Blur: Powered-Up Racing

Got my copy of Blur yesterday- enjoying it so far. Haven't been able to get a 4-players-on-one-screen multiplayer going yet, but hopefully this weekend. In Xbox Live multiplayer there's an automatic progression [from 'fans' you earn each race] up to level 50, then you have the choice to 'reset' to 1 and gain a bonus car in single player... and you can do that 10 times, like prestiging in COD.

In single player you earn 'lights' to open up new courses and bosses; you get 5 lights for 1st, 4 for 2nd, and 3 for 3rd. You can get extra lights for getting a certain number of fans in a race, and for completing a 'fan run' in each race which is like an impromptu slalom event.

There are normal races using power-ups, checkpoint races alone against the clock, and 'destruction' events where you must destroy other cars to keep the clock going and reach a set amount of points. Supposedly there are 30 different race courses, but the achievement only mentions 14 'locations'... however some cities [like L.A.] have more than just one course in them.

Anybody else get it yet? Thoughts? I'm not a huge racing game fan, but this seemed to be the closest to MarioKart I could get [although note there is Sega All-stars Racing now as well]. It also allows you to make challenges, and invite friends to try and beat them... waiting for a couple buddies to get their copies to try that out as well.

To my uneducated eyes, it seems to be very well done graphically, haven't noticed any slowdowns/stuttering when the 20 racers are all firing off powerups [in single player or multiplayer over Live]. Surround sound is helpful when incoming attacks sneak up from behind [sometimes the warning signal doesn't go off].

Final note, got a laugh out of a race where I used the 'shunt' power-up a bunch of times [it is a large, seeking red ball that destroys the guy in front of you, not unlike MarioKart's 'red shells']. I won the award for 'Crimson Carapace'...

'Tycho' sums it up well:

"Blur is marvelous, even though these might as well be real power-ups.

IGN delivered as much savagery as the game is likely to receive in review form, and if absolute dominion over your opponents is the only way you're able to experience pleasure, you might find yourself writing a similar piece. People play games for different reasons - this is part of the reason we have done this strip. Can you come to terms with bull****? How about luck? Do you recognize it as a distinct form of energy that sometimes informs events? Can you accept that every Goddamned day isn't Christmas? Among other things, this means that you are an adult. As a corollary, you might find Blur very difficult to put down.

A very long, very complete public beta means that players on the 360 are already deeply familiar with the game - we had to educate Erika on its manifold virtues, as she generally gets down on the PS3. If you like Mario Kart, but don't like Blue Shells; if you like racing games, but wish that the cars would occasionally explode, then boy do I have a multiplayer product for you.

When I started playing during the beta, I liked Shunts as a pick-up: fire and forget balls of seeking plasma that let me focus on the driving task. The longer I've played, though, the more I've been drawn to Bolts - trios of jolting darts with tremendous effective range that do serious damage to an opponent's line. Based on where I am in the standings, or how vindictive I'm feeling, I might choose one over the other. And you get to choose, because they aren't random pickups. Every lap is an exercise in strategic dynamism.

The races we're in often break into "cliques," warring strata unique to your segment of the pack, and just beating the person in front of you at that moment is a worthy task. The only real loser in a round of Blur is the person in last place, because so much can happen (particularly in a 20 person game) that you can't actually control all of it, and also, there's another race in like fifty seconds. Plus, everything you do is ticking up your progression, which gives you more cars, "mods," and gametypes. So maybe it's okay if you don't win?

Blur, from Bizarre Creations: the first post-modern racer.

Our experience online with the game has been that concurrency is much lower, on average, than it was during the beta. On the one hand, obviously - the beta didn't cost anything. But I hope that number is being misreported, somehow, that users are trickling out of this accounting, because I intend to play this game for a good long while and I need prey."

Also liking the 'Previously on Blur' that pops up whenever you start up the game, letting you know about latest unlocks and what you're getting close to unlocking next. Those 20-player races are always a good time.

There's a campaign with power-up races, checkpoint races, and 'destruction' races. Beating the bosses opens up maxed-out cars to use in multiplayer. But I'm having the most fun in the online multiplayer portion for sure. Even their version of 'Battle Mode' can be pretty fun with 20 people at a time.