UK-based studio Criterion Games and released for PlayStation 2 and Xbox in September 2004 in North America, Europe, and Australia/NZ. But what is it about this series that elevates it to the very acme of arcade racing, and what is it that Burnout 3: Takedown specifically nails better than all the rest? Check out the video above for our thoughts, or read on below for a quick summary. For these devoted Burnout disciples, Burnout is the ultimate expression of arcade racing – a fact with which I wholeheartedly agree. Please see for more details.“EA may have put the Burnout series on indefinite ice many years ago (aside from the 2011 spin-off Burnout Crash! there hasn’t been a proper Burnout game since Burnout Paradise way back in 2008) but a deep love of the series still burns hot in the bellies of its staunchest supporters.
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