Written by: Mark

 

 

 

One thing which Sony has always promoted is their play, create and share games which up until this point has been mainly focussed on the excellent LittleBigPlanet that sees the player be able to design their own levels and share them online. This has led to LittleBigPlanet being an endless game with literally thousands of levels available to download and play making titles such as this staggeringly good value for money.

 

The latest play, create and share title comes in the form of kart racer "ModNation Racers" which although looks like it may offer nothing new in terms of gameplay is being sold mainly on the fact that it features a kart and track designer to offer countless new experiences.

 

When I first heard about Modnation Racers I had high hopes and despite the demo being somewhat flawed I decided to take the plunge and see if the game lived up to expectations.

 

 

Upon loading Modnation Racers the first thing that strikes you is the very colourful presentation with pleasing cartoon style graphics which certainly sets a good platform for what is to come.

 

In addition the sound fits the game well and the single player championship has two amusing commentators whom are constantly arguing between themselves and at first this is pretty fun although can get a little tedious up to the point of you wanting to skip the cut scenes.

 

 

 

There is not really too much that can be written about how kart racers play as every one up until this point have tried and more often than not failed to live up to the excellent Mario Kart. Modnation Racers follows a similar vain however there are a few differences which sets it apart from others in the genre.

 

Firstly the game features a quite extensive single player championship backed by a fairly decent and humerous storyline presented in a TV style show. As expected the main game sees you playing the role of an underdog in the kart racing world trying to become world champion over almost thirty different levels and the objectives of these races are for the player to finish in the top three in each race with bonus items awarded for completing a variety of in race challenges such as finding hidden objects and achieving set drift points.

 

The second major difference is that the game only features four power ups which is quite surprising especially when compared to similar games. To be honest the lack of power ups actually benefit’s the game and sees the use of them bring tactics into races. These power ups fall into four categories, these being boost, missile, sound and lightening all of which have different results. Unlike other games you have the choice of either using the weapons straight away with minimal effect of collecting up to three which have much more devastating results.

 

I have to say that this works surprisingly well and ensures that the races take on a more strategic approach which proves beneficial particularly as the AI can be crippling and will undoubtedly have you tearing your hair out in frustration at how you can suddenly go from being the clear race leader to last place in the matter of seconds.

 

 

I have to say that the only let down with the gameplay is this AI but I would advise that you overlook this because the creation tools and online multiplayer is where the real fun lies.

 

 

Oh my word, the depth of creation on offer in Modnation Racers is unlike anything I have ever seen before. I know that this may sound like quite a bold statement but you just have to play the game to experience what can be done with the title.