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Logo by Max Layne Photography
| Microsoft Xbox 360 |
When it comes to racing games, some are so easy that it seems to be a waste of time to play them, while others are so hard that, well,
it seems to be a waste of time to play them. The new racer from developer Bizarre Creations, Blur, fits into the latter category, though
players will want to continue playing it because of the fact that it is such an amazing game.
The single player Career Mode in the game features some crazy A.I. that will challenge all gamers. While many gamers will work
towards simply drifting around corners and making their way through the track presented to them, the A.I. in the game will be busy
launching attacks at the most inopportune moment for the player. In the world of “Blur,” among all of the game’s real-world trappings,
cars just simply race and see who is the fastest, they add weapons to the mix to make things much more difficult, and players will love it
for that reason.
The fact that weapons are introduced into the racing genre isn’t much of a big deal when players are working through the smaller races
with only 10 cars, it is in the larger races with 20 opponents when the chaos takes over and can make racing extremely difficult, even on
the normal difficulty level. Players who consider themselves to be pros at weaving their way around opponents and through city streets
will be challenged when they have to do these maneuvers with explosions going off every couple of seconds. Sometimes the A.I.’s
ability to knock a player from first place to twentieth feels a little over the top and cheap.
Luckily, not all of the Career events in the game will lead to eventual frustration. Many players will find themselves thoroughly enjoying
the Destruction levels where the player has to shoot enemies to gain time and points, and the Checkpoint stages of the game where
players race against the clock will also be enjoyable. However, the best levels in the game’s Career mode were the ones that gave
players a single task to complete, rather than combining tasks which make for a very frustrating gaming session at times.
Even some of the best gamers are going to find themselves swallowing their pride and switching the game over to an Easy difficulty
setting for the later parts of the Career mode, though at times it will seem too easy. However, this switch in difficult does make it much
easier to gather lights, the in-game collectibles players get for placing in a race or for completing specific objectives in an event, but the
thrill of beating worthy opponents was lost. For those that want to work through the game to unlock items, an Easy difficulty is a good
way to go about it, especially for those players who want to focus on gathering fans by doing tricks and taking out opponents with
weapons.
Fans play a fairly large role in the game, and while they are really just a random number rather than actual people that players can see,
they do give a nice set of goals to constantly work towards. Fans are gained by driving well, doing specific objectives in a race, or by
attacking opponents. Players can gain lights for getting a certain level of fans in a given race, but the primary purpose of fans is to
unlock new tiers of cars for use in later races. And while fans didn’t make the racing fun in spite of being humiliated by the opponents
on the track, there is a sense of reward seeing little number continually pop up as the player hurts the other drivers or worked towards
some overall goal.
Facing off again human players didn’t help things out with the game much either. Of course there is something to be said for how
much fun a game can be for smashing friends with a well placed attack, but the 20 player online matches quickly turn into a chaotic free
for all in which getting first is more of a secondary concern to simply trying to survive the constant barrage of attacks. Thankfully this is
not a problem in the game's fun team-based races and battle modes, or in the smaller 10 player races, which are the best way to play
“Blur” online.
For those players that care about unlocking a bunch of items and going through the grind of trying to rack up experience, then the game’
s online mode has it covered with a variety of items and modifications to unlock that help to boost stats and help players in combat. A
game like “Blur” is best played with a few friends, which is why the inclusion of the four player split screen is a great addition, though
players with small televisions may not like this mode too much.
“Blur” isn't the addictive and competitive online game that people were hoping it would be. Rather, it is a palate-cleansing game, the
type of experience you pop in for a few minutes with friends when looking for a break between sessions of a game that is worthy of
playing a marathon. For those who love hardcore racing and the idea of truly chaotic combat sounds appealing, than “Blur” might be a
good fit. However, for those that are looking for a fun, pick-up-and-play combat racer, then “Mario Kart” may be a better fit. Though this
game could be a good fit for gamers of any level, depending on what they are looking for.
it seems to be a waste of time to play them. The new racer from developer Bizarre Creations, Blur, fits into the latter category, though
players will want to continue playing it because of the fact that it is such an amazing game.
The single player Career Mode in the game features some crazy A.I. that will challenge all gamers. While many gamers will work
towards simply drifting around corners and making their way through the track presented to them, the A.I. in the game will be busy
launching attacks at the most inopportune moment for the player. In the world of “Blur,” among all of the game’s real-world trappings,
cars just simply race and see who is the fastest, they add weapons to the mix to make things much more difficult, and players will love it
for that reason.
The fact that weapons are introduced into the racing genre isn’t much of a big deal when players are working through the smaller races
with only 10 cars, it is in the larger races with 20 opponents when the chaos takes over and can make racing extremely difficult, even on
the normal difficulty level. Players who consider themselves to be pros at weaving their way around opponents and through city streets
will be challenged when they have to do these maneuvers with explosions going off every couple of seconds. Sometimes the A.I.’s
ability to knock a player from first place to twentieth feels a little over the top and cheap.
Luckily, not all of the Career events in the game will lead to eventual frustration. Many players will find themselves thoroughly enjoying
the Destruction levels where the player has to shoot enemies to gain time and points, and the Checkpoint stages of the game where
players race against the clock will also be enjoyable. However, the best levels in the game’s Career mode were the ones that gave
players a single task to complete, rather than combining tasks which make for a very frustrating gaming session at times.
Even some of the best gamers are going to find themselves swallowing their pride and switching the game over to an Easy difficulty
setting for the later parts of the Career mode, though at times it will seem too easy. However, this switch in difficult does make it much
easier to gather lights, the in-game collectibles players get for placing in a race or for completing specific objectives in an event, but the
thrill of beating worthy opponents was lost. For those that want to work through the game to unlock items, an Easy difficulty is a good
way to go about it, especially for those players who want to focus on gathering fans by doing tricks and taking out opponents with
weapons.
Fans play a fairly large role in the game, and while they are really just a random number rather than actual people that players can see,
they do give a nice set of goals to constantly work towards. Fans are gained by driving well, doing specific objectives in a race, or by
attacking opponents. Players can gain lights for getting a certain level of fans in a given race, but the primary purpose of fans is to
unlock new tiers of cars for use in later races. And while fans didn’t make the racing fun in spite of being humiliated by the opponents
on the track, there is a sense of reward seeing little number continually pop up as the player hurts the other drivers or worked towards
some overall goal.
Facing off again human players didn’t help things out with the game much either. Of course there is something to be said for how
much fun a game can be for smashing friends with a well placed attack, but the 20 player online matches quickly turn into a chaotic free
for all in which getting first is more of a secondary concern to simply trying to survive the constant barrage of attacks. Thankfully this is
not a problem in the game's fun team-based races and battle modes, or in the smaller 10 player races, which are the best way to play
“Blur” online.
For those players that care about unlocking a bunch of items and going through the grind of trying to rack up experience, then the game’
s online mode has it covered with a variety of items and modifications to unlock that help to boost stats and help players in combat. A
game like “Blur” is best played with a few friends, which is why the inclusion of the four player split screen is a great addition, though
players with small televisions may not like this mode too much.
“Blur” isn't the addictive and competitive online game that people were hoping it would be. Rather, it is a palate-cleansing game, the
type of experience you pop in for a few minutes with friends when looking for a break between sessions of a game that is worthy of
playing a marathon. For those who love hardcore racing and the idea of truly chaotic combat sounds appealing, than “Blur” might be a
good fit. However, for those that are looking for a fun, pick-up-and-play combat racer, then “Mario Kart” may be a better fit. Though this
game could be a good fit for gamers of any level, depending on what they are looking for.
| Genre: Racing Developer: Bizarre Creations Publisher: Activision |
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