Similar to its predecessor Burnout 3: Takedown, Revenge focuses on a mixture of racing in the midst of rush-hour traffic, and vehicular combat; players use the cars themselves as weapons.

These take place within rush-hour traffic and include circuit racing, Road Rage (where players cause as many rivals to crash as possible within a time limit, or until the player's car is wrecked), Burning Lap (a single-lap, single-racer time attack mode), Eliminator (a circuit race where every thirty seconds, the last-placed racer's car is detonated;[6] the race continues until only one racer is left),[7] and Crash (where the player is placed at a junction with the aim of accumulating as many "Crash Dollars" as possible).

Causing a rival to crash is referred to as a "Takedown",[10] rewarding the player by extending the length of their boost gauge and completely refilling it.

[8] There are two extra vehicles that can be unlocked by the presence of a saved game from another title on the memory card or hard drive when first creating own profile.

It features some references from the game, for example, there are bullet holes all around the car, and the number plate on the back reads "Kellar", the player's character in Black.

[14] The Xbox 360 version of Burnout Revenge included several new features and improved the graphics of the game to utilise the power of the console.

[40] Greg Edwards of Maxim gave the PS2 and Xbox versions a score 9 out of 10, praising the variety of events, tracks, and online races, the sense of speed, and "smooth" controls.

[45] Eliot Fish of The Sydney Morning Herald gave the game four-and-a-half stars out of five and called it "relentlessly intense".

[46] Tim Meston of The Times gave it four stars out of five, his only complaint being some repetition in the track layout for each stage, but said that it was somewhat reduced by the addition of numerous shortcuts along each route.

[41] Scott Jones of the Hartford Courant gave it three stars out of four and called it "a car insurance agent's worst nightmare", and said that the opponents lack personality and that could have some story narrative.