Bizarre Creations took one giant leap away from normality when creating Blur. Gone are the elements of a driver simulation that often make an appearance; engine upgrades, tyre Psi and body decals. Instead they’ve been replaced by ridiculously high speeds, blistering combat and incredible visuals. Yeah, it’s that kind of game. This isn’t Project Gotham Racing, this is something else. Interested? Of course you are. Read on.
The Blur Beta went live last night at 10:00pm GMT, and is already demonstrating Blur to be a rather interesting game. Albeit a little repetitive, it would be unreasonable to judge this book by it’s rather flashy and colourful cover, as we’ve only been treated to a single racetrack at this moment in time. However, if things don’t improve by release, Blur‘s repetitive nature could be seen to be its downfall. After spending a little time with the game thus far, I can already begin to see why it’s not gained as much hype as you would normally expect – simply put, Blur is Mario Kart after being fused with Need for Speed. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a pretty winning combination, but it’s nothing spectacularly original, and it’s for this reason that some gamers might very well switch off at this point.
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Innovative? I think not. Fun? Hell yeah!
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From a visual perspective, Blur is rather spectacular. The game has borrowed heavily from the Need For Speed design gallery, which is particularly prevalent from the inner city tracks, flawlessly recreated and well-lit, whilst car damage is demonstrated rather effectively from bent bumpers, to lost spoilers and even extending to heavily smoking engines; once the damage gets critical. Furthermore, the interaction between cars and the hectic pace of the game is only improved by the fact that Blur looks so darn great. Clearly designed to be as asthetically pleasing as possible, Blur is a visual feast for the eyes. Heck, even the box art looks nice!
With regards to the game play though, Blur appears to fall a little short. It’s not quite Mario Kart, it’s not quite Need for Speed, and it’s not quite Burnout (another critically-acclaimed title Blur appears to have borrowed heavily from) which leaves me wondering what gaming-market Blur is hoping to deploy into – it’s a little hazy at best. Furthermore, how on earth do you define a gaming hybrid such as this one? The weapons system is quite evidently taken from Mario Kart, and whilst this works rather well, it’s nothing new. Evidently the arsenal of weapons has been adapted slightly to appeal to the more mature gaming audience, but the basic premise remains very much the same. Moreover, The car design and handling is almost a direct port of Need for Speed, as even tuned cars with the highest of stats will handle a corner like a 18 wheeler. Oh, and while we’re at it, the gravity defying jumps and constant carnage look like they would be more at home within the Burnout series.
Before I continue though, I think it’s only fair to point out that I’m actually quite a fan of this game, I’m just a little disappointed thus far that Blur hasn’t managed to break away from the other games that it’s so evidently built upon. Despite it’s borrowing from other critically acclaimed titles though, Blur really is a lot of fun. And it’s easy to pick up and play for the first time too. Within 5 minutes of starting up the game, I had already won my first race. Now whilst I’ll admit that the majority of the win must be given to pot luck and my constant gunning for speed boosts, it did make me feel right at home straight away. It dawned on me after my first win though, that Blur doesn’t reward you for stealing pole position…
It wasn’t until after my win, that I discovered that there’s a great deal more to this game than cruising your way into 1st place. In fact, unlike the Burnout series, coming first isn’t really a deal breaker for when the smoke finally settles. You can obtain a great deal more points by maintaining a position within the middle of the pack, with the destruction and wreckage of other players as your end goal. Blur is clearly designed as a fast paced racer, but the meat of the game (and the point at which it stands away from the crowd) can be found by using the various powerups to destroy your opponents. Don’t get me wrong, it’s always a buzz to come first, but it’s even more of a thrill to slam an opponent into a wall, rendering their car a useless crumpled mess of debris, thus allowing you to claw your way up the grid, opponent by opponent. It’s even more fun when you know the person your racing against too.
The absence of other road users on the tracks is something that I hope is changed by the time Blur is released in mid May, as although there is a great deal going on at any one time, the tracks are so immersive and well designed that it just seems unrealistic that there wouldn’t be motorists on the road who could get caught up in all the frantic racing.
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