Racing games are not hard to find ... but there's nothing quite like Burnout.
Released back on the PlayStation 2, GameCube and original Xbox, Burnout was the racing game of which everyone had always dreamed. The game wasn't just about crossing the finish line or accurately representing the individual physics of different tires — it was about boosting through oncoming traffic, ridiculous explosions and absolutely massive crashes. The first two games in the series were great, but Burnout: Revenge represented the high-point of the franchise — it was about as close to perfect as an arcade racing game can get.
Sadly, the Burnout franchise would soon go into hibernation: following a disappointingly lukewarm reception to the open-world Burnout: Paradise in 2008, the series was put on the back-burner. Save for the occasional side project, it seemed as if the once-great franchise was doomed to fade into obscurity.
However, after all these years, there's still hope.
Now that work on Dangerous Golf has been completed, Three Fields Entertainment has officially shifted focus towards its next major release — and in keeping with their promise from last year, the studio's next game will be a spiritual successor to the classic arcade racer helmed by Burnout series creator Alex Ward.
Work has begun on a driving game.
— Alex Ward (@CrashedAlex) July 27, 2016
It's about as blunt an announcement as you can get.
The above tweet is actually in reference to earlier statements made by the studio. Last year, Three Fields Entertainment promised that the studio would start working on a new racing game once development on Dangerous Golf had wrapped:
"Two things. Our first game is a multiplayer sports game. Coming Spring 2016. Then we make a driving game."
"What sort of driving game you ask? A spiritual successor. Speed. Traffic. And Crashing. Lots and lots of crashing."
Given that Alex Ward is seemingly heading up work on the project, it's safe to assume that this new racing game will act as a follow-up to the classic Burnout formula.
The only problem is that it'll likely be quite a while before fans even get to see it in action, much less actually play it. Game development takes a long time, and if Three Fields Entertainment wants to make a worthy follow-up to one of the best racing games ever released, it could be a few years before anyone outside of the studio gets their hands on it.
Even so, the fact that the game is even in development at all is definitely something to get excited about: Burnout and its sequels were all amazing, and the idea of playing through something like that again is almost too good to be true.
We've missed you, Burnout. Welcome home.
