Danger Zone 2

A very good arcade game <3

Hit traffic, cause accidents to score points.
If you remember Burnout Crash mode, this is the new Crash Mode.

This game adds a small objective (hit x cars) when driving towards the crash area. It feels very good to hit a lot of cars and see chaos around you, even before the big crash starts.
The main event is maybe a bit underwhelming. (ends with too few crashes, could have used more exaggeration)
And maybe the items should have been replaced with more traffic --> more accidents --> give player a new explosion. Oh, and I miss all the different camera angles at the end of the carnage.
I miss the Burnout 2/Dangerous Golf style of music though.

The developers are from the now defunct game studios who use to create the Burnout games from EA. Danger Zone 2 is for sure that crash mode from Burnout. The first Danger Zone felt more like a proving ground on bringing back the crash mode. Danger Zone 2 plays just like that mode from the EA games. I played this game exclusively on the Steam Deck. It ran well with almost no issues. The only issue with the Steam Deck was the text did overlap each other on the screen. Though I will say that at full price that game is a bit lacking. I feel it is worth it at $15 or $10. You can easily play through all the crash tracks in a few hours.

But if you are looking for that old crash mode from the EA Burnout games....this is it. I just wish they made more tracks.

Final Verdict: 4/5 Great Game - Just needs more tracks and challenges to make it worth it at full $20 price tag.

The game is nice and reminiscent of Burnout 3's crash mode but idk why the dwvs removed the cars moving properly in the air from the first game (wow such an original review)

this game has pros and cons and im just going to list them off

Pros:

some of the traffic checking is very satisfying while other times its cumbersome

graphics are ok for an unreal engine game

vehicles look decent enough more or less

large scale crashes - driving a semi literally through traffic is so satisfying

decently destructible environment with heaps of dynamic props

cons:

damage model is nearly nonexistent or very cheaply implemented (not even parts of the cars become detached)

crash junctions should play like Burnout Revenge(xbox 360)/Burnout 3 (Xbox Classic) but they dont

vehicle handling is a joke compared to the Burnout racers (cant even drift around bends properly)

"game over" style screen for literally doing what the whole point of the game is expected to do (which is crash the car)

"smashbreakers" dont feel like they have the same weight as what was seen in the Burnout titles

prone to crashing to desktop (not the fun kind of crashing either)

no music what so ever (even dangerous golf had music)

sad to say that while i have wanted a PC port of Burnout this does not entirely scratch the itch that i wanted from a crash junction game on PC

BeamNG with a few tweaks should actually be a better one for this and a more realistic one too (maybe a mod)

i will have to not recommend this game as it wont even get updated at all to address these issues and any other future ones wont be addressed or fixed (likely not anyways)

4/10 would occasionally play dollar store crash junctions for a moment again only to see why i stopped playing anyways

It's not a bad Burnout Crash Mode game, and coming from Criterion veterans it's passable... BUT it's not as good as their previous entries (read: It's not Burnout-level). If you've played Criterion's Burnout series and have played the Crash mode (featured in entries like 3: Takedown, 4: Revenge...), and come to this, you'll feel that something is "off" with the "Crash Mode" here.

Again: It's serviceable and I had some enjoyment with it, but it's hard to recommend it when I'm feeling like "well, why play this Unreal Engine 4 version of Takedown when Takedown's crash mode is more solid?"

At this time around, they don't have this weird "crash simulator" non-boundary around the track that'll auto-fail you for falling off. You can sort of "course correct" but you'll probably still fail here.

Thought this version was like the racing mode in Burnout 3: Takedown. It isn't.

Meh. :/

While I would recommend this game, only barely, and only because I used to love the crash events that EA abandoned.

This game is lazy (hardly any options, poor menu system, etc). There are hardly any camera angles (and the fact you don't have free fly with a freeze at the end of the event, or the ability to replay / save your crashes is a HUGE oversight). Also, the game isn't very long, only 3 regions with about a half-dozen events each and a few "bonus" levels. I have only played about 8 hours total and have almost got platinum on everything with some, but minimal, effort. Don't even get me started on the absolutely absurd physics of this game either. One second a car is sliding along the ground as though there is no friction, the next you stick to a random vehicle or crash on something you didn't before (despite having the momentum).

I love what this game COULD be, but if it doesn't significantly improve by next time, I will be abandoning this as it is still clearly lacking even now.

This game is not worth the $20 USD it was listed for at time of review. It's worth $5 at best. If it was what it should have been, then it would be worth $20.

What the fuck happened between the development of these two games in the franchise???
Everything that made the first one fun and enjoyable got fucking removed and replaced with horrendous UI, new run-up bonus that is very unnecessarily hard(you missed one car to touch...too fucking bad, restart bitch or else you can't even gold it), the handling got SO MUCH worse, your car can no longer slightly roll in air when using crashbreaker, the levels are easy if it wasn't for the shitty run-up bonus and I swear the physics flew out the window as these crashes are boring as hell & unnecessarily glitchy...

You had none of these problems in the first one, the UI was also eons better in that one...
Absolutely no, stay away from this game & Dangerous Driving...something happened and these came so fucking raw and fucking awful. I am worried for Dangerous Driving 2...hope they found more competent people.

I desperately wanted to like this, cause the Crash Modes were always my favorite things about the Burnout games. This is absolutely nothing like that. The controls are jank, changing graphics settings refused to keep it in full screen mode, and pressing enter (at any time) would take it out of full screen. The lack of volume settings either doesn't help things. One of the things I loved from Burnout was the replay feature to be able to watch back at the chaos, and unless im missing something, that is entirely absent and doesn't really feel like you get to relish in all the chaos you're causing like you used to be able to. So if you want to buy this go in the mindset that its more of a pet project than anything substantial, because it feels like a lot of basic things are missing to make it more than just something to mess around with for half an hour.

I remember seeing this game when it first came out and like most fans of Burnout was hyped to see a game based just on the Crash mode. On release I thought the price was a bit steep but for a sale price of £4 I gave it a go.

I can't recommend it though. It feels more like a tech demo than a game. The handling of the cars is awful with you wildly swinging from side to side if you so much as clip something, the explosions don't feel particularly impactful and it wants to end the rounds too quick when things are still crashing. It also doesn't feel particularly rewarding to play there's no feedback loop to really show you how well you are doing.

Shame it could of been great but it just doesn't feel complete.

I do like how they're trying to relive the classic Burnout 3 crash mode, but it still doesn't feel like it.

The controls and the way the cars act during crashes just doesn't feel "Burnouty".

ALSO, why didn't yall release Dangerous Driving on Steam as well? I know they made both Danger Zone 1 and 2 to fund Dangerous Driving. I would've bought it in a heartbeat if it sold on Steam.

4/10 it's a nice game, has a hint of Burnout in it, but it still doesn't feel like Burnout entirely

[quote]
Grade = D. Worth a buy, if you enjoy Short & Challenging Score Attack. However, if you want Good Content, Variety Choices, don't buy it

⚖️Check Scoring Scheme
[/quote]

[table]
[tr]
[th]GRADE[/th]
[th]SCORE (14)[/th]
[th]WORTH BUYING?[/th]
[th]OVERALL[/th]
[th]DISCOUNT[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]A+[/th]
[td]65 ~ 80[/td]
[td]Valuable than Normal Price![/td]
[td] -[/td]
[td]No Wait[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]A[/th]
[td]49 ~ 64[/td]
[td]Worth Normal Price[/td]
[td] -[/td]
[td]No Wait[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]B[/th]
[td]33 ~ 48[/td]
[td]Good Value[/td]
[td] -[/td]
[td]Wait 10%~35%[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]C[/th]
[td]17 ~ 32[/td]
[td]Overpriced[/td]
[td] [/td]
[td]Wait 40%~90%[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[th]D[/th]
[td]0 ~ 16[/td]
[td]Not Recommend[/td]
[td] ✔[/td]
[td]Wait 100%[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

THE UNIQUE:

PLAYER REQUIREMENTS:

COMMON FEEDBACK:

MORE INFORMATION:

Each version strays further way from Crash Mode

Really Disappointing. All of the coverage of this game sold it as the glorious return of crash mode from Burnout. The objective is the same, sure. But everything that made that mode special is lacking. It feels like a beta. or the game you would make if someone described crash mode to you. It has no soul.

This game has almost ALL the same problems that its predecessor has, (You can probably find my review for it if you want) and MORE!


The biggest fault is again the controls, and to make it worse, you now have "Run up" objectives, which basically amount to "There's this fickle, obnoxious thing you have to do while you're on the way to the intersection you're trying to crash at"

which wouldn't be bad but a lot of them are ASININE! And the vehicle physics are super wonky, you'll often have to complete an objective by just trying over and over again until a car randomly slides in a direction that makes you complete your objective, I basically just ragequit after the third level that was like that, filed for a return, and never looked back. Also even if you make a massive wreck, which is the point of the game, but you're not quiiite at the intersection yet, it just says "CRASHED!" and fails the ****ing mission!


I like the IDEA of this game, I was excited for it, and it pains me to return it, but it's just not very good execution.

Nope.

This wannabe nostalgia trip plays so much worse than the Burnout crashmodes, controls and driving physics are weird and not reliable enough for the high speeds the game wants you to drive, so you crash too easily on the way to the crash sites because of that, unfair traffic patterns and overly sensitive collision detection. Replayability should be the main focus but many of the intersections are just boring with only a few cars (where's the complete chaos and madness of the Burnouts?) and the run-ups are seemingly endless and annoying so replaying the levels over and over again is a drag. I want to spend my time crashing, not driving to the crashing, realizing I missed everything because of almost no cars in the crash zone and starting over again.

Other issues: Usually you can plow through normal cars when hitting them from behind. Sometimes you crash. When and why? No idea. Also sometimes you crash when hitting busses or trucks from the side, other times not. 50/50 chance. Only two camera modes, both are too low and don't give a good overview of what's coming, plus the camera can only be moved horizontally during crashes and not at all while driving. The old Burnouts made it easy to see incoming traffic, here everything's grey, white, brown, black. Also you can see cars pop into existence. Sometimes (admittedly rarely) a few meters in front of you. Just great. The timer, you crash, want to watch the carnage, cars are still coming, but suddenly 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... blue balls. Car deformation, not a lot going on beyond some scratches and dents, they stay mostly intact. Lazy and boring. The pick up radius of the bonus icons is too small, making them bigger and/or the car sliding a little further after triggering an explosion would've avoided many frustrating moments.

Then we get to the presentation which is equally crappy. Graphics would've been subpar in 2010, visual effects are bad, no music, sound effects without any punch, bland, hard to parse menus (a few icons would've helped immensely, all we get is white text). Football Manager has more style and verve, zzzzZZZZZzzZZ. Seriously, I think the sounddesign is the biggest problem, a game like this should be LOUD but it's so quaint and silent when other indies have insanely awesome soundtracks, here the main menu works as ASMR instead of hyping the player up.

Now some will say 'it's cheap and they only had a limited budget' to which I reply 'others can do it too, this lacks heart and soul more than money', compare DZ to GRIP or Redout to see where I'm coming from. I really enjoyed Dangerous Golf more than most people and had high hopes but Three Fields didn't evolve, quite the opposite, this is such a joyless, dull experience. A complete and utter failure which at every opportunity fights against the player having fun, I honestly can not come up with something, anything good to say.

In a world without new Burnout games, one game dares to be all about sweet car crashes, and then some.

Decent graphics. Tight arcadey controls. Side objectives that re usually fun but sometimes get in the way of crashing. But most of all... CRASHING.

DANGER ZONE 2

Either you crash... or you DIE.

Rated E.

I wanted to fully play the game before writing a review. First off I want to say, if you liked Burnout as a kid you will love this game like I did. I fully recorded all my gameplay and uploaded it to Youtube if anyone wants first hand reactions.

Pros: The levels look amazing! I personally did not finish the first Danger Zone due to the dark enviroment. The SFX are awesome too! But the big part is the crashes, and yes they are spectacular too! My favorite levels had to be the ones where we drive the Big Rig, the honk at the start means your in for a good time. The slow-mo jumps are so cool! The cars look excellent. Traffic checking is so much fun, dare I say more fun than in Revenge.

Neutrals: The Run up objectives. Some of these we're really fun like the one in Jack the Hammer, which includes checking traffic into 4 tankers on the way to the Danger Zone. My least favorite objective was the one in Tanker Schoen which requires to make a jump and hit a tanker at the end, needless to say I think thats one of the few levels I have a bronze on. Failing a run up objective time and time again got tedious on a few levels.

Cons: The cars feel really really slippery. This is most noticed when trying to perform boost chains, trying to traffic check while boosting can sometimes spin your car out of control which did not happen in Burnout Revenge. I also really didn't like drifting. Besides the one level where it was an objective I never used it again. Often times the drifting would lead me straight to a wall. And probably my biggest problem is one single glitch. Occasionally while running up to a danger zone a traffic car will not be moving. When attempting to check one of these cars you will crash and have to start the level over. This glitch was not a one time thing either as it happened across multiple levels. One other weird glitch I got one the 2nd to last level was a stop sign got jammed into the car and it spun me off the cliff.

Even with these negatives I had so much fun with this game and I look foward to Dangerous Driving and anything from TFE!
PS: Change your camera to first person when performing boost chains, it makes it much easier.

So Danger Zone 2 is a love/hate relationship with me as of the release. I love everybody at Three Fields Entertainment for risking everything by leaving EA and forming their own studio in order to bring back a franchise that somehow EA ruthlessly culled for no apparent reason other than, Need for Speed. The game takes some great leaps forward by having actual urban environments instead of just a test facility, although I think it could have been cool if they kept with the whole simulation thing, except this time you see the city/map render in like Assassins Creed, which also opens the door to doing some potentially crazy things with the map design other than just basing it on real architecture. z

Gameplay: Samey, but not terrible
Just like Danger Zone 1, and Burnout's crash mode before it, the gameplay is once again all about launching your car into lanes of traffic in order to cause as much damage as humanly possible to rack up a huge score. Now they did spice things up just a little bit by having optional challenges at the beginning of every level on your way to the danger zone . These challenges are optional, but not completing them will almost guarantee that you will not place very high in the end because the cash reward for completion is no chunk change. It's a nice addition I will say, very simplistic but I get what they were going for. Crashing is basically the same as before, except that traffic checking is now a huge part of the gameplay, to the extent that you now can hold X/B to sorta direct the direction in which a traffic checked car will fly. The physics work pretty ok for the most part, it is over the top, but hilarious watching these thousand plus pound hunks of metal just get launched all over the place. The pickups are practically the same, except they added an instant smashbreaker pickup, which does exactly what it sounds like. I would personally like to see the heartbreaker come back (although it was rage inducing but also fun in a sadistic way to stress over hitting one). There still isn't any real progression to speak of, you just complete a level then move on until you have completed every level, really wish there was something more but hopefully Dangerous Driving will fix this in the Winter. Overall decent gameplay, but still mostly the same as the first game.

Graphics/Visuals: Ok
This is going to be an "ok" rating for me. It definitely has that UE4 look to it, which isn't really bad, but 3FE should really work on establishing an art style like the Burnout franchise did, which ties directly to the UI which is a bit too simplistic for a game of this arcadiness, maybe try to hark back to Revenge days with the UI design. The effects are not bad all things considered but please maybe tone down the spark effect, or allow us to customize it in the options because it is far too heavy. Same kinda goes for motion blur, I understand it is actually beneficial for the consoles that are locked to 30 or machines that can't do 60, but at 60 fps it does make it a little hard to tell what is going on in addition to the over 9000 spark particle effect. The menu is also a bit small, you have the DZ2 logo all small in addition to other menu elements, which is odd to say the least because DZ1 menu was actually kind of cool. Overall its not bad graphics, but could use work. It is worth mentioning though that there seems to be section of levels where terrain textures bleed on and overlap the road, even having some section where it creates little hills that block your view entirely as you clip through the texture, hope that is fixed asap.

Performance: Great
Simply great, no real issues here on a Ryzen 1600 and a GTX 960 2GB. Really great optimization overall for such a small studio, even when shit is hitting the fan in the crash junction.

Overall: Decent
For $20 it is not a terrible game, but I am almost shocked and appalled that both pre-level flythroughs and post-level damage assessment have been cut completely even though they were in the first game and I find are essential to the Burnout franchise. Not sure why these 2 things got culled from the sequel but please 3FE, if you read this, please add them back with a future update, they are a BIG deal for me personally. I hope this game sees success so that Dangerous Driving at the end of the year can be as amazing as possible because I know 3FE has great talent, they just need the financial backing to get this thing rolling. Just please 3FE, update this game on the road to Dangerous Driving, would love to see more levels, new challenges, new vehicles to play with, etc.

TFE have done an amazing job improving on the shortcomings of the original and making this game a huge step closer to the game that OG burnout fans (and likely TFE themselves) have been dreaming of for a very very long time. This game really reminds me of a nice hybrid of the burnout 2 and 3 crash mode - and with current gen graphics it really is a new spectacle to watch everything around you get fucked up by your own doing.

Only real critisicm I have at the minute is the UI seems a bit basic, it's just white text. Personally would add a bit of a black back gradient against the back just to make it pop out a little more. All things considered though I'm really impressed by this game and cannot wait until the next step closer to the full succesor of Burnout that we all want.

If you got nostalgia for Burnout's OG Crash Mode. Then buy this, worth the 20 bucks IMO. And way better then the first Danger Zone.