Blur (video game)

Blur
Developer(s)	Bizarre Creations
Publisher(s)	Activision
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer

Blur is an arcade racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Activision. It features a racing style that incorporates real world cars and locales with arcade style handling and vehicular combat. The multiplayer beta for the game started on March 8th and was publicly available on the Xbox Live Marketplace on April 6th.

Gameplay

Blur follows a career mode where the story plays out through email messages sent through numerous fictional social networks, many of which reference more famous online services such as 'Inner Tube' (a parody of YouTube). Here, the player will encounter numerous characters and many licensed cars ranging from Dodge Vipers to Lotus Exiges to Ford Transit vans fitted with F1 engines, all of which have full damage modelling, a shield bar which can be used at any time by the player to protect the player's car from other weapons, and separate traits such as Acceleration, Speed, Drift, Grip and Stability. Some special car models have been designed by Bizarre Creations themselves. There are also some heavily altered versions of familiar urban environments, such as the Los Angeles river halfpipe and several parts of London. These areas were altered to make the races more enjoyable instead of the developers having to strictly abide by each twist and turn. Depending on the character(s) the player races against or tags along with in team races, they will have their own racing styles, power-up set ups, match types, locales, cars and will be apart of certain fictional servers. As the player races well, performs stunts and uses power-ups in certain ways during races, the player will gain 'fan points', Blur's equivalent to PGR's Kudos system. These points help the player progress through the career, purchase more cars and parts and earn more fans for the user base. During the career, challenges will take place midrace when the player drives through a fan icon. Completing these short challenges (e.g. find a secret nitro power-up) will reward the player with a fan points boost.

Multiplayer

The game can be played with up to 4 players via splitscreen and the game can be taken online with a maximum of 20. However, users cannot play online with splitscreen at the same time. Once online the player will encounter what Bizarre Creations have dubbed "Racebook" (a racing version of Facebook). Here, the user can create an account and join any of the fictional servers in the career. Each mode can be altered how the player sees fit (number of laps, assists, no. of power-ups, team races etc.) and can share these options with friends they make over the service. These races can be played in teams and the matches can be altered to support certain power-ups, cars, tracks and other variables. You can also set up a match type called "World Tour" which is essentially a quick play option for players who want to jump into a match with no hassle. Here, every player is given a random car and thrown into a random series of courses with a standard ruleset. Other multiplayer modes can be unlocked when multiple user's fan points culminate into a certain total.

Beta

The beta for Blur began on March 8th, and beta codes were given out from websites such as GameSpot and GameSpy. The beta allows you to test out six tracks, four game modes, fourteen fully licensed vehicles, and over thirty challenges. Players can test out Blur's Leveling Up system, which unlocks various items until Level 10 is reached. (Rank cap now at 15 as of March 25) The beta also allows players to connect to Twitter to post updates via the game directly to their updates.

Because of such high demand and the Multiplayer Beta spots being filled so quickly Blur was announced to be made a public beta starting on the 6th of April for everyone to download, via the Xbox Live Marketplace.

The Beta ended on May 10th

Reception

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
GameSpot	8/10
IGN	7/10

GameZone's Nick Akerman gave his impressions of the beta stating "Although the tracks we tested were predictable and uninspired, it certainly is a race worth jumping into." Steven Wright, in his VideogameUK hands-on, called it "Wipeout and Mario Kart’s illegitimate love-child."

The full release was generally well received by critics, with the PC version getting the highest Metacritic score of 86 (However, it has fewer review scores), with the PS3 version getting 83 and the Xbox 360 version getting 82. Reviewers praised the gameplay and amount of content built-in, but mainly criticised the graphics being sub-par for the consoles and the lack of split-screen mode for the PC version.

GameZone's Brian Rowe gave the game a 7.5/10. "On single-player, Blur is an average racing game with a powered-up twist. Repeating races and receiving beautiful cars that remain untouched due to the lack of customization gets old fast. The outdated rave-vibe, including the music and menus, don’t do the presentation any favors either. As a multiplayer title, Blur is absolutely exhilarating. I cheered in victory, yelled in anger, was called names I’ve never heard, and I loved every moment of it."

External link(s)

• Official site
• Blur at Wikia