Game #3 – Blur

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Bizarre Creations

Platforms: PS3/360/PC

Things were quiet for the longest time since Bizarre Creations were bought by Activision. Sure, there was the excellent Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2, but after that, it took a little while to get the next Bizarre game. While the future of the Liverpool based studio is in doubt, it's safe to say that one of the last works, Blur, is easily one of the most interesting attempts at the racing genre in quite some time.

At its simplest level, Blur is a mashup between two completely different styles of games. It melds in the slightly sim, slightly arcade style of game that was prominent in Bizarres Project Gotham Racing games, but also adds in a item system present in any kart racer worth their salt. On paper, it sounds ridiculous, but in practice, provides a great racing experience. The items are balanced excellently, and the fact that almost all of them have dual functionality is quite neat. In addition, the game is an absolute blast in multiplayer – local multiplayer supports the rare (at least, in the modern era) 4 player splitscreen option, while the online component takes inspiration from Activision's Modern Warfare online system (levelling up, perks etc.)

However, what makes Blur unique was that it was one of the first games to really take advantage of connectivity between users. Similar to the Autolog mechanic in NFS: Hot Pursuit, there's a leaderboard for just about every track, and provides a challenge system should you want to compete further. As well as that, at just about any point in a menu, you can tell anyone on your Facebook, Twitter, or even as an in-game message your progress in the game. Sure, it's annoying, but it's an interesting idea that no-one had really done prior.

It's quite a shame Blur didn't do as well as it did financially, because it's an interesting take on the racing genre. Sure, you could just write it off as PGR with items, but there's just a tad more to it than that. It's a compelling racing experience that should be checked out, if given the chance.