Review: Blur
Over the years, the racing genre has taken on many variations. Each iteration seems to have a very specific fan base, and its just one those genres that you either love or hate. We have come to play traditional racing games like Need for Speed, Forza, and Grand Turismo, but then you have arcade-based racing titles like the classic Mario Kart, and newly introduced ModNation Racers. These are two very different variations of racing games; so what does Blur do? Blur takes the best of both arcade and simulation racing titles and turns it a fantastic package. Hit the break, and check out our verdict.
This game has a very solid presentation. The menu is very clean and extremely accessible. Right off the bat you have to choose between the single player and multi-player, and they have the two menus that are completely separate from each other. Blur has various options throughout the menus for what you would like to do, and as a bonus every time you sign back on the game it gives you a update of what you did last time you played.
These updates include: how many races you played, how many you won, what medals you earned, and updates your single player progress. It’s an awesome feature, especially if has been a while since you played, because it can give you a quick update to remember where you left off. The graphics are good and take on the style of something seen in a Need for Speed title. The music fits well into the package, and gets the adrenaline pumping as you race. The overall presentation is pleasing to the eye and the menus are crisp and clean.
Blur’s gameplay is a lot like Mario Kart and ModNation Racers. As you race you can pick up power ups to help tilt the race in your favor; that very in color and ability. They consist of Repair, Sock, Bolt, Shunt, Mine, Barge, Nitro, and Shield. You can use these in various situations that can come up in the race. You can fire these power ups both forwards and backwards, to either be on the attack or block another racers attack.
You start off a race with three slots for your power-ups and can scroll through them using the L1 button when you want to use them or save them. Depending on the car you choose you have a variation in the health bar. If it gets low you can use the power-up Repair to raise it up, but if it hits zero you get Wrecked! If Wrecked, it causes a short delay, before you can resume racing.
Each track has a specific class of cars you can pick from. The tracks come in various forms and are sorted by four class named A-D. The single player and multiplayer progress are both based off the same thing and that’s the fans. When competing in a race you earn fans. How you earn them depends on how fast a lap you do, where you place, and how many power-ups you use. They work as experience and level you up as well as unlock you new vehicles and items. While you race you can do specific things well or poorly to earn race medals. My favorite is the medal “Squirrel” which is picking up the most power-ups. This gameplay is fun, chaotic, and keeps you coming back for more.
This game has numerous features and cars, not to mention there is in game challenges. These challenges are specific things to do as you race that earn you extra fans when you complete them. A fun little feature they have is friend challenges. You can complete a race and challenge your friends to be faster and earn more fans then you did, its a nice way to keep up friendly competition. There are over 50 cars in the game, and you unlock different paint options when you win races with that specific car. You can already change the color but with wins you unlock metallic, pearlescent, and candy. Not only can you unlock paint when you win, you can also unlock upgrades towards that car too. Then you have the mod shop. This is where you select your mod class to race with and edit if you so choose. The mod’s consist up fan boosts, upgrades to your power-ups and so forth.
Another feature Blur has is the photo mode. You can take pictures and link them to your account for everyone to see. Not only that but Blur contains a sharing system to share all your unlocks, photos and achievements with all your friends. You can post your accomplishments on your Facebook or Twitter account. This game doesn’t have much customization for your cars or tracks but there is custom events where you can design your own race.
Then there is the Legend Mode, when level 50 is reached you can enter legend Mode. In this mode you start over your multiplayer progression but it unlocks a unique legendary car to use. There are ten levels and cars to unlock with this. The features in Blur really keep the game exciting.
Blur has taken the best of two worlds when creating this game. You have real life cars and terrains with the ability to attack. It has many features with a solid gameplay foundation to keep gamers playing and wanting more. The game reminds you every time you get on about what you have accomplished. This is a definite buy, and if you don’t like racing games give this one a shot because it will surprise you.
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