At a very basic level, Blur is a more arcade orientated version of Project Gotham Racing with weaponry akin to Mario Kart. There's nothing else to know about Blur because it focuses purely on racing and combat. Unlike the scenarios in the aforementioned Split / Second or even the Need for Speed series, Blur has no story to drive you (excuse the pun). Rivals are little more than a cartoon picture with a name slapped on the front, there's no recorded dialogue to insult you, and there's no open racing world to navigate. And fortunately, Blur benefits from not having any of these. The only real objective in Blur is to earn fan points in each event, hence increasing your notoriety. There are three main modes throughout the career; standard races, demolition or checkpoint (all fairly self explanatory). Once you've collected enough points, you'll then be asked to challenge an elite racer and either beat them, or destroy them. Regardless of what mode players choose, you're going to be driving at breakneck speeds and causing all sorts of havoc from New York to Tokyo. Bizzare's continued obsession with Japanese roads continues here, but players will also be given the chance to drift around street courses in new locations like the Catalonian capital, Barcelona.
Vroooom!
The beauty of Blur comes for a blend of accessible arcade racing and frantic sections where all twenty vehicles can be seen shooting, exploding, flipping or drifting...or all of those combined. Even though the career is quite linear and serves as nothing more than a gateway for linking races, it's the core gameplay that shines through and proves that Blur is more than just a side-project for Bizarre Creations. There's nothing to distract you here, you have one job and that is to win using whatever means necessary. The driving mechanics here are very basic and require little more than three main buttons; one for accelerating, braking and drifting. In terms of choosing your four wheels, the options aren't too overwhelming. There's a nice array of muscle cars, roadsters and jeeps; but a few more high profile cars would have been appreciated. Maybe Ferrari didn't want to see such great Italian manufacturing destroyed by an imaginary arsenal of weapons. Car connoisseurs might feel disappointed, but there should be a few vehicles to please everyone. Once you've gotten to grips with manoeuvring the car of your choice, you can then focus on the equally simple and equally brilliant power-ups in Blur's locker. With a quick tap of LB, players can switch between three different power-ups, and that's when things start getting serious.
There are a total of eight power-ups to use and abuse; either offensive, defensive, or both. For the vast majority of people who have had any experience with video games, there's a good chance that Mario Kart was one of the games that you were first introduced to. Blur is clearly stealing quite a few of the ideas from Nintendo's main man; for example, shunt is essentially a red shell and mines are more explosive banana peels. It mightn't be original, but it's the combination of these weapons and the scale of each race that makes this game so much fun. And that's the key word throughout, fun. Everyone knows how difficult it can be to make a game for both the casual and hardcore markets, thankfully Bizarre has nailed it. Petrol heads will be able to look past the simplicity and discover how tactics play a key role in Blur. As a giant energy ball approaches you from the pursuing pack, it can be fended off in many ways; by making a late swerve, engaging a shield or even by using some your offensive weapons in reverse and firing backwards. Aside from shields and repairs, every other weapon has an alternative use, even the nitro boost. It takes time to figure out what weapon is best suited for the current situation, but when Blur is at full throttle with twenty players, the balance of sheer fun and competitiveness is unparalleled.
Zoooom!
For the most part, Blur looks very pretty. The majority of the environments retain a gritty, urban look with a palette of dark colours. This might give you the impression of bleakness, but tracks will all of a sudden explode to life with the effects of each power-up. One course in particular sees you driving along a harbour with fireworks lighting up the night sky and reflections bouncing off your shiny metallic opponents. Your jaw won't hit the floor in the same way Forza 3 wowed the nation, but generally speaking, Blur is well above average. Whether it be an American muscle car or a classic piece of German engineering, each officially licensed vehicle is well replicated before you start shredding metal. Considering the fact that power-ups are Blur's main selling point, it's comes as no surprise to see them showing off some beautiful splashes of colour and technology. Glowing red orbs, rippling purple waves and streaks of green nitrous oxide mean that Blur is full of neon, all the while keeping that sense of realism that could easily have been lost in the barrage of weaponry. Even more impressive is Bizarre's ability to achieve all of this without a single drop in frame rate, no easy feat. While you're driving however, the HUD can become a little messy. Between lights, challenges, times and the gigantic rear-view mirror; the screen does tend to fill up quite easily. Power-ups are integrated much better and can be found hanging from the boot of your car; it looks ridiculous but without it, the HUD would be a cluttered mess. Overall though, no matter where you look (even at the main menu), Blur retains a distinct visual look and feel.
With so much emphasis placed on the huge races not dissimilar to those found in Motorstorm, certain sacrifices had to be made. Actually, just one sacrifice. The soundtrack in Blur is hugely disappointing and lacks the quality of Bizzare's previous creations which saw a stellar line-up of artists. The heavily electronic orientated tunes seem to have been recorded independently, and while they're not terrible, they certainly don't match the quality of some better known DJ's. Players familiar with racing games will know how important song selection can be, especially when you're desperately trying to reach first place. For instance, being in second place on the final lap as your favourite song starts to play, pushing your skills even further in a last ditch attempt to achieve gold. Instead, Blur has opted for background music in the hope that the intensity of the gameplay will compensate for the bland audio. In fairness to Bizarre, they were right, but Blur could have been one step closer to racing perfection had a proper soundtrack been included.
Kaboooom!
Such is the case with most racing games released these days; how many hours will you get out of Blur? The offline modes alone will keep you busy for quite some time if you want to collect everything and complete the various challenges. Another trademark of Bizzare's work comes in the form of leaderboards which always play a pivotal role. Whether you're competing against friends or mindless teenagers on the opposite side of the globe, there's always going to be someone better than you. If you manage to achieve a fantastic score, there's even an option to share this on social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter (a feature that we could be seeing much more of the future). Up until this point we haven't really talked about the online multiplayer, and you'll be glad to hear that playing Blur against real people only adds to both depth and enjoyment. The online arena is completely separate from the single player modes; you won't have any fancy cars or unlockables so it's back to basics. Ranking up works just like most other racers, completing any event regardless of position will earn you fans and awards similar in style to Modern Warfare 2. Like any other online game, it's far more satisfying when your opponents aren't just AI. Hearing a fellow driver burst out in anger while you overtake him, or her, evokes a great sense of power and it's rare to see a game balance fun and competitiveness so well. But be warned about the people who play Blur online, if you think the Halo community is immature, you ain't seen nothing yet...
Bizzare has created another fine racing package that shouldn't be missed by anyone. What makes Blur different and arguably better than Project Gotham Racing, is that it manages to appeal to both markets seamlessly. It doesn't matter if you've been playing racing games for five years or five minutes, chances are you'll be enjoying yourself and providing a decent challenge for the rest of the group. What Blur offers is some of the most enjoyable and rewarding arcade racing since Burnout 3, and that in itself is great praise for a new franchise. No matter what type of race you choose, no matter how many opponents there are; you're always going to be having fun. The only real flaw stems from the soundtrack, but considering how well designed the rest of Blur is, it would be unjustified to complain too much. Ask yourself a few easy questions; do you want a racing game for the family? Do you want something that's long-lasting and tactical? Or do you just want something a little bit more mature than Mario Kart? If you answered yes to any of those, go out and buy a copy of Blur immediately.
You rarely see real cars in an arcade style game like this, it's a nice change.
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