Review: Blur (PS3)

Written by - Michael Butterworth

     The concept behind Blur is one that to me seemed pretty damned good; Mario kart for grown ups. This was literally the way the game was advertised. Developed by 'Bizzare Creations', the creators of the Project Gotham series, means that Blurs racing is very different to the 'kart racers' it has clearly copied from. The opening trailer truly sets the scene and as it should have done, got me very exited for the game. It was pretty much just a cinematic race showing off the various power ups whilst using a lot of slo-motion, something I personally can't get enough of. That opening movie set the tone for the whole game.

     Power up racing is the name of the game here, and it works really well. There is a sort of rock paper scissors-ness about it all. Most of the attacking weapons are based around hitting the leader (shunt - the red homing missle that flips your car into the air when hit) while the rest are just for protecting yourself (shield - obviously, and barge - sends out a shockwave around you car which.. 'barges' other cars). This helps keep the race happening in one area rather than the leader being miles out in front out of range of any weapons. Unlike most other kart racers, and unlike Mario Kart itself you personally chose what weapons you want to pick up. It's not long before you know the colours off by heart and are telling yourself "pick up green, yellow blue or white!". This adds a tactical side to the game rather than the random chaos of other kart racers - although there is still a fair bit of random chaos in Blur as well. 

     Blur certainly isn't the best looking racing game out there, however it still is a very nice game to look at. The game avoids being grey and dull because of the vibrantly coloured power ups and power up explosions that are constantly going on around you. The cars them selves are pretty good while the tracks are very nice indeed. There are some nice touches such as the water splashing on the screen while going through puddles and the way the camera goes fuzzy if you are hit or crash - like its a video camera. 

     The cars themselves are split into 4 main categories; Grippy, Difty, Balanced or Off Road. It's pretty self explanatory - Grippy stick in through the corners, Drifty means you drift round them and balanced means you get a bit of both. However it must be noted that apart from the obvious advantages that come from their size, Off Road feels a bit pointless at times. You would never pick one on a normal track because that advantage does not balance the lack of speed and handling, yet there are only a few off-road tracks, and even on these normal cars can often win. Maybe instead of Off Road there should have been a "Behemoth" class or something to that effect where they can just take more of a beating - without the faffing about with everyone picking the Land Rover on one or two tracks. 

     As the IGN reviewer infamously put it - "Blur is hard". And yes it's true is pretty hard. On the second level, I came third. The third race I had to retry as I couldn't make it into the top 3 at all. However this learning curve may have been steep, very steep at first, it soon levels out. Helping this is the incredibly well done tutorials. For the first race you are told literally nothing apart form the control scheme in a loading screen. But the more races you do, the more you are told. Blur works on a sort of 'need to know basis'. It wasn't until I had beaten the first 'Boss' that I found out how to fire backward! But once you master barging a shunt while boosting into the car ahead and shocking the leader constantly on the lookout for a repair to help you bolt a mine, you feel pretty good about yourself. 

     One thing I NEED to mention before I go onto multiplayer, its another feature that shows off how polished Blur really is. When you load up the game, for the second time onwards, "Previously on Blur" comes up. It then proceeds to remind you what race you just completed - be it online of off - , what cars you have unlocked and more. When I saw it for the first time I just said "Wow thats awesome". Its a small thing, and certainly didn't impress my brother when I showed him, but I still love it.  

     Blur online is where its at. There is a levelling system which keeps you racing against people of an equal level to you which is nice, and there are rooms specifically for 'noobs' and 'pros'. There a good number of racing modes as well so it stays fresh for quite a while. After each round there is a vote to what map is next which is nice, and before the race you get to chose your car, power up boosters and paint colour. One thing that is missing form the game is any kind of car customisation, which often ends in racing against several cars which look exactly the same as yours. I solved this by racing in bright pink every time of course. But Blur multiplayer is difanately the best experience, singleplayer gets stale quickly as the AI are so viscous and predictable and quite frankly its much more fun to ruin a real persons race several times in a row, rather than just a computer. 

VERDICT - B+ "A fresh, fun and exiting new take on the old, stale kart racer games."

+ The varied power ups and the tactical gameplay they bring.

+ The general polish Blur has which makes it a much more enjoyable experience - the menus, the online, and tutorials, the whole package.

+ Split screen multipalyer!

- Vehicle customisation is minuscule.

- Over time races do tend to become more similar.