Games for Lunch: FUEL

In a nutshell: Where we're going, we don't need roads...
6/26/2009 6:25 PM | 2 Comments | Page 3 of 3

0:42 Whoa. I just built up a huge head of steam and used it to go up a 25-foot, 70- or 80-degree mountain incline. I had JUST enough momentum to make it over the lip to a flat plateau as the speedometer hit zero. I probably shaved a good tenth of a mile off the trip and a good 10 years off the life of these shock abosrbers. I'm loving this "make your own route" stuff. The only thing I could ask for more is a more powerful buggy.

0:44 "You Won the Challenge." A new Achievement means I've already earned 75 Gamerscore points for this game. Wow, that was easy! I earn 2000 Fuel, so I can buy the Mosquito for that other race. Yeah!

0:46 Of course, now that I've finished the Challenge, I have no idea how to get back to the other race I wanted to do initially. After trying to find my way for a while, I give up and use the pause menu to warp there by chopper.

0:47 Hey, wait a minute ... if fuel is such an important commodity and the only real currency, how can I afford to have a FREAKING CARGO CHOPPER just to carry me to my next race? Seems ... not very fuel-efficient.

0:48 The game warns me that there's "No Refund Whatsoever" on the buggy I'm purchasing. Even if I keep the receipt?

0:49 I bump into a log well off the beaten path and decide to use the "reset" button to center myself on the main path. The game spends a good five to 10 seconds "generating" the world before resetting me. Annoying.

0:50 After the wide open-loneliness of the last challenge, the checkpoints and seven other competitors here feel constricting. Sure, I find a few shortcuts from checkpoint to checkpoint, but it's not the same. Also, I just fell in the ocean again. Restart...

0:52 If there are Road Rash-style, punch-the-guy-next-to-you controls in this game, I'd love to know about them. If there aren't, the developers should be ashamed of themselves.

0:54 The last quarter of this course is totally enclosed by highway-construction-style barriers. Why have an open world at all if you're going to do stuff like this?

0:56 Finished in first. "More powerful vehicles are available for sale. CHECK YOUR GARAGE!" Yeehaw!

0:59 Racing along. On the last lap I'm pulling off some nice powerslides. I love the sound of the gravel slipping under my tires...

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.

Why? The racing action is solid, if uninspired, but the uniqueness of the make-your-own-path races has me hooked.

This column is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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