Here's what Burnout 3: Takedown looks like inside Grand Theft Auto V

So I recreated a famous racing game with the Rockstar Editor from r/gtaonline

Sadly, Criterion's magnum opus never made it to PC (sorry, Burnout Paradise fans). But we can all take a moment to pretend Burnout 3: Takedown is getting the modern remake it deserves thanks to one GTA V creator's recreation of the butt-rock racer's intro.

Animator LucasRPDJ this weekend posted a recreation of Burnout 3's opening video to Reddit and YouTube, filmed in GTAV's film editing suite (thanks, PCGamesN). Shot-for-shot, it's a near-perfect recreation—here's the PS2 original for comparison:

Not content to crash a nostalgia-loaded truck into my heart, Lucas then goes on to mock up gameplay footage across GTAV's streets. There's some wildly creative use of camerawork to simulate Burnout 3's trademark takedowns, while effects like boosting and crash mode pickups are added in post-production with an endearing jank. GTA also looks pretty slick with a vibrant, late-00s UI full of popping effects. Chuck out all that boring minimalism, we're bringing back flashing stars and screen-filling flame bars.

In the video, Lucas says he hopes to eventually fully-remake Burnout 3 within GTAV's sandbox, even mocking up fake console invite screens. I have a soft-spot for the way he's bashed together a parking lot into a functional car-selection screen, but I'm not sure Rockstar's tools will be quite up to a full remake: still, happy to be proven wrong.

It's been too long since the last proper Burnout, though a 2018 remaster of Burnout Paradise sparked hopes that Criterion would one day take the wheel again. These days, they're back on the Need For Speed beat after spending a few years making Star Wars: Battlefront's spaceship bits.

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.