Takedawn (Burnout 3: Takedown PC port)

Burnout 3: Takedown, Criterion Games’ 2004 arcade racer published by Electronic Arts, came out on the original Xbox and PlayStation 2 and never on PC. xenophobentx created the Takedawn repository on 12 October 2026 and published the first release, 0.1.0, on 13 October. 0.1.1 followed on 15 October and 0.2.0 on 17 October. The project started from sp00nznet/burnout3, an earlier recompilation of the same game. The repository had about 300 GitHub stars on 21 October. We couldn’t find press coverage of Takedawn itself.

This site is not affiliated with xenophobentx, Criterion Games, Electronic Arts or Microsoft.

What it is

• A static recompilation: the xboxrecomp toolkit reads the game’s x86 executable, translates its functions to C and compiles them into a native program for x86-64 or arm64. A runtime stands in for the Xbox kernel, sound chip and controllers.
• A real GPU renderer: the game’s own Direct3D commands for the Xbox graphics chip are translated into shaders and drawn with Vulkan on Windows, Linux and Android and with Metal on a Mac.
• Game data from your disc: the downloads are only the program. The README says the program holds code translated from the game’s executable, but none of the game’s data; cars, tracks, sound and films are copied from your own disc on first start.
• Built with AI help: the README says the author builds Takedawn with AI coding agents (Claude) doing much of the typing, and decides, reviews and tests the changes on their own hardware.

No game logic is rewritten by hand: optional features such as ultrawide and the widescreen HUD fix change values in the game’s own code and do nothing when switched off. It works like the other console recompilations in our recompiled games list.

Current status

Features listed in the README and the 0.2.0 notes:

• render scale from 1x (640x480, as on the console) to 4x (2560x1920), and 60 fps locked to your display;
• widescreen with the HUD kept in shape, and 21:9 and 32:9 ultrawide in races;
• HDR on Windows, Linux and the Steam Deck, plus FXAA or SMAA, sharpening, anisotropic filtering and sliders for bloom and motion blur;
• crash cameras at 60 fps, and split screen at 60 fps with music (the Xbox ran it at 30 without music);
• your own music folder (MP3, FLAC, Ogg or WAV) in the game’s EA GAMES TRAX menu, and 5.1 surround;
• optional PS2-style driving controls, button prompts for Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo and Steam controllers, and touch controls on Android;
• save backups, save export and import, and import of a save from an original Xbox;
• Potato mode, which keeps the race start in real time on machines below 60 fps.

Known problems: the README lists one known issue: with PS2 driving controls, Crash mode shows the wrong Crashbreaker button prompt. On 21 October 2026 there were 22 open issues, including graphics glitches on some European tracks, black lines, a blocky outline around trees with HDR on, HDR not working on macOS, freezes at race start with custom music, and a report that the game only starts outside Steam. Below 60 fps the whole game runs slower, because it advances one step per frame as on the Xbox. We didn’t play the game through ourselves.

What you need

• Your own North America (NTSC-U) retail Xbox disc of Burnout 3: Takedown, as an .iso in XISO layout, a full disc image or a folder of extracted files. Other versions are not supported. We don’t explain how to obtain or copy game data.
• About 3 GB of free space (the game data takes 2.5 GB) and a controller or keyboard.
• Windows: 64-bit Windows 10 or newer with a Vulkan 1.3 graphics driver (AMD users: Adrenalin 26.8.1 or newer).
• Linux or Steam Deck: x86-64, glibc 2.29 or newer and a Vulkan 1.3 driver.
• Mac: Apple silicon and macOS 13 or newer. There is no Intel Mac build.
• Android (experimental): Android 13 or newer, 64-bit, a Snapdragon chip with Adreno graphics.
• For full speed: about a Steam Deck’s power, meaning a 4-core, 8-thread CPU of Ryzen 3000 class or newer. Higher render scales need a desktop graphics card.

How to install

From the official README, at a high level: download the package for your device from the project’s GitHub Releases page (a setup EXE for Windows, an AppImage for Linux and the Steam Deck, a DMG for Mac, an APK for Android), start it, and choose your disc image or folder in the setup window. Takedawn checks that it is the right game and version, copies and verifies the 716 data files, and builds its shaders before the first race. Then press Play. Open the settings with Back and Start together, or F1. To update, install the new version over the old one; saves and settings stay. The desktop builds are not code signed, so each system asks once whether you trust them.

Other Burnout 3 projects

• sp00nznet/burnout3 by Ned Heller (sp00nz): the reference title for the xboxrecomp toolkit and the project Takedawn started from. Its README calls it an alpha for Windows: every mode boots and plays, split screen included, but the Xbox graphics chip is emulated in software, so menus run at about 14 fps and races at 2 to 4 fps. You build it yourself from your own disc image. Official repository: sp00nznet/burnout3.
• xrevive by Teraflopping: a closed-source Windows launcher that also lists Burnout 3, with a Release build since its 0.1.20 update (19 October 2026). It downloads a precompiled executable for your own disc instead of building one, and is best known for online play in Midnight Club 3. It is a separate project from Takedawn.
• PlayStation 2 version: we couldn’t confirm a native PC port of it.

Is it legal and safe?

• Takedawn is an unofficial, non-commercial fan project, not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Electronic Arts, Criterion Games or Microsoft.
• The README says no game data is included: no disc images, textures, models, sound, music, films or shader caches. The program itself contains code translated from the game’s executable.
• Use only a disc you own.
• Get it only from the official GitHub repository, and compare downloads with the SHA256SUMS file on the releases page. Sites offering the port bundled with the game are not the project.

Another Burnout made native: Burnout Dominator, a PS2 recompilation playable start to finish. More recompiled EA games: Need for Speed: Most Wanted, BLACK (also by Criterion), Skate 2. Full list: recompiled games.

Unofficial. This page is written by an independent directory. It is not made by, endorsed by or affiliated with Electronic Arts (developed by Criterion Games) or xenophobentx (Takedawn (Burnout 3: Takedown PC port)'s author). We do not host any files, and we never link to game files, ROMs or ISOs.