PS4 Dangerous Driving
Last updated date: July 25, 2019
DWYM Score
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Overall Take
In our analysis of 224 expert reviews, the PS4 PS4 Dangerous Driving placed 9th when we looked at the top 10 products in the category. For the full ranking, see below.
Editor's Note August 5, 2019:
Checkout The Best Car Racing Game for a detailed review of all the top car racing games.
Expert Summarized Score
21 expert reviews
User Summarized Score
38 user reviews
Our Favorite Video Reviews
What experts liked
Perfectly captures the feel of the Burnout series
The other big game-changer here is Eliminator. The mode functions much the same as in Burnout 3 and Revenge, but with one awesome change: persistent wrecks.
Despite not quite having the budget to fully support its ambitions, Dangerous Driving is nonetheless a satisfying beast. Wickedly fast and generously stuffed with a range of different modes, cars and tracks to scream around on, Three Fields Entertainment have arguably got their priorities right in nailing the fundamentals first, and worrying about the rest of it later.
The biggest addition to Dangerous Driving compared to Burnout is also its best. Those cars you take down in a race will stay on the track for every lap.
I got plenty of enjoyment out of Dangerous Driving. Handling is excellent, the different modes give you plenty of reasons to keep playing, and watching your Takedowns is as addictive as it gets.
Dangerous Driving features a neat variant to this system that is definitely more budget friendly while also being more interesting from a gameplay perspective.
In short, Dangerous Driving nails its arcade racing mechanics in almost every way. From the first moment to the last, you will feel your adrenaline pumping as you fight with other racers for first place, or slam them into oncoming traffic. Every second feels important, like any wrong move can send you into last place, and this is often the case.
The visuals are beautiful as the lighting really brings the track to life.
Dangerous Driving is composed of various race types unlocked more-or-less linearly based on your car class (SUV, supercar, formula DD, etc.).
But while the variety of modes is good, and the overall feel is extremely evocative, we're not entirely convinced by some aspects.
At least Dangerous Driving offers a decent variety of race types (nine in all), although they aren’t all created equal. Standard races are just fine, Pursuit and Road Rage are solid smashy fun, and Heatwave, which lets players chain together boosts for non-stop edge-of-your-seat speed, is rather clever.
One positive aspect about crashes is that car wrecks become a permanent fixture on the track.
Persistent wrecks are a novel idea that impact subsequent laps in interesting ways
I’d like to say that Dangerous Driving has some redeeming qualities. After all, it was possibly my most anticipated game for 2019, thanks to Danger Zone 2 making me eager to see what Three Fields Entertainment were building towards.
Dangerous Driving features six car classes with about 10 races each.
Don’t expect a deep and involving career mode either, instead you get a straightforward list of events to complete across a series of varied but not particularly memorable courses.
The game looks good, the graphics on games have obviously come a long way since the days of racing around the bowl in Destruction Derby but playing this one is more like watching a Fast & Furious movie and the details are… detailed.
Yet I can’t deny that it can be fun, particularly as you move up the car classes. As you start to take control of sports coupes and vehicles that have even more power under their bonnet, the pace at which Dangerous Driving moves is exhilarating.
Dangerous Driving is the perfect remedy for those pining for a Burnout fix. The culmination of several games worth of expertise coming to a head in this refined spiritual successor, the future is bright for Three Fields Entertainment.
Even at $30, appreciating Dangerous Driving comes with a lot of qualifications. It’s amazing that seven people only needed a tiny budget and less than a year to create a game that used to consume a large studio and twice the time.
The driving mechanics behind this game are one hundred percent arcade bliss. You can boost while hitting sharp turns or drift with the best of them.
What experts didn't like
Some minor performance hiccups
Dangerous Driving isn't perfect, but it has an indomitable spirit, relentless momentum, and a rewarding progression. Multiplayer isn't available at launch, but this omission does little to diminish the kinetic exuberance of Dangerous Driving.
The lack of soundtrack corresponding with a lack of adrenaline that so often used to accompany these tuneful echoes from the past.
Notably missing from the current state of the game is any form of multiplayer. Local multiplayer is nonexistent, and online multiplayer is set to arrive as free DLC shortly after launch.
Lagging caused issues
I also, unfortunately, ran into many problems with the game’s speed, physics, and destruction systems, which are all major draws on paper.
The biggest is the inconsistent crash mechanics, and overall glitchiness to other cars. Crashing into traffic or guardrails can often result in an expected crash, but sometimes you’ll slam head first into another car and be just fine
Outside of leaderboards, the game currently lacks any multiplayer. The team plans on bringing online multiplayer within the first month of release that will add some depth, but we won’t know how that will be implemented until it happens.
The sense of speed is good, but the framerate occasionally slows down or pauses
There are also a lot of bugs right now. We've seen traffic on the wrong side of the road, traffic disappearing into the asphalt, and our car launched into the sky after what should've been a head-on crash. Factor in some poor performance on a standard PS4, and it's technically quite rough.
In addition to the issues and omissions laid out above, multiplayer is completely missing (Three Fields promises to patch it in at a later date) and the game eschews any sort of soundtrack in favor of barebones Spotify integration.
The first thing that’s immediate that feels wrong is the physics and collision detection. The handling and the sense of speed you get when you hit the boost button are all great, but the collisions with barriers and traffic can feel inconsistent.
Unfortunately, the physics can be fairly wonky at times, often bringing your vehicle to a complete stop because you brushed against a wall; while other times it will shoot you straight up into the air, or force your car into a complete 90-degree turn. This can be incredibly frustrating during the latter stages of an event when one mishap is enough to send you tumbling to the back of the pack.
I honestly can’t think of another way to describe the game. Dangerous Driving is bad in almost every way. Instead of being a fun arcade racer that provides hours upon hours of vehicular destruction — which Danger Zone 2 seemed to indicate would be on the menu — we have a boring racer with iffy controls, bewildering physics, overpowered AI, and barely any destruction.
Dangerous Driving isn’t mechanically difficult to understand, but the AI makes the game impossible to enjoy.
My biggest problem was the HUD – as you select your race, it’ll show you the map. That’s it. During the race you have your Nitrous bar and your speedometer – after a couple of minutes of racing (some of these tracks are LONG), it was a little annoying not being able to see how much further you’ve got to go to victory.
Disappointing is perhaps the best word to sum up Dangerous Driving. It could have been so much better, but instead it’s just passable fun. The saddest thing is, if you want a game that plays like classic Burnout, it’s the best option currently available.
One thing missing from Dangerous Driving at launch is multiplayer.
The most divisive measure is its soundtrack, or lack thereof. Dangerous Driving, other than its title screen, has no onboard music. Instead, players are prompted to integrate their premium Spotify account and select playlists.
The lack of a soundtrack broke my heart. After playing earlier titles and Burnout Paradise, I was expecting another spectacular soundtrack being somewhat of a staple for the genre (Let’s Go Away, anyone?).
From The Manufacturer
Dangerous Driving is a brand-new game where there is only one way to drive - dangerously. From the creative talent behind the genre-defining Burnout series, Dangerous Driving puts aggression back into the racing, recapturing the spirit of the past and elevating it to new heights. Built with the spirit of classic arcade racers of the 80's and 90's, Dangerous Driving allows you to explore those dark fantasies of high-speed, reckless driving through traffic infested cities across the globe. Put the pedal to the metal and weave in and out of traffic or just outright slam other cars right off the road. In this racer, it's all about speed, aggression and driving skills as you drift, weave, demolish, and takedown anything that stands between you and the finish line. Purchase the physical edition of the game and get a copy of Danger Zone 2!
