FUEL Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 11th June 2009

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We go off-read in search of FUEl.

FUEL Details:

	Racing
	PC/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360
	Asobo Studios
	Codemasters

Out Now

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Codemasters are well known for creating some great racing games, most notably in the Colin McRae and Race Driver franchises. Now they have teamed up with Asobo Studios to bring us FUEL, an open world off-road racer. But despite many good points there are one or two areas that could have used some fine tuning.

FUEL is set in an alternate present in which many parts of the world have been ravaged by the effects of climate change! Oil prices have rocketed but racing junkies have created a new extreme sport. Taking to the many wastelands they pit their driving skills against each other to win more fuel so they can carry on tearing through the wastelands.

The game is set in a gigantic open world environment that is 14,000km², which is pretty amazing, however it also causes one of the biggest bug points I had with the game which I’ll get to later. The premise of FUEL is simple. Cruise around the ravaged land looking for challenges and events in order to win more fuel. This allows you to buy more vehicles and keep on racing. There are no championships to win, instead for winning events you are awarded career stars and fuel supplies. Career stars allow you to unlock new events, whilst fuel is used to buy new vehicles, of which there are 74 of in the game. These range from motorbikes and muscle cars to SUV’s and monster trucks. Races come in a couple of different guises such as circuit events and point to point races but that’s about it. There are few other variations in the games challenges, which award you with large amounts of fuel, these have you taking part in eliminator races, and events that see you chasing down helicopters across the sprawling landscape of the game. Events are split into three different skill levels, Rookie, Expert and Legend. However, none of them really pose any real challenge with only the Legend level even threatens to beat you to the finishing line. If you do fail, it will mainly be down to the games loose vehicle handling and unresponsive game controls rather than AI strength.

Despite these weaknesses though the game is still enjoyable to play, mainly due to the level of freedom on offer in the title! Whereas most open world games feature distant scenery you have no hope of ever reaching in FUEL, if you can see it, you can drive there. It’s amazing to watch far off mountains get ever closer until eventually you’re revving your vehicles engine hard in order to scale the side of it. The only downside is due to the enormity of the game world it could take a few hours for you to reach it. The game really allows for endless exploration and this is encouraged with various collectable items littered around the game world, such as fuel, special vehicles and livery designs.

Value wise the game provides more then enough playing time for the hardened racing fan with lots of events and challenges to take part in. There’s also a race editor that allows you to create your own events. Although, don’t expect anything too advanced as this is a simple case of placing various points on a map and that’s it. Multiplayer is set in the games open world with all career races and custom races available to play so there’s plenty to do online.

The game does offer a good range of vehicles to race in, each with its own unique attributes and handling. You will also have to utilise each of the various terrain types you’ll encounter in the game. Terrain covers just about everything you could possibly imagine to encounter in the real world such as coast lines, deserts, highways, rugged cliffs and mountain ranges. There is also just about every weather effect you could think of thunder storms, hail, snow and even hurricanes will be encountered during your time racing.

Despite all its strengths though there is one major bug point I had with the game and that it is it really lacks focus. This is due to the fact there’s no real incentive to participate in the various events as fuel can be collected in the game world. The videogame would really have benefited from a competitive element such as a championship to give that little extra it so desperately needs.

Visually the game is pretty impressive, most notably the various environments which seem to go on and on. The draw distance is absolutely outstanding although there is the occasional pop-up but this is a very rare occurrence. Weather effects are outstanding and portray the turbulent atmosphere of this ravaged alternate world well. The weakest parts of the games visuals are probably in the vehicle models, there pretty varied and most fit the part well however, some simply look rubbish.

The videogames audio is good, but nothing really stands out about it. The games soundtrack fits in well with the off-road theme and environmental sound effects have been done well. The game does utilise a dull thud when ever a vehicle lands on its suspension and this will begin to grate on you after a while, as will some of the exhaust notes from some of the games vehicles. Some of which can make you ears ring as they struggle for grip on the various terrain.

FUEL is a very good addition to open world and off-road racing genres. But despite the overall enjoyment I got from the game, I can’t help but feel that it lacks the competitive elements that have enabled so many racing games to succeed. A good game that could have been great!