![]() I was hoping to make that choice easy on you with this review, but BlackRock Studios created a very impressive game. Racing fans may be forced to pick one or the other, depending on their budget. It's a shame this is being released a week before Blur. This is just as good as the best Burnout titles, and I do not say those words lightly. The single-player game draws you in deeper and deeper as you go, and the multiplayer will eat hours, guaranteed. After 14 hours we still haven't seen every single-player event, but we have played the hell out of the game offline and on. If you're out to unlock every car and get first place in every race, you'll be putting 20 or so hours into the game, if not more. This is not a game that rests on a single gimmick: the design and construction of the tracks and the game modes is higher quality and broader than we expected. While the multiplayer may not have the legs that a game such as Blur enjoys, in this case it does add quite a bit of life to the game. You'll be able to play races, elimination, and survival mode with friends, and the game is an absolute blast online. Real players are much more adept at avoiding the power plays, which makes them feel even sweeter when they land. There is no more rubber-banding, so a commanding lead will remain so. You can only use the cars you have unlocked in the single-player game-which might annoy some-but the game is much different when played with actual people. I was lucky enough to find some people on Twitter who had somehow gotten their hands on the game prelaunch, and we spent an hour or two playing online. As a result, you'll want to use different cars for different events. The cars themselves act and feel very different, another area where this game excels. It's a smooth trick, and is just a little detail that helps set the game apart. See someone stickered up? Be aware that they are a badass. Trophies, or achievements on the 360, are shown as decals placed on your car in races both off- and online. The game does everything it can to convey the sense of speed and power. The camera rumbles behind the car when you hit the higher speeds, but the shaky-cam never gets annoying or distracting. There is a mode where you simply have to race against the clock while the AI detonates every power play on the track in front of you it's as if the world is tearing itself apart trying to destroy you. There is a mode where a helicopter tries to take you out by shooting missiles at the track (later in the game you are given a chance to fight back). There is a mode where you have to pass big rigs that drop explosive barrels in your path. ![]() The career mode spans 12 episodes-yes, just like Alan Wake this emulates a TV show, down to the credits-and different events are introduced as you go. While the multiple tracks are built around only a few environments, there is enough variety in the tracks and enough fun in the idea to keep you playing. The question we had after playing the demo was simple: is this concept enough to carry an entire game? The answer is yes-and that's a pleasant surprise. The scale of these tracks and the destruction you can cause around them is a big draw. There is always a way out of or around these cataclysms, and finding it is half the joy nothing feels better than threading the needle through the explosions or falling debris. In one section, I was way ahead of the pack, only to see an entire ocean liner break from its supports and begin to slide-sparks flying-across the track. These paths can cause entire sections of the environment to explode, be crushed, or to fall in front of other racers. Multiple paths can be opened by activating level 2 power plays and using all your juice. Your eyes don't have to dart around the screen to see any information, which is incredibly helpful in a game this fast. Your lap number, your placement, and the amount of power plays you have at your disposal are shown on a display that's simply placed on the back of your car. There's damage modeling until you crash, and you can safely bash into the sides of the track and lose only a little momentum.
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