Blur – MMOMFG Beta Impressions

Blur

Blur is Bizarre Creations’ first racing title since Project Gotham Racing 4 (2007). After spending some time with the Xbox 360 multiplayer beta, I can safely say it’s something totally different. There will be no kudos points here people. Instead, Blur matches speed and aggression and combines it with vehicular combat and a visual style I haven’t seen in a racing title for quite some time.

A little bit of Midnight Club and Wipeout - Remember how colorful and stylish those games were? Forgoing the kudos and bringing plenty of glimmer and glam without shoving it in your face, Blur has a great look that aims to set itself apart from other racing titles. It’s more about the art and visual quality than bling.

Mix in a Dash of Mario Kart - Blur isn’t all about racing. Odd I know, but it’s also about collecting the most fans (experience points). The way you do that is by winning races, driving with style (drifting, hitting top speeds, jumping off of ramps), and vehicular combat. Both attacking and evading attacks will earn you fans. The type of attacks vary and include small particle blasts, mines you plant through the fields, giant blue EMPs, and even an item that vibrates around you and bashes any car within your proximity. Take too much damage and you’ll be down for the count, which obviously loses precious seconds. Thankfully, there’s a few defensive items as well such as the repair kit and shield. Countless times the shield saved my hide by hitting it just before I was blasted by an EMP. With the ability to hold three weapons at once, its good to strategize a little and not always just “fire and forget”.

Stir in some F-Zero - The demo featured three modes. The one I ended playing the most was powered-up racing, which featured up to 20 cars going at it in a two or three lap race. The amount of chaos going on throughout the race was both funny to watch and entertaining to play. The combination of  fast paced racing and combat was at times a bit hectic, but the easy learning curve allowed me to pull ahead into the top 5 spots quite a few times. Another plus on Blur’s side is that it isn’t always about finishing first. You can earn plenty of fans even when you finish in the middle of the pack. After the race, rewards are given out for the most accurate racer, fastest racer (highest speed obtained), the racer who didn’t crash, and even the racer who used the most items. These little bonuses make you feel like you at least did something right even if you come in 10th out of 20th place.

You’ve got Modern Warfare in my racing - Blur really sets itself apart by all of the “perks” (mods) and challenges to do. After hitting Rank Three, you open up your mod shop. The mod shop allows you to customize which mods you want to use on your car. One gives you more impact damage when hitting cars while another one might give you more health. There are three mods you can add to your car and each slot must be used by specific mods (just like you can only use specific perks in specific spots for MW).

Also giving racers plenty to do are the challenges. Challenges come in two parts: one for your specific car like winning 25 races and ones specific to racing like avoiding X number of missile attacks or destroying Y number of cars. Finishing challenges will earn you a small amount of fans but as the challenges get harder so do the amount of fans (and other bonuses) you receive. The challenges, as well as unlocking mods, gives fans adding incentive to keep on playing. It’s that unlocking and leveling up feature that gamers seem to flock towards. Normally in a racing game you’re rewarded by getting a new car (which is still the case), but now you have other bonuses to strive and look forward to.

I can’t honestly remember the last racing title I played. It wouldn’t matter either as nothing I’ve played can really compare to what Blur is trying to offer. It combines the aspects of some of my favorite racing games of the past, and brings it to the present with some impressive visuals and white-knuckle combat. It still remains to be seen what other types of courses, mods, and cars the game will offer, but the beta has definitely put this title in my sights. Blur is due to be released May 25th.

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