Game Review: Blur****, ModNation Racers****

Today, driving can make it difficult to swallow your road rage. I mean, who hasn't yearned for a hood-mounted missile launcher that can part a dead-end traffic jam like the Red Sea? Sound satisfying? We're about to find out.

Blur

Blur, from Activision, is the perfect beverage to quench road-rage thirst. The racing action combined with on-track explosives is more than satisfying. It's the bomb, literally. The danger doesn't just lurk around every corner, it pervades every aspect of the game. If you want to stay in the lead you'll have to master the fine art of driving under duress.

From the start, the animations are hot. With cars flying off the track in fantastic explosions, the destruction is beautiful, almost peaceful. Pretty balls of fire set to blood-pumping music are just the thing to get you revved up and ready to go.

Blur's racing action is not as realistic as, say, Gran Turismo or a few others, but it's fast, furious, and fun. Drifting around corners is easy to control in a “grippy” car, and the speeds are a notch above what you get in most other race games. The handling is fairly smooth, with far fewer crashes for a game this fast. I expected to be thrown off every corner, but was pleasantly surprised to finish second in my first race.

The real fun comes from the on-track combat, which is complete with an arsenal of weapons and attacks to send your opponents soaring skyward for a few bonus points. Little icons found around the track will arm the driver with missiles, shunt bombs, land mines, and more. Each has its own effects and end result. These power-ups are not hard to come by, and as soon as one driver picks one up, another takes its place. In short, you're never really out of little “boomy” stuff for very long.

Though you may have a need to bend some fenders to assuage the rage, the real challenge comes with defensive driving. You'll have to be on your guard the whole time, with eyes in the back of your head. A rear-view mirror will do nicely to help you watch your back and dodge a few incoming missiles. It takes a good mix of offense and defense to keep the track in your control. You can't just go out and start blowing stuff up. You'll be sure to get nowhere fast.

ModNation Racers

When thinking about ModNation Racers from Sony, think Little Big Planet meets Mario Kart. The focus is heavy on modification — hence the name — and practically all areas of the game can be altered or created. It's kart style racing for sure but with massive ability to customize.

In fact, the first half-hour was spent building a driver and modifying his entire appearance. There is a wide variety of options to choose from while creating your perfect avatar. Mohawks, afros, helmets, goggles, it's all there. Bull horns with a face guard and bunny ears? Yep. You could easily build 100 different drivers. Vehicles can be a hopped-up, supercharged auto of your own twisted design, or maybe you'd like to build your own track in a matter of mere minutes. If you want to change it, you can.

With all of the focus on modification, I feared the racing would be overlooked. That wasn't the case at all. The on-track action is every bit as fun as Mario Kart, the industry gauge for kart racers. The controls and handling are similar, but the environments and tracks are superior in ModNation, as it utilizes the HD features of the PS3. Now throw in the customization and you've got a kart racer that's hard to beat.

There are on-track attacks in ModNation as well. You can rain lightning bolts from the sky or drop a mine for an unsuspecting tailgater. They aren't nearly as satisfying to watch, but the focus is on changeability not road-rage reduction. What they do offer, however, is sufficient for the job of taking out the opponent and clearing the way for your victory.

This game has immense longevity. With all of the modifications and the ability to share these creations over an Internet connection, one could really spend hours racing, building, customizing, and sharing, never being bored. For those who tire of race games easily, ModNation will keep you on the track for quite a bit longer than most racers, despite its kart racing simplicity.