Blur Preview

Let's conduct a quick psychological survey, shall we? I'll throw out three words, and then you make an immediate note of the feelings or thoughts that arise in response. Ready? Okay, here we go:

Racing with power-ups.

Now, what's going through your head? Are you excited? Are you thinking about Mario Kart, or perhaps SEGA's recent attempt to ape the same formula? Or are you perhaps feeling a tad concerned, maybe even a bit hostile? If the latter is true, then there's good chance that you're a fan of either the Forza or Gran Turismo series. Thanks to the efforts of these two heavyweights, serious simulation is the current flavour du jour when it comes to car-based racing games. If you don't offer hundreds of accurately replicated cars, photo-realistic presentation and the option to tinker with the air pressure in each of your tyres, there's a good chance that Joe Petrolhead won't pay you any heed.

In short, Activision and Bizarre Creations have taken a bit of a risk with Blur. At a time when chin-stroking accuracy is all the rage, they're putting out a title that embraces old-school arcade values, that revels in crashes, sneaky short-cuts and power-ups of mass destruction. And yet for all its special effects-laden carnage, it's very much clear that this is a descendant of the much-loved Project Gotham series. Vehicle handling occupies a middle ground between the light handling of arcade racers and the more demanding challenge of a sim – it's easy to pick up, but requires genuine user skill to get the best results. You're still racing in real-world locations – places like Tokyo, Hackney and Barcelona – but this time the maps are a hybrid of interesting roads from a given area, rather than being pixel-perfect recreations of reality. And while PGR's Kudos system is missing, there are still rewards to be had from flashy driving – only now you'll also be rewarded for successful attacks on other drivers. Fair play isn't exactly encouraged around here, after all.

Blur is looking in good shape

The test build of Blur I played last week allowed me to get to grips with several tracks in the game's main multiplayer offering, which finds 20 vehicles competing for spoils and glory. While other modes will offer smaller-scale races, deathmatch-like motor-brawls and team-based competitions, this a traditional dash for the chequered flag – or at least it would be of it weren't for the constant inter-vehicular violence. Races kick off from a rolling start, and as soon as you gain direct control of your car you'll find yourself scrapping and jostling for position. Each racer can carry three power-ups at a time, gathered by driving through icons that hover over the track, but in a departure from convention, these pick-ups regenerate almost immediately. Even if a driver 20 meters ahead of you manages to snag that speedy nitro boost you've been lusting after, there's a decent chance that it'll reappear in time for you to grab one for yourself.

As a result of this generosity and the sheer number of cars, races swiftly decent into mobile wars. You're constantly forced to watch for mines on the road ahead, to swerve away from the enormous ball of electric death that's chasing you in your rear-view mirror, or to make a desperate swerve for the icon that will fix your car. You can carry up to three powers at a time, and since the eight tools at your disposal offer a mix of offensive and defensive options, it's easy to find yourself sticking to specific racing strategies. If you've chosen a light and speedy vehicle you might opt to focus on pick-ups like the shield, nitro boost and repair (essentially a portable medikit), allowing you to concentrate on speed while avoiding or shrugging off your rivals. Alternatively you might choose to take a more aggressive approach – picking a large vehicle that can take more damage, and filling your slots with mines and projectile weapons to knock your opponents about the track.

Getting hit by weapons mid-race will slow your progress but if you get completely wrecked you'll have to respawn, a process which will inevitably send you crashing back several places. As a result it's a viable strategy to pick one of the comparatively slower vehicles for the sake of having greater resilience. Naturally this decision is also tied with other qualities like acceleration, speed, and how grippy or slidey the motor in question is, but there are other important choices to be made before you head out on the track – choices that appear to have been heavily inspired by Activision's most successful title.