Overview
Modnation Racers: Road Trip is a kart based racer with weapons and obstacles very similar to the Mario Kart series. It is a refinement of the United Front Games developed ModNation Racers title for the PS3 that Sony published in May 2010.
Gameplay
This version adds a refinement to braking which no longer brake drifts and improves collisions so that they are less likely to result in dead stops and constant turn-arounds to get back into a race. This version also has improved control during drifting which makes it easer to hold a racing line without running into the wall.
Weapon List
Weapons are now divided into eight categories:
| Type | Color | Description |
|---|
| Missile | Red | Level 1 (Straight Shot): Non-homing, straight shot missile. Bounces off of walls a max of two times before exploding.
Level 2 (Swarm): Three homing missiles that target the racer one place ahead.
Level 3 (Hydra): A cluster of over 15 homing missiles that target every racer ahead. |
| Fire | Orange | Level 1 (Flaming Fury): A single non-tracking fireball that bounces off walls 2 or 3 times.
Level 2 (Triple Fury): 3 non-tracking fireballs that bounce off walls.
Level 3 (Phoenix): A phoenix that sends down fireballs scattered overhead racers ahead. Fireballs leave scorched craters that wipe out other racers. |
| Mines | Yellow | Level 1 (Plutonium Mine): A couple of yellow mines on the track behind you.
Level 2 (Toxic Cloud): A large cloud of smoke behind.
Level 3 (Toxic Cesspool): Many pools of toxic sludge behind. |
| Speed | Light Green | Level 1 (Jump Start): Produces a short lived, but powerful burst of speed.
Level 2 (Supercharger): A much longer lasting burst of speed.
Level 3 (Warp): Creates a portal directly in front of the racer, which when driven into teleports the player ahead a little bit. Other racers can use this portal as well. |
| Earth | Dark Green | Level 1 (Pebble Blaster): Shoot 6 non-homing seeds out in front.
Level 2 (Dust Devils): Fire two tornadoes that target racers ahead.
Level 3 (Rock Slide): Creates a rock slide on the track just ahead. |
| Ice | Light Blue | Level 1 (Freeze Spray): Shoot a couple of bouncing ice balls in front of the cart. Explodes into an ice patch after 3 bounces that freezes other racers.
Level 2 (Ice Vortex): Create a shield of ice around the cart which freezes any opponent. Lasts about 5 seconds.
Level 3 (Snow Boulder): Turn the cart into a snowball that is faster than other carts, and crushes them. |
| Sonic | Dark Blue | Level 1 (Sonic Bomb): A blast of supersonic energy emits from under the cart, striking any cart nearby.
Level 2 (Sonic Cannon): 3 powerful, non homing spheres shoot from the front of the cart, with a limited distance.
Level 3 (Sonic Rift): Creates multiple "Rift Gates" down the track that wipe out racers who touch them. |
| Bolt | Pink | Level 1 (Bolt): A straight shot, single electric bolt that does not bounce off of walls.
Level 2 (Chain Bolt): Overhead cloud that randomly attacks players in front.
Level 3 (Bolt Storm): Emits a missile that shoots into the sky, then subsequently rains down a lightning strike on every racer ahead. |
Multiplayer Features
Leaderboards will be determined by your local physical area (8, 24 or 48 closest games).
Matchmaking is now done against users single lap times that are competitive to yours. These ghosts can be downloaded (even over 3G) and raced against to try and one-up your friends or the larger community.
Travel PointsThe Mod Explorer feature now tracks how far you are away (in physical distance from your first check-in) and awards travel points for each of these check-ins. The travel points can be used to unlock more pieces to customize.
Destination check-ins are available for each of 3 locations in 45 cities around the world. When enough people in ModNation Racers: Road Trip community have checked into this real world location they will unlock parts for all gamers.
Online competitive matches are not scheduled to be supported with the launch version but many users have requested it be added to the title, and on the PlayStation Blog after many people complained that feature was missing, Erich Wass explained in the comments that the team is looking into patching it in post-launch.
Local Networking play with up to 4 PS Vita in a live competitive match (what Sony Calls Ad-Hoc Networking)
Play Create Share
As is the case with Sony's other "Play Create & Share" titles, Mod Nation Races: Road Trip offers a number of ways to customize the experience. All tracks, characters and kart creations by users of the PS3 version of ModNation Racers are available on day one. (Over 3 million total creations as of January 2012)
Track Creation -
Sculpt TerrainThe track creation tool has been rebuilt to support both front and rear touch based controls. One can very quickly trace a track with only one finger on the front touch screen. Another example of the touch controls is one can push on the rear touch panel to "push up" a mountain (with more force producing a bigger mountain). In addition Props in a level are now fully rotatable (360 Degrees) and scalable (i.e. a 20 story Dinosaur blocking the road is now possible).
ModNation Racers: Road Trip also has more themes and can include more of them in a single level than the PS3 version (PS Vita levels are not shareable with the PS3.)
Character customization-
The characters can be modified in countless ways to produce just about any type of color design or character. Parts can now be selected and then things like eyes, ears, stickers, etc. can be stretched, pinched, rotated or moved with the touch controls to mold the character into a unique Mod of your choosing.
Kart Customization -
Explode ViewA new Explode View has been added showing each part of the kart floating in 3d Space that is routable and selectable to easily change and modify. As was the case with characters the parts for modding Karts can be rotated, resized, and stretched to achieve the look you want. With a shake of the PS Vita the kart can be randomized to have a brand new look. All mods are visual and have no impact on performance of the kart.
Official Website
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