Dangerous Driving

It’s already a rough start to have to buy Dangerous Driving exclusively off of the Epic Games store for $30, a platform that has Literal Actual Burnout Paradise for $20. Likewise, if it seems unfair to compare Budget Burnout with Real Burnout, these guys mostly brought it on themselves. Dangerous Driving’s main appeal is its aesthetic similarities to Burnout 3, a game that’s now twenty years old, but was developed by well over 100 people. Dangerous Driving, on the other hand, doesn’t even have 10 people listed in the credits, excluding the three people who made the game’s theme song. So I can’t be too upset that Dangerous Driving doesn’t live up to the Burnout legacy, and I’m surprised they got as far as they did.

It’s unquestionable, however, that Dangerous Driving is pure budget game jankness. This game looks to make the most out of what it has. And so, even though you’ll only see six different models of drivable car across the entire game, they’ve managed to squeeze out 69 total events out of it. You’ll find a decent amount of tracks listed, though they generally share the same design quirks, resulting in a homogenized driving experience across the entire game. On top of that, each track has a bland backdrop, with many of these tracks featuring long ‘loading tunnels’ to load in large chunks of track at a time, causing big framerate drops.

The ideas Dangerous Driving brings to the table are mostly fine, however. Although this game takes most of its aesthetic from Burnout 3, you’ll find nods to Burnout 2 with the ‘Heatwave’ events that replicate the old-school boost-chaining system. Burnout 2’s pursuit mode also makes a return, here! Additionally, the ‘slamming traffic cars from behind’ mechanic of Burnout Revenge makes its way here. As far as originality goes, Dangerous Driving has a new mechanic where the crashed traffic cars stay on the track for the entire race. Which sounds interesting at first, though this typically results in one normal lap followed by one or two annoying laps with random traffic cars littering the road, causing accidents. Even if you avoid hitting traffic cars to keep the road clean, the AI cars will do the job for you.

The gameplay is iffy all around. The drifting physics feel inconsistent, with drifts being finicky to initiate. You’ll find a new jumping ‘air control’ mechanic in this game, which feels out of place considering that none of these tracks have ramps built into them! Doing the Burnout style ‘takedowns’ is thankfully easygoing, meaning taking out the competition and earning boost won’t be a hindrance. The ‘aftertouch’ crash mechanics are comical, though. Your car typically comes to an instant stop after each crash, giving you very little time to slide your car around during the accident. Also, this rubberbanding AI is insane! Whether or not the rubberbanding is enabled seems to depend on the event, but once it’s active, you’ll always have three cars behind you, ready to pass if you make a sudden mistake. And that’s not factoring in when the rubberbanding decides to spaz out, sending a car rocketing past you at Mach 10 speed.

I had some problems with the game’s progression as well, with the difficulty between different events fluctuating all over the place. Some races are total cakewalks, which lead into time trials I can’t even get bronze on without grinding it out. Yet, despite the clear lack of quality, Dangerous Driving at least gets enough right to be playable. The sense of speed is there, the basic UI is perfectly functional. What little car designs are in this game feel adequate for the ‘fake supercar’ aesthetic that has been a part of the Burnout series. It’s an interesting curiosity, but I can’t recommend buying it. Let’s just hope the team’s next game, Wreckreation, ends up being more fun.