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Blur
Activision and developer Bizarre Creations have started up a closed multiplayer beta for the power up-fueled racer Blur, and we spent some time with the game; throwing shunts, ramming fools, and getting face-fulls of mines in high-speed 20-player races. The beta definitely lived up to the game's hype, featuring action-packed racing where every moment is a tense one. The arcade racer comes out this spring. For more on Blur, check out the preview in the April issue (#204) of Game Informer.
GETTING STARTED:
Beta Keys are available through a variety of outlets, including gameinformer.com. Click here for your chance to win a key. Unfortunately, the beta is over a GB in size, so it took me an hour to download the file.
Getting into races is easy, and you can use the Xbox Live Party feature to keep your friends intact from race to race. At the end of every race, you'll be thrown back into the lobby, so rolling from race to race is easy.
RANKS:
Your progress in Blur, and how you unlock everything, is based around winning fans. Fans can be won for doing just about anything, from hitting someone with a power up to coming in last place. It's an addictive system that spurs you on. The Blur beta lets you play up to 10 of the game's 50 ranks.
PROGRESS:
After 13 minutes of gameplay – Rank 2 (3,036 fans), 3 Races, 0 Wins, 18.06 percent power up hit rate, 6 Cars unlocked.
After 32 minutes – Rank 4 (7,950 fans), 8 Races, 0 Wins, 27.22 percent power up hit rate, 8 Cars unlocked.
After 1 hr. 3 minutes – Rank 7 (17,875 fans), 17 Races, 1 Win, 29.9 percent power up hit rate, 9 Cars unlocked.
After 1 hr. 43 minutes – Rank 10 (30,100 fans), 28 Races, 3 Wins, 30.46 percent power up hit rate, 12 cars unlocked.
GAME MODES:
When you first start out, only two game modes are unlocked: Skirmish (2-10 players) and Powered-Up (4-20). The other two: Motor Mash and Supercar Racing are unlocked once you hit levels eight and ten, respectively. There appears to be no difference between Skirmish and Powered-Up except for their player numbers, while Motor Mash (4-20 players) is a destruction derby-esque free-for-all where power ups litter the arenas or tracks. Supercar Racing simply lets you race the A-class cars.
Here's a list of Blur's power ups
TRACKS:
The beta picks the tracks for you (although players can vote on which one they want to race on), and there are only four tracks in the beta (not including the Motor Mash mode's arenas). The full game will have 30.
Tokyo Shutoko: A classic Tokyo night location with a lap-ending straightaway leading into a wicked bunch of turns that are sure to cause some wrecks.
LA Docks: It has plenty of alternate routes and lots of opportunities to pick up fans by drifting. Given the close-quarters racing, it's conducive to using the Shield and Barge power ups.
Amboy Badlands Traverse: A two-lap track with off-road sections, the Badlands can get the pack spread out a little bit, giving you chances to use the Nitro power up. Should you fall behind, you could always use a Shock power up, which puts out EMP fields in front of the leaders ahead of you.
Barcelona Gracia: Another night course, this city track features a good mix of tight turns and speed-building straightaways.
CARS:
The beta features 12 of the game's 50 licensed cars (you can tweak the color of your car before the race), and they are in four categories:
D: Ford Focus RS, Chevy Camero, Land Rover Defender SVX
C: Audi TTS Coupe, Land Rover LRX, Ford Shelby GT500, BMW M3 E92 (tuner)
B: Volkswagen Scirocco24, Lotus Exige Cup 260, Ford GT
A: Renault Megane Trophy, Ford FR-100
TWITTER:
Once you put in your Twitter username and password you're free to tweet your accomplishments in the game. You can share your rank, total driver score, total wins, power up rate, total races, total playtime, and total fans – along with any custom messages – by hitting the left bumper. The beta doesn't allow you to forward challenges to your friends, but that will be in the final game.
MODS:
You unlock the ability to use Mods at level 3. Mods give you an edge in that they might give you more fans or power ups during a race. You choose your loadout of three mods before each race, and you can pre-arrange them into four sets. You start out with six mods in the beta (one can be unlocked), with 32 in the full game.
Battering Ram: Deal more damage in collisions.
Shielded Boosters: Your shield converts power up damage into health.
Fan Favorite: Gain extra fans for your finish bonus at the end of a race.
Safety Net: Shield power up converts Shut, Bolt, and Barge impacts into a power up.
Bribe: You get a random power up at the start of a race and when you wreck.
Showy Finish: Get extra fans for every power up impact.
Splash Damage: Increases the blast radius of your Barge power up.
CHALLENGES:
These are long-term goals that get you extra fans when you hit certain milestones such as evading 75 Shunts or overtaking 10 cars using Nitro.
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