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Fuel
Publisher: Codemasters
Developer: Asobo Studio
Genre: Racing
Release Date: June 2, 2009
Platform: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Rating: E10+ - Everyone 10+
Reviewer: Eric
Codemasters as of late has a thing for taking risks on games that others would never touch. Fuel might sound exciting but there is a reason why this title took so long to come out. I only found problems with this futuristic racing game from the start and as I went through the game longer I was still extremely disappointed.
On paper Fuel sounds like the Burnout Paradise Killer. This is a free roaming racing game that offers 5560 square miles of terrain, a record that was broken by this very game. For a game to be known for breaking a record like this you would expect some pretty decent gameplay. Fuel is lucky if it can grab your attention for more than three whole races.
You start the game off by learning how fuel is the key to the future. By winning races you earn fuel which you turn around and spend on new vehicles. In order to do certain races you need to buy new vehicles but you never have to worry too much since the game always gives you enough fuel to play that race that requires a new vehicle. Where is the really challenge in that?
Fuel has you creating your own character at the very start too. Instead of giving you a bunch of options to pick from Fuel only lets your edit a few categories. What color bandana do you want to cover your characters face? Maybe you can get it to match the huge tribal tattoo you are forced to have right from the start. This does not seem like a very friendly game and it only gets worse when you unlock more choices. Talk about boring.
The vehicles don’t have too much customization either. Take Pure’s customization and take out all of the advance parts. That’s right that leaves you with the same boring features you found in the character customization. Obliviously the developers only put time into a few small details and they avoided putting the time into the whole game.
All of the races have in the game had one big problem to them. If you don’t do laps or go through check points you may find yourself in another race course and you won’t even realize it. I was playing a few races and without know it I was racing by myself in another course. The game fails to tell you which way to go at times and if you are going the wrong way you won’t even know unless you check the position reminder on the top right.
Everything in the world of Fuel starts to look the same too. Terrain looks nice and all but it all goes together when you are struggling trying to find where to go next. During your off time, when you choose not to race, you will just drive around endlessly and the trees seem to be every where, along with water that has your car respawning in a bad location. Fall off a cliff and you have a 75% chance of driving right off the same cliff again. Why in the world would you respawn right near the same cliff you just feel off of? Talk about the ultimate insult in gaming history.
The graphics in Fuel are walking on a fine rope for me. Like I was saying before the terrain is beautiful where there is more than just trees. All of the vehicles look good but I have seen much better in games that came out almost a year ago. The character designs are nothing too great, almost painful on the eyes when you see the lack of detail on certain objects. They did manage to put some fairly decent detail into the mud that gets on your vehicles but we have seen that for years now.
Fuel’s music is really forgettable. I found myself using my own music instead of listening to what Fuel had to offer. It really does not bring the same kind of music that other racers have to offer. Music aside the only good sounding thing are the engines.
Online play is available but who is playing? On the Playstation 3 it took me a little bit too actually get into some online play with Fuel. Once things starting going I found some lag here and there. At times it is laughable because I was doing so well and then my vehicle was at the near end. This is not the best online racer. I’d stick with Burnout Paradise or Motorstorm.
Final Verdict
What sounded like a promising game is actually a big dud. Fuel may still look real great from the outside but trust me when I say that you need to stay away. There might be a lot to do in Fuel and a lot of areas to cover but with gameplay like this it is much better looking at this one on store shelves.
Rating Breakdown
Gameplay: 6 out of 10
+ There is a lot of ground to cover, if you are into that thing.
- How can you have fun when you don’t know where to race at?
Graphics: 6 out of 10
+ The dirt looks great on the vehicles; terrain looks nice.
- Not a whole lot screams next generation graphics.
Audio: 4 out of 10
+ It fits the game real well.
- Not so easy to listen to if you own a few records.
Replay Value: 4 out of 10
+ Driving around endlessly can kill some time when you’re bored.
- The game won’t cure your online gaming blues, nor will it help with anything.
Overall
7.75 out of 10
More reviews:
MetaCritic: 6.7/10
TestFreaks: 7.5/10
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