Blur successfully merges three of the most addictive games in history, but one glaring fault will turn off casual gamers
+ Challenging and varied campaign will keep most gamers busy for up to 30 hours
+ Over 50 fully licensed, real-life cars
+ Multiplayer that is more addictive and comprehensive than most first person shooters
+ A game that finally rewards skilled drivers and driving strategists alike
+ Party lobby allows players to create a hosted game and lobby for up to eight players
+ Excellent matchmaking does not pit seasoned veterans against new players often
Cons:
- Difficulty will prevent some gamers from truly experiencing the true depth of the game
- Drifting a car can be a punishing experience through the learning curve
- Lots of cars, but not as many brands
- Not much of a story behind the game
- When matchmaking isn't possible by limited players online, it'll be "veterans vs. noobies"
- Limited community during initial release, but has been steadily growing
In the time leading up to the release, Activision put out a series of commercials that boasted their new game, Blur, would supplant Mario Kart as the racer of choice for "Big Boys" claiming "Racing is not about making friends, it's about winning." Community boards exploded overnight upon the release of these commercials and Nintendo/Mario Kart fanboys boycotted the release. Those who braved the quiet and controversial release or been part in the online beta release knew that Activision was at least partly right, and the loyal fans were treated to an amalgam of gaming elements that were sewn together perfectly like Dr. Frankenstein's brainchild.
This Activision brainchild, Blur, provides a true experience to car enthusiasts and aficionados who could never engross themselves in the seemingly endless number of "cartoony" cart/kart combat racers. Blur utilizes the arcade style of racing that used to be an over-saturated market in the mid 90's has now found itself barren and uninhabited. These simplistic and beguiling racers were replaced by overly complicated and realistic simulation racers that haven't been able to capture the elation of break-neck speed and difficulty of being able to perfectly drift a racing machine around a corner. These simple ideas when integrated with a superb combat system are what truly separate Blur from the slew of simulation racers and other games in the combat racing market like Split/Second. No one track or race will ever be the same, and because of this the game never feels old or stale.
Due to the fast paced nature of the game the player will find themselves leaning as they drift around hairpin corners and muscles will tense as the vehicle reaches peak speed or a nitro boost is engaged. These sensations and shots of pure adrenaline will make gamers question why there has been such a rift between simulations and arcade racers for the past decade. Despite the overly simple controls that Blur employs, it captures more true racing sensations and control than any other simulation racer I have ever played. All of this is accomplished using only acceleration, braking, drifting, fire, and switch weapon buttons to play the game. Further, in simplifying things it effectively brings back the fun of racing that Burnout and Ridge Racer have been known in the past for.
Capturing the essence of speed and forcing the player to take each vehicle to the limit of their capabilities is one of the best attributes of the game. Instead of feeling in control throughout the entire race, the player may find themselves out in front by a large margin, only to see an onslaught of power-ups wreck their car and land them back in the middle of the fray. A player can be focused on everything in front of them, but if they do not concentrate on what is behind them as well as what is in front of them, bad things can (and will) happen. This is all very overwhelming at first, but after a few runs and experimenting with the various power-ups and how they can be used offensively and defensively it becomes second nature.
The combat system allows you to hold up to three power-ups at a time, which are used in conjunction with the vehicle modifications (think of the perk system for Modern Warfare). This allows you to not only choose the vehicle that best suits the course and your driving style, but also how you choose to engage the competition. Almost every power-up can be fired both forward and backward, which adds further strategic elements to the game and forces the player to be aware at all times. If at any time during the race the player feels confident or secure it is usually a false sense of security or the individual's hubris overpowering better judgment.
Complimenting the overall racing experience are the excellent soundtrack and sound effects. From the opening theme ("Smile" by The Crystal Method) to the expert use of the Doppler Effect, Activision executed all of the sound as if you were on the track actually racing the car. The sound effects combine with the power-up audio to merge both reality and fiction into a smashing production (especially when experienced in full HD Dolby surround sound).
For the sounds used for each of the licensed cars, actual audio was taken from each of the cars' engines and exhausts, making all of the sounds not only legit but also genuine. There is nothing like hearing the wail of an Audi R8's V10 engine wailing as you rip around the San Francisco Sausalito track at over 200 mph or the high-pitched "squeak" of blow-off valve for a turbo-charged BMW M3. Every blow-off valve release, exhaust note, and turbo whine is captured from real-life audio recordings from the car manufacturers and Activision. This attention to detail will inevitably put a smile on any gear head's face for hours at a time, but can also be enjoyed by the masses as well.
Whether you choose to play in the multiplayer community or in the campaign, there are a variety of modes and challenges that will keep a player interested for hundreds of hours. This includes a motor Mash mode, that feels oddly like Twisted Metal as well as power-up racing modes that feel like free-for-all (power-up racing) and deathmatch (team racing) games in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. There is also a World Tour mode that randomly picks locations, modes, and objectives as well as a hardcore mode for those who want to race without power-ups.
The single player will last between 10 and 30 hours to complete in full, depending on the difficulty selected. This is a fairly robust campaign, with the only thing missing from it being the presence of a legit and engaging story. There are five or six ace racers, each with their own location and set of objectives you must complete before they will accept your 1v1 challenge. While you will be able to achieve most of these before obtaining all of the location's primary and secondary lights, you will without a doubt come back and at least attempt to finish each of the tracks and obtain their lights. Lights represent your skill and achievements within the single player mode, with up to five primary lights being awarded for finishing first (3 lights for third, 4 lights for second). There are also two secondary lights for each course, one for the fan target and one for the fan run (lighted gate run).
Once you finish the single player game, you will venture into the online community. If you finished the single player mode, you will find that all of the ace racers' cars are available when the stock versions of the car. These versions of the car give you an upper hand on those individuals who do not have the cars unlocked, as I found out quickly in certain races and situations. The online experience that will take 150+ hours to max out your "legendary" status and procure all stickers/trophies (that can be obtained cumulatively in both single and multiplayer), proving Blur is not a short-lived experience or one trick pony. With almost 120 hours of gameplay accumulated under my belt, the surface remains barely scratched in terms of what the game has to offer, and will only be limited by the amount of time the user can commit to this immersive and robust game. This sense of underachievement is primarily due to the growing community of users and additional opportunities to play with various gamers that recently purchased the game as well as the patching applied by the developers.
In addition to the vast number of modes available there are a number of tracks and locations to race on. Blur takes place on three different continents in four specific countries, illustrating a variety of traditional and untraditional tracks you will be racing on. Each track has four different variations, one for each class (A, B, C, and D), and will also require you to take a different approach depending on the surface and degree of the turns.
Despite all the places you will traverse, the most exhilarating experience of all is the mountain track in Japan that begins at the peak and ends in a town in the foothills. For fans of Japanese racing and/or anime, the road will be recognized as the real life road featured in Initial D or Japanese underground racing lore. The developers have successfully captured the essence, rush, and danger of underground illegal night racing in this track. The nostalgia and history will engross those familiar with it, and those who are unaware of this rich history will soon find it to be one of their favorite tracks. The track has no laps – but rather a frantic race to the finish line from point A to point B instead of multiple loops around a track.
Regardless of all the praise and near perfect execution Activision produced, no game is without faults. The actual story behind the Blur universe and their colorful characters is non-existent. You do not know why you are tracking down these aces of the road or why there is unspoken hostility between all the racers. While a little bit of detail behind this would have only solidified the experience, you only find yourself asking questions and demanding a story at the end of the game. This makes you reflect back on your encounter the mysterious girl, Shannon, and why/how she periodically updates you on each of the ace racers after you go through her "Proving Grounds" level.
Blur also suffers from a stifling level of difficulty on normal and hard modes, with easy being hardly challenging at all. There is a level of difficulty missing from the mix that should be present between easy and normal. The key to conquering these higher difficulties is having the patience and skill to learn the ins and outs of true racing mechanics and the use of power-ups and modifications. If you can manage to master these skills, you will eventually be able to topple the challengers and take the checkered flag in these harder levels of difficulty. Accomplishing first place on normal or hard difficulties are as satisfying as completing levels in Demon's Souls and Devil May Cry 3, and give the gamer a greater sense of achievement.
The only complaint with the gameplay is the difficult nature of the drifting mechanic, which proves not to be overly easy in real life either. Depending on the car you use, the track surface, and speed class, drifting in Blur can be a nightmare to execute without slamming into a wall and losing all of your speed and momentum. This is frustrating mainly because the action consists of steering and only pressing and holding a button. This issue is only further compounded when you add up to 9 and 19 real players to the track, with everyone slamming into each other while desperately scrapping and clawing for the top three spots.
As a trade-off for putting up with a few of these diminutive nuisances, you are treated to a gorgeously rendered world with near perfect car models. The only racing game that has been able to compete with Blur on the aesthetic side has been Forza Motorsport III (and the upcoming GT5). The cars take real damage from walls and power-up hits, and look just as good as an exposed frame or roll cage as they do from the starting line. One of the most impressive graphical achievements in the game occurs during the firing of a nitro boost that adds 40+ mph and the visual blurring (that the game derives its name from) and streaking of all the surroundings, car lines and lights. This visual element forces the player to leave their comfort zone for about four seconds, questioning their control over the vehicle and feeling the rush of 200+mph speeds and chest compressing acceleration as a driver would.
Activision has not only revived a dead genre, but also created a new intellectual property with unlimited potential. Blur actively merges the best aspects of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (online), Forza Motorsport (simulation racing), and Mario Kart (power up racing). When the player is done playing the game, they will look back and realize all of the feathers that were ruffled by their ostentatious commercials are actually backed up by the product and hold true to what they originally claimed.
When you consider the detail and depth of the game, there are many different levels the game can be enjoyed on. For those that want a quick and dirty experience, Blur will satisfy them with the user friendly and quick racing interface with no race lasting longer than seven minutes on average. For those true racing and car aficionados, the depth and true physics of the game will take months to master in each car class, and when you throw in the power-ups and modification strategy it will take even longer to break the top tiers of the leader boards. The main issue with the game is again the punishing difficulty and difficult drifting mechanic that will turn off some casual (and lesser skilled or patient) gamers.
Blur offers a superb experience for a niche of arcade racing and licensed car gamers that have long been forgotten. Not since Burnout 3 or Burnout: Revenge has there been a game quite as fast paced and well-tuned as Blur. Despite the overly tiered difficulty in the single player modes and the tricky drifting mechanics, these faults will soon be forgotten when you are busy blasting opponents off cliffs and rubbing them against the rails and walls of the tracks. The only disappointment a racing fan and adrenaline junkie will experience with this game is when they are forced to turn off the console (or PC) for trifling events such as sleeping, eating, or fulfilling obligations to family and society.