eep down inside, even the most humble of personalities have pondered the question "What would happen if I slammed the pedal to the metal and launched my car into that fuel tanker?" Of course, that little thing called a "conscience" flares into effect and you find yourself re-adjusting your seatbelt and feathering the brakes rather than speeding forth into an explosive inferno of smoldering death. As it turns out, Burnout 3 is a celebration of these reckless driving dreams. It rewards players for swerving through oncoming traffic, applauds knocking opponents off of cliffs, and ultimately begs the question, "Just how much damage can one vehicle inflict upon a crowded highway or a busy city street?"

While the previous entries in the series have embraced the same destructive qualities, developer Criterion Games has overhauled the engine, applied a new coat of paint, and tuned Burnout 3 to the point that it roars with excitement and makes its predecessors feel like dreary driver’s education tutorials. Criterion has expanded upon the series’ gameplay significantly to create one of the most addictive racing games of all time.

With incredibly realistic damage modelling transforming every crash into a work of art fit to be framed and hung on the walls of Paris’ Louvre museum, Burnout 3 is a visual dynamo that will floor players with its speed and gorgeous vistas.

Criterion has even gone to great lengths to recompense gamers for the damage that they inflict upon their opponents. When you wallop another driver with enough force or railroad them into a no-win situation, the game will pan away from your car to show your opponent’s ride breaking apart, catching fire, and getting totaled with brilliant Matrix-like slow-motion effects. In a stroke of brilliance, Criterion has also implemented gameplay into wrecking. When your ride gets banged up, players have the choice to enter Impact Time – a segment presented in slow-motion which allows players to maneuver their demolished car until it comes to a stop. With this, a flaming wreck that was destined to rest on a rail can be moved to the center of the road in hopes of clipping the competition.

In a similar vein to EA’s other big racing franchise, Need for Speed: Underground, the action in Burnout 3 unfolds in numerous ways. In total, players will be asked to achieve a gold medal in a staggering 173 events spread throughout the U.S., Europe, and the Far East. Achieving gold will unlock new vehicles, tracks, and different racing series. Players will also be rewarded with newspaper headlines, signature crash photographs, videos, and trophies for achieving certain things during races. From elimination heats and time trials to circuits and knockout competitions, you’ll find yourself competing in just about every event that the racing genre can bring to the table. Of course, the popular Crash Mode makes a triumphant return and has been reworked to offer bigger pile-ups and magnificent blinding explosions. In my opinion, this is the heart and soul of this game. I couldn’t stop playing these events. I just kept plowing my car into vehicles to try and create larger chain reactions and higher damage totals. Watching your car slam into a fuel tanker, which in turn sends a dozen vehicles and debris hurling into the air, is one of gaming’s finest spectacles.

A celebration of breakneck speeds and pile-ups, Burnout 3 achieves racing omnipotence, giving the industry’s most pimped-out racers a serious run for their money.