My thoughts on: Blur

Before we start talking about the game that revolutionized racing games with “Powered-up racing”, let’s go back all the way to 2010. I was an 8th grader at the time, and schools nearing to an end. I decided to find a game to play to help pass the time during the summer. So, I decided to pre-order the one game I thought was best.
Mod nation Racers. The PSP version…

Sure, it was ok, but while I was waiting for my copy at midnight, I overheard the store manager say, “Ok, if you ordered Blur, come pick it up here.” At that moment, I looked down at my PSP game in shame and pure regret. I really wished I had a PS3, for that amazing game would become an all-time cult classic for the PS3 gen of consoles. I mean, sure it was a lot of fun, but it never got the sales it deserved to become a series for the company. It was just a drop of water in an endless sea of better marketed games. Because of this, it just became a cult classic, which I couldn’t play because I never had a PS3. But then, later that month, we got a PS3 (With Motor Storm: Pacific Rift, which is always good), but it would still be a good year before I’d be able to play Blur for the first time, but the first time I did, I never forgot about it. The racing was so intense, and unbelievably fast that I never forgot about it. That, and I had come down with a serious case of Strep throat and had to be home for an entire week. Fun. But what truly made Blur become an instant hidden gem for the PS3/360 gen of games, and how did it fail? Let’s find out.

Gameplay – The biggest reason why this game was so groundbreaking for its time, and why it’s so fun to this day, is because of its “Powered-up racing” premise. The whole game can be summed up as Mario Kart for men. It’s the hybrid breed of Need for Speed (Or in the case of the developers, PGR) with it’s somewhat realistic handling model and looks, but combined with Mario Kart’s weapon system. There are several power-ups, like “shunt” which is a red shell from MK, “barge” which is a blast that forms around the car knocking people out of the way, and easily the best, “Nitro” which is an instant blast of speed. The overall racing and cars all feel just right. The handling model is pretty much perfect, given the style of gameplay. One of the best parts about this game to me, is the amazing sound design. Every hit, shot, and jump sounds great with every action leading to a satisfying pop, knock, or other vague sound effect. The career is surrounded by the 3 event types. There’s Race, which is self-explanatory, and the best part of the game, Destruction, where you have to shoot as many cars as possible, and Checkpoint, where you have to get around the track as fast as you can. Every event you complete in gets you “lights” which help you unlock more events but every race you do gives you fans depending on your performance. Fans help you unlock new cars, and help you progress through the game. The career also surrounds 10 of the best drivers on the circuit, and you have to meet certain goals in order to have a one-on-one with them, which will give you their car and mod (Which modifies certain power-ups to be even stronger). To be honest though, the career can be a bit boring and with a lack of a free-play to make your own races, the single player could’ve been better. The overall racing is great at times, but I want the ability to have a race with 20 people on the Russian Steps in San Francisco, but I can’t in single player. It’s a shame, really. Other than that, the actual racing is amazing and exhilarating, but can be repetitive and a bit disappointing at times, but for everything that the single player lacks, the multiplayer easily makes up for in literally everything.

Multiplayer – This is easily the best part of the game. It’s got its own XP system, with its own modes of play and you equip your car with set layouts that have their own mods. Stuff like laser sights for aiming, and a stronger shield for example. You can unlock more as you play and win, and it’s always a fun romp when it comes to the racing, which has the option for 20 player online races, which is something that I’ve really come to appreciate in this game. A lot of the races in this game have at least 20 people on track which is so much fun, because it helps make the races feel more like a 200 mph flash mob with lights and sounds. But, the one thing this game gets right is the multiplayer, which has (Ready for this?)
4-player local split screen.
Yes. So much yes.
In this era of racing games, where split screen has nearly gone extinct, Blur is a rarity in that it has 4-player split screen and online multiplayer. Remember when I had mentioned how I couldn’t set up a crazy race on the Russian Steps in San Francisco in single player? Well, in multiplayer, especially in split screen, you can, and it’s so much fun. You are also given complete freedom to modify everything from the difficulty, to the damage, to the kinds of weapons you can use. It’s all here and at your disposal. You can also drive every car in the game here without having to unlock them, which is fantastic too. Overall, if you want to buy this game, be sure friends are on standby.

Cars -The range of cars in this game are some of the best I’ve seen in a racing game line up. You’ve got a little from every car culture. The range consists also of plenty of tuners, muscles, exotics, rat rods, big trucks and even certain race cars from the automotive circuit, like the Renault Megane Touring car, and VW Schrocco 24hr race car. It’s one of the best ranges of cars I’ve seen in years, as every new unlocked car feels like a new experience to be had. There even is a Ford Transit van with a F1 engine you can unlock, and when you do, boy do you have a fun car on your hands. The problem is, however, you can’t customize any of them. What a shame.

Tracks – This is my favorite part of the game. I mean, the powered up racing is fantastic enough on its own, but even if it was basic racing, these tracks are some of the best I’ve seen in a long time. The range of locations is cool and every layout takes advantage of the locations geography. San Francisco has separate spots, like the Russian steps, to the bay area, to the hills in the background of the Golden Gate bridge. It’s all fantastic, and every part is memorable in some way. The range of locations consist of Tokyo’s expressway, Amboy (Which is just Nevada desert), Barcelona’s streets (which also include an old fashioned oval race track you rip around earlier on in game), and also my personal favorite, Brighton which has you ripping around the beach front and along the storefronts, with the lights dancing through the glimmers of the beautiful chaos. It’s one of the best track lists I’ve seen in a long time.

So why did it fail? - Earlier in the review, I had mentioned Modnation Racers, and how I bought that game instead of Blur. Well, that game (the PS3 version actually), and another game, Split Second, all came out on the same night with Blur. It was a 3 way drag race to see which one would be the best, and Modnation Racers would triumph. The problem is that the other 2 would end up failing and sending their developers packing. Blur didn’t survive, sadly. It’s a shame because I wanted to see more of the other 2 IP’s, but we never really did. Split Second had some DLC, but that didn’t help sales and ended up leaving Disney to kill the developer, Black Rock Studios, who in the past, worked on many different Hot Wheels games, ATV Off-Road Fury 3 &4, and their previous game, Pure. Both Black Rock and Blur’s developer, Bizarre Creations had suffered from their launch and inevitable lack of sales, which led to their demise. Modnation however would go on to sell over 5 million units across PS3’s worldwide. Despite these past events being seemingly dark, there was a silver lining amongst the chaos. A new developer for Microsoft Game Studios ended up taking the same teams across several British developers (Criterion, Codemasters, and others) and they even managed to pick up some of the dev’s from Black Rock, and especially Bizarre Creation’s to end up forming the studio Playground Games.
They’re the men and women behind this classic:

And they’d go on to sell millions of copies. I guess this can be a lesson on staying optimistic and always doing your best, because Blur was so good, that despite its lack of money, it ended up becoming a cult classic and one game that we’re still talking about today. It managed to get some people picked up and placed into a team that would go on to make of the best spin-off franchises in Microsoft history (Which, by the way, Forza Horizon will be free for Gold members this Thursday. Just FYI.)

Overall: I love Blur. It’s got a fantastic track list, great cars, and an amazing premise. It’s just the career mode feels rushed and plain. It doesn’t complement the gameplay at all. At least we get a solid multiplayer, which complements the overall party feel a lot more. Overall, it’s a classic, and worth picking up, given that you all have friends who can play videogames with you. If you play alone, it can get boring, but not to the point it becomes monotonous. All I’ll say is to give it a shot, because every little detail and moment will make up for the negatives.

Also, the trailer was amazing:

Funny thing is, though. That dude at the beginning is never in the game. lol.

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