"Bizarre Creations has found a game worthy of the developer's namesake in Blur, a game that finds something fun in the peculiar pairing of weighty, quietly technical real-world racing and over-the-top kart combat."
Blur
Bizarre Creations' Blur mixes the driving of the Project Gotham Racing series with explosive weaponry and allows players to race up to 20 online opponents.
Concept
Distinctive, stylized lighting effects
Blur is a racing game that features stylish racing in realistic locations and 50 real-world cars fighting it out using power-ups and speed boosts. It also features realistic car damage modeling, and is frequently described as a combination of Mario Kart (Franchise) and an arcade racer. It could be most easily related to the racing game Wipeout than more simulation heavy racers like Forza. Unlike many of the games that currently feature power-ups, Blur relies strongly on it's realistic physics model and Bizarre's Ben Ward has stated, "Blur isn't about the power-ups, it's about your ability to drive with power-ups augmenting that".
The game moves away from the clinical and precise nature of sim-like racers that force the player to work within strict time limits and perform inch-perfect turns. It moves towards a more arcade experience that will reward experimentation. Progress through the game is influenced by 'Fan Points', a new version of Project Gotham's Kudos system, awarded after each race for good racing and use of powerups. You can also get mid-race challenges from your fans to complete for bonus fans. There are also car specific challenges that can be completed to attain upgrades for that car. The idea is that the more skilled you are, the more fans you attain and the more money they donate to you, allowing you can upgrade your car further and move onto other circuits.
Blur is designed to tie closely with the game's [http:/www.blurgame.com website], and integrates with popular social networking sites Facebook, and Twitter to allow you to post race results as soon as they are completed. The website also has a stats page integrated within the site to allow players to link their accounts. A leaderboards are available for the website as well. It's menu and hub system is a fictional social networking site, where players and NPC drivers communicate with each other to organize the street races and progress the story.
Now with Activision disbanding Bizarre Creations, it is safe to assume that the website will not be completed. The leaderboards for one were never finished along with the 'community' tab. It is also safe to assume there will be no updates for the game either.
Modes
Single Player
Within the single player campaign the goal for the player is to achieve "Lights". These lights are awarded after each race and based on your performance/finishing place, fan target and fan run. In each race you can earn lights by coming in 1st, 2nd or 3rd (1st = 5 lights, 2nd = 4 lights and 3rd = 3 lights) with one additional light each for meeting the fan target and completing the fan run. You'll also need to complete certain challenges to receive Lights, such as knocking a set amount of opponents off of a bridge into the water. These Lights are needed to eventually "duel" the boss character for that location, where assuming you win you will receive a special version of a vehicle.
Multiplayer
In multiplayer, the same or similar networking system is used to create races and groups with particular settings. The game features 4 player split-screen multiplayer locally, and ive online multi player modes wherein up to 20 players can participate. The five multi player modes are Motor Mash (2-20 players) with the goal of simply damaging other players' cars, Skirmish (2-10 players) which is a tradition race mode, and Powered-up (2-20 players) which is another traditional race mode. Other online multi player modes present are Super Car Racing (2-20 players) -- a race mode wherein only Class A cars are allowed, Team Racing (2-20 players) where two teams of players battle it out for first place, and there is also World Tour that is essentially the 'quick play' mode who want to get into a race as quick as possible. A special playlist is also present that served the purpose of allowing the developers to upload custom game types and playlists, though this was never taken advantage of.
Locations and Tracks
Race taking place in the Amboy
Races take place in 4 countries, with over 15 locations which take place at night or dusk through 'remixed' versions of cities such as London, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Barcelona. Many of these locations are the same as those featured in the Project Gotham games. However unlike PGR which showed some of the most recognizable tourist spots and landmarks, Blur takes players to much grittier locations to suit the pace and feel of the game. Each track features alternative routes and shortcuts. The locations are not all one to one with the real places that the tracks are located. To create the best racing experience the developers of Blur have altered some of the locations from satellite, aerial, and on site photos. One example is San Francisco, where the developers changed the shoreline to create a fast paced race.
Power-ups
Blur features vehicular combat using power-ups collected along the race track. You can hold more than one power-up at once--up to five depending on purchased upgrades--and they can be cycled using the shoulder buttons. It is possible to stack the same power-ups to use in quick succession, and they can be dropped back onto the track at any time.
- Note: The weapon descriptions refer to the standard weapons' behavior before Mods are applied.
| Power-up | Behavior | Range | Associated Mods |
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Car being hit by a bolt
As you gain more fans you will earn 'mods' to create your own personal 'load-outs', similar to the method found in Modern Warfare 2. There are a total of 24 mods you can unlock. These mods can be used tactically to give yourself an advantage in different types of situations. Players choose their load-out before the race, and once it is chosen you cannot switch it out until the race is complete. You have a total of 4 preset load-outs you can customize (and even rename), whch allows you to quickly switch to the appropriate set in in the precious seconds between races. In multiplayer you have 3 mods active at once, in single player you have one (once you earn one). There are separate mods for multiplayer and single player:
Multiplayer Mods
| Yellow Mods | Orange Mods | Green Mods |
|---|---|---|
| Battering Ram - Deal more damage in crashes | Safety Net - Your shield converts power-up impacts into health | Bribe - Gives you a random power-up at the start of the race and each time you wreck |
| Stable Frame - Take less damage from crashes | Adaptive Shielding - Your shield converts Barge, Bolt and Shunt impacts into usable power-ups | Last Gasp - Unleash a barge when you wreck |
| Titanium Armor - Take less damage from power-up impacts | Splash Damage - Increase the blast radius of your barge power-up | Laser Sight - Adds laser sight bonus when using the bolt power-up |
| Showy Flourish - Gain extra fans from each power-up impact | Shielding Efficiency - Doubles the effectiveness of your shield and allows your shield to withstand two shock domes. | Vampiric Wreck - Fully repairs your vehicle every time you wreck an opponent |
| Iron Fist - Increases strength of offensive power-ups | Scrambler - Reverse power-ups temporarily disable your opponents power-up bay | Fan Favorite - Gain extra fans for your "Finish Bonus" |
| Front Runner - Receive a nitro for every lap you complete | Shielded Bay - Protects your from scrambler attacks and decoy power-ups | ECM - Shunts are easier to evade. Shake them off when your warning changes green. |
| Drifter - score super drifts to gain nitro power-ups | Magnetic Field - Pick up power-ups from further away | Mastermine - Near-miss mines to detonate them into explosive mine fragments |
| Jump the Gun - Respawn faster and receive a speed boost when wrecked or reset | Decoy Drop - Dropped power-ups become decoys that explode when picked up by other players | Silent Running - Turns your car invisible unless you fire or take damage |
Single Player Mods
- Armor Plating (Boss) - Reduce the damage sustained from heavy Power-ups
- Nitro Rift (Boss) - Clear the path ahead by firing a rift of energy forward every time you use a Nitro Power-up.
- Scatter Shot (Boss) - Fire off all three Bolt Power-up rounds at once.
- Titanium Shield (Boss) - Increase your Shield Power-up strength and use it to smash opposition cars out of your way
- Super Shunt (Boss) - Increase the power of your Shunt Power-ups.
- Overbolt (Boss) - Gain an extra Bolt round for every Bolt Power-up.
- Quadshock (Boss) - Gain an extra Shock dome when using the Shock Power-up.
- Fan Nitro (Boss) - Gain a Nitro Power-up for every 500 fans earned.
Vehicles
The Viper is a higher tier vehicle.
There are ~50-55 vehicles available to the player. You start with a small selection and unlock more as you progress through the game. The different classes of vehicles are D, C, B, A and Off-Road, with D being the lower quality vehicles, A being the supercars and Off-Road vehicles specializing on off-road tracks. There are also different driving categories of vehicles. These include Very Grippy, Grippy, Balanced, Drifty and Very Drifty. The "Grippy" cars are very good at taking corners, but are very hard to drift. While "Drifty" cars are very good at drifting, but much easier to lose control of your vehicle. These different categories are meant to separate the good drivers from the great drivers. This is because you need to have excellent control over the drifty cars and in order to be successful on all tracks one must be efficient with a variety of vehicles.
When you complete One-on-One races you will can that "Bosses" car. These cars can then be used in multiplayer as long as you have reached the proper level and unlocked the stock model in multiplayer. These Boss cars are already fully upgraded so they have an advantage over the stock models.
Vehicle List
- Note* This chart does not contain the Legendary Vehicles
(SP) = Single Player
(MP) = Multiplayer
| Class D | (Class D) How to unlock | Class C | (Class C) How to unlock | Class B | (Class B) How to unlock | Class A | (Class A) How to unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audi S3 | * Reach rank 15 (SP)
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| Volkswagon Beetle (Rat) | * Reach rank 4 (SP)
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| Renault R230 F1 Team R26 | * Reach rank 4 (MP) | Chevrolet Camaro SS | * Reach rank 4 (MP) | Ford F-100 (Off-Road) | * Reach rank 11 (SP)
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| Renault R230 F1 Team R26 (Shannon's) | Meet Shannon's fan demands | Chevrolet Camaro SS (Rhymer's) | Meet Rhymer's fan demands | Ford Focus RS (Race) | * Reach rank 23 (SP)
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| Land Rover Defender SVX | * Reach rank 1 (SP)
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| Rat Rod | * Reach rank 21 (SP)
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| Foose Design Stallion Ford Mustang | * Reach rank 14 (MP) | Ford F-100 (Rat) | * Reach rank 12 (SP) | Volkswagon Scirocco 24 | * Reach rank 4 (SP)
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| Foose Design Stallion Ford Mustang (Khan's) | Meet Khan's fan demans | Ford Shelby GT500 | * Reach rank 16 (SP)
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| BMW Concept 1 Series tii | * Reach rank 1 (SP)
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| Nissan 350Z NISMO S-tune | * Reach rank 5 (SP)
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| Ford Focus RS | * Reach rank 1 (SP)
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| Chevrolet Camaro | * Reach rank 1 (SP)
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| Nissan Navara (Off-Road) | * Reach rank 3 (SP)
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| Dodge Challenger SRT8 | * Reach rank 2 (SP)
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| Chevrolet Camaro (Rat) | * Reach rank 14 (SP)
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| Toyota Supra | * Reach rank 17 (SP)
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| AC Schnitzer ACS1 Coupe | * Reach rank 19 (SP)
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| Dodge Viper Venom 1000 | * Reach rank 23 (SP)
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| Koenigsegg CCX-R | * Reach rank 25 (SP)
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Ranking System
About to grab a fan challenge
The game features 50 multiplayer ranks, 10 Legend ranks and 25 single player ranks. The Legend ranks can be achieved once you reach level 50. This will cause your rank to be reset to 1, but in return you will receive a legend car and a legend rank. In order for the player to progress through the levels they need to achieve fans. Fans can be achieved in several different ways, such as completing the 50 challenges in the game or performing well in the race (drifting, hitting opponents with power-ups and your final placing). The number of fans you achieve can be increased by using certain modifications in your load-outs.
Challenges
Drivers Ed
Most basic challenges
Dropping a mine
- Airbrake III - reverse nitro 20 times
- Barge III - Barge 50 cars
- Bolt III - Bolt 100 cars
- Minesweeper III - Destroy 20 mines without taking damage
- Nitro III - Overtake 50 cars using nitro
- Rear Guard III - Block 20 attacks using reverse power-up
- Reverse Bolt III - Hit 20 cars with reverse bolt
- Reverse Shunt III - Hit 20 cars with reverse shunt
- Shield III - Block 50 attacks with shield
- Shock III - Hit 50 cars with shock
- Shock Evader III - Evade 50 shocks targeted at you
- Shunt III - Hit 50 cars with shunt
- Shunt Evader III - Evade 50 shunts
- Top Three III - Finish in 1, 2 or 3 50 times
- Mine Lobber III - Hit 20 cars with forward mines
Demolition
Challenges based around aggressive driving
Viper using a shunt
- Brutal Delux I - Push a car off a cliff or into water
- Carnage I - Cause the most damage in a ranked event
- Vendetta I - Wreck an opponent twice in a ranked event
- Bruiser III - Deal out 300 heavy hits
- Brute Force III - Wreck 20 cars by ramming them
- Fully Bolt III - Fully bolt 50 cars
- Light Weight III - Deal out 300 light hits
- Master Exploder III - Explode a mine with another mine 50 times
- Nitro Ram III - Nitro ram 50 cars
- Bully III - Bully 20 cars
- Cause and Effect III - Hit 5 cars with one barge
- Punisher III - Wreck 15 cars during a ranked event
- Retribution III - Perform 5 revenge attacks during a ranked event
- Rivalry III - Wreck your rival 50 times
- Wrecking Ball III - Wreck 200 cars
Daily
Challenges that reset each day (bonus will be given if all challenges are completed that day)
Barges going off!
- Face Plant - Crash into 100 cars
- Hard day's work - Win 5 races in a day
- Overtake - Overtake 100 cars in a day
- Participant - Finish 20 races in a day
- Pied piper - Earn the most fans in a 20 player race
- Demolitions expert - Wreck 50 cars in a day
- Distance - Drive a total of 150 miles in day
- Hoarder - Pick up 500 power-ups in a day
- Aggressive personality - Hit 250 cars with power-ups
- Car Crazy - Use 30 different cars in a day
- Chain Reaction - Achieve a 10x combo
- Hat Trick - Win 3 races in a row
- Head in the clouds - Spend 10 seconds in the air
- Well traveled - Visit each country in the game
- Style - perform 500 scoring moves
Specialist
Very specific challenges aimed at power-ups and mods
Rubbing paint on a corner
- Afterburner - Win a race only using nitro
- Backwards Thinking - Win a race using only backwards attacks
- Barge Specialist - Win using only barge in a race
- Bolt Specialist - Win using only bolt in a race
- Jumper - Perform 3 nitro jumps in a race
- Mine Specialist - Win using only mines in a race
- Pacifist - Win a race without using any Power-ups
- Adaptive Shielding III - Absorb 50 power-ups with adaptive shielding
- Battering Ram III - Hit 100 cars with battering ram
- Deceiver III - Hit 50 cars with Decoy Drops
- Drifter III - Earn 50 nitros using the Drifter mod
- Mastermine III - Trigger 50 mines using the Mastermine mod
- Road Sweeper III - Collect 300 power-ups with magnetic field mod
- Scrambler III - Scramble 100 cars with Scrambler mod
- Stealth III - Overtake 100 cars while invisible using Silent Running mod
- Last Gasp III - Hit 15 cars with Last Gasp mod
Ace
The hardest challenges
All Blurry
- Choose One - Fire 6 reverse bolt landing each shot while driving fast
- Extremely Extreme - Jump 150 meters in a single jump
- FLT - Maintain 225mph for 5 seconds
- High Slider - Drift 175 meters or more in a single drift
- Quick Draw - Wreck 3 cars in 5 seconds
- Tearaway - Finish at least 30 seconds ahead of 2nd place
- Ultimate Comeback - Get into first place, then last, then win the race
- Skeet Shooter - Wreck an airborne opponent
- Aim to Please III - Earn 5000 fans in 30 seconds
- Unguarded III - Complete 5 races without using a shield
- Thick Skin III - Complete 5 races without using a repair
- Untouchable III - Take no damage for 5 races
- Rampage III - Wreck 10 opponents in a race without being wrecked yourself
- Sidewinder III - Drift into 500 power-ups
- Elf Eyes III - Score 100 long shot bolt hits
Car Upgrades
When you race a certain car you can gain upgrades for that specific car. These upgrades include:
Fan Boost
Earn extra Fans when racing in that car.
Health Boost
Gain an extra block of health for that car.
Performance
Unlocks a boost in speed for that vehicle.
Paint Jobs
Coming in first in a race unlocks a series of paint effects to make your rides even more unique. The styles are Metallic, Opalescent, then Candy.
Post-race Game Awards
At the conclusion of every online multiplayer race, up to 5 post-race humorously named Game Awards are distributed among the players. For example, an award for picking up the most power-ups (named the 'Squirrel' award) in the race will be given to that specific player (ties are possible) for all to see. One player can win multiple awards, and also note that the awards are present for simple amusement -- winning a post-race award does not amount to the player receiving extra Fans. The following is a complete list of the post game awards;
| Game Award | Awarded for |
|---|---|
| Battering Ram | Most Battering Ram hits |
| Safe Hands | Most Power-ups blocked |
| Booster | Most Nitro Overtakes |
| Speed Demon | Fastest Lap |
| Dexterous | Raced the longest without being hit |
| Punching Bag | Took the most hits |
| Master Mine | Most Mines fragmented |
| Long Jumper | Jumped the farthest |
| Crimson Carapace | Most Shunt hits |
| Agile | Most (Shunt) evasions |
| Marksman | Most accurate with power-ups |
| Hunter | Most Bolt hits |
| Silent Running | Invisible for longest time *(see Silent Running Mod) |
| Gladiator | Most power-up hits |
| Wrecking Ball | Most Cars wrecked |
| Breakneck | Highest top speed |
| Crash Test Dummy | Most crashes |
| Cliffhanger | Fell off of a cliff the most times |
| Dominator | 1st place for longest time |
| Protector | Most power-ups shielded |
| Drifter | Longest Drift |
| Butter Fingers | Most power-ups dropped |
| Scrambler | Most racers scrambled *(see Scrambler Mod) |
| Trigger Happy | Least accurate with power-ups |
| Stable Frame | Protected most by Stable Frame *(see Stable Frame Mod) |
| Fan-Tastic | Earning the most fans |
| Battering Ram | Most Battering Ram hits *(see Battering Ram Mod) |
| Littberbug | Most Mine hits |
| Environmentalist | Least crashes |
| Decoy Drop | Deceived the most players *(see Decoy Drop Mod) |
| Brawler | Rammed the most players |
Soundtrack
The Blur soundtrack consists mostly of electronic dance music. Featuring 14 artists, many of the tracks were edited (some very heavily) specifically for the game. The song that plays when first booting up the game to the main menu is an edited version of The Crystal Method's track "Smile?"
- Coldcut - "Atomic Moog"
- Coldcut - "Everything Is Under Control"
- Daedelus - "Make It So"
- DJ Kentaro - "Harvest Dance"
- Hexstatic - "Red Laser Beam"
- Pest - "Delucid"
- Pest - "Pat Pong (Solid Groove Remix)"
- Spank Rock - "Bump (Best Fwends Remix)"
- The Heavy - "Coleen (Rhythmic Beater Remix)"
- The Herballeer - "Gadget Funk"
- The Qemists - "S.W.A.G."
- The Qemists - "Dem Na Like Me (V.I.P. Mix)
- The Qemists - "Let There Be Light"
- The Qemists - "On The Run (V.I.P Mix)"
- The Qemists - "Stompbox (Spore Remix)"
- The Crystal Method - "Smile?"
- Thunderheist - "Nothing 2 Step 2 (Trevor Loveys Remix)"
- Two Fingers - "That Girl"
- Zero dB - "Te Quiero (ATFC Remix)"
- Ennio Morricone - "The Ecstasy of Gold (Bandini Remix)"
Avatar Awards
The Xbox 360 version of Blur has 5 avatar awards, all T-shirts.
- Wreck Tee - (Achievement: Been there, got the T-shirt) Wreck your first opponent.
- Sticker Tee - Complete the sticker book. (earn all achievements)
- Legend Tee - Unlock the first Legend rank in multiplayer.
- Showdown Tee - Beat all boss fights in the single player game.
- Friend Rechallenge Tee - Beat a friend's rechallenge.
PC System Requirements
Minimum:
- Windows XP/Vista/7
- Intel Pentium 4 @ 3.4 GHz
- 1 GB RAM
- 7.8 GB Free HDD Space
- 256 MB Video Memory
- nVidia GeForce 6600 GT or ATI Radeon 1600XT
- DirectX 9.0c
- DirectX Compatible Sound Card
- Broadband Internet Connection for Online Multiplayer
- Keyboard
- Mouse
- DVD Rom Drive
Recommended:
- Windows XP/Vista/7
- Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.2 GHz
- 2 GB RAM
- 15 GB Free HDD Space
- 256 MB Video Memory
- nVidia GeForce 7800 GT or ATI Radeon 1800XT
- DirectX 9.0c
- DirectX Compatible Sound Card
- Broadband Internet Connection for Online Multiplayer
- Keyboard
- Mouse
- DVD Rom Drive
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- Name
- Blur
- Release Date
- May 25, 2010
- Platform
- PC (Platform)
Xbox 360 (Platform)
Xbox 360 Games Store (Platform)
PlayStation 3 (Platform) - Developer
- Publisher
- Genre
- Sports (Genre)
Vehicular Combat (Genre)
Driving/Racing (Genre) - Theme
- Sci-Fi (Theme)
Motorsports (Theme)