I went into Blur rather skeptically. Watching videos of the game presented to us by the developers was pants tightening to say the least, but there’s always an air of caution that must be taken when viewing them. You never know how the game will feel until you get a demo, a rental, or bum a buddy’s copy. In racing games, how it feels is often more important than graphics or game mechanics, so going into launch day with none of the try before you buy options available was scary to say the least. But, I was still compelled enough to pick up the game, risking hard earned money as I did so. I’ve spent a nice chunk of hours playing at this point, almost entirely skipping over the single player game, and doing what I feel is a better use of my time; increasing my rank in multiplayer.

Bizarre Creations has been touting the multiplayer elements for a while now, and they have not let me down. The problem is that right now,any given night that I play on the PS3, there is around four to five hundred people on. That’s not regional either. That’s total. I’m not sure how many people are playing on the 360 (probably more) but that is pretty low considering the total number of copies they must have sold. I really want to know why more people aren’t online. To me, the multiplayer was the main draw of Blur. Now that I’m in, it’s even more so. The matchmaking is super slick and user friendly. The menus are sleek and easy to navigate, and hopping into a game online is just a few button presses from the moment you hit the title screen. Everything about the design impresses me in how much sense it makes. The only thing I’ll note that I feel could have been added is an up front or “as you go” explanation of the various facets of the game including the challenge and progression system. It honestly took me playing until I was around level 8 before I realized how the challenges affected you.

The level progression is a bit more obvious in design, and brilliantly addictive. You level through the game by gaining fans, which is just another word for what any normal gamer would call experience points. You get these fans based on what you do in each race. If you place in the top 3; you get fans, if you hit someone with a projectile; more fans, if you drift really long through a bend; you get chocolate pie…and fans. Nearly everything you do in the game, apart from sitting idle, will gain you some amount of fans. This really allows you to play the game a couple ways. You can spend your time trying to be number 1, or you can be the guy who wants to bust everyone up who is trying to be number 1. I tend to be the guy who wants to get out in front, but then spends the rest of the race just pissing people off if and when I get knocked out of that front spot. But hey, it doesn’t matter, because its loads of fun any way you shake it.

Once you start moving up in ranks, Blur becomes an addiction. Each round will end with showing you your level bar, and an increase in the amount of fans you just gained. The real kicker is that the rounds are so quick and painless that it’s hard to pass up playing again to see if you can knock out the next rank. It doesn’t help that once you’re dropped back in the lobby, the ticker for voting on the next course is starting in 3, 2, 1… Add everything up, and you can easily sit down with a plan to play for a half hour, and see two hours passed the next time you look at a clock. Every rank will unlock something, whether that is a new car or a new mod, and it acts as a fantastic carrot to keep you coming back for more.

Along with the level progression, each car you get has a set of challenges. They’re pretty basic “perform this task X amount of times” style objectives, and they are the same on each car from what I could see. Whichever car you complete the task in will get bonuses to speed, handling, paint options and more. You can add even more customization to your playing ability by outfitting yourself with mods. Mods are, for lack of a better comparison, just like the load outs you can setup in Modern Warfare. Some give you laser sights for aid in shooting other drivers, others allow your shields to last longer, some grant you a bonus to the amount of fans you gain in a race; the list goes on and on, but each can dynamically affect the way you race.

The cars in the game cover quite the spectrum. From sleek new rides like the Audi R8, to sporty versions of production cars that we can’t get here in the States like the Ford Focus RS, to rides that shouldn’t be able to compete like Land Rovers. Each ride has certain stats let you know how it will handle on the track. Some will have better acceleration or top speed, while others have increased grip. Your choice is only limited by how you like to drive, as any vehicle at your disposal has a decent chance to win. I’ve lost a race to a Hummer while using an R8, so yeah; it’s clearly more about how you race than what you race.

Regardless of what you choose to race with, everything looks and sounds crazy good. The cars may not be on Forza levels of realism, but they look damn pretty, and they all go like hell. The courses are all based on actual locations. By that, I do not mean that the streets are identical to what you would find by going there, but instead they used landmarks to give each track a certain ambiance. The courses are instead (thankfully) hand crafted to be fun to drive on. There’s little about any track that will piss you off. That’s what the other drivers will do by shooting you with shunts, mines, or other power ups. I’m not going to explain what each does. If you’ve played Mario Kart, you already know. What I will say instead is that the sound effects of the power ups are amazing. I’d honestly love to know the process they used to come up with them. I believe it would probably be on par with as whacky as it was for Lucas and company to come up with sounds for Star Wars. Match those with some wonderful harmonics coming from the tailpipes of the cars, and it is heaven to my ears. I highly recommend using headphones to play this game.

In the end, Blur is a game with an identity crisis. Not one in that it tries to be too many things like a jack of all games, master of none, but one that can start arguments when trying to describe just what it is. The most common synopsis you’ll hear made is that it’s Mario Kart for grown ups. This is probably the easiest way to describe it so that the listener or reader gets a basic understanding of what kind of game it is, though it’s somewhat inaccurate due to many of the differences that gives Blur far more depth and replay value than its plumber endowed counterpart. Yes, it has many of the equivalent weaponized tropes of Mario Kart, but at the same time it adds actual, real life cars and more realistic physics as well as removes the means by which you can propel yourself down the track. Unlike Mario Kart, you have to be mindful of how you drive. Not to say Mario Kart is bad, oh contraire, it is a classic. I just think Blur is a great and different enough of a game to not need a direct comparison.

We normally don’t hand out scores on reviews here on Multiplaying. But, since this is more of a full review than I have ever done, I will give Blur our first ever score: