Fuel (Xbox 360) Quick Review
Before The Crew and Forza Horizon, open world racing games were few and far between. So when Fuel dropped on the scene, and was touted with having an in-game map that was the same area as my home state, my eyes locked onto this one. It sounded really cool to be able to race and free roam an entire wasteland of space with hills, woods, and some populated areas, but at it's core it was a racing game so I didn't want to spend the full $60 brand new price on this one. So I waited...and waited...and here it is.
Fuel is set in a somewhat post-apocalypse world where fuel has become the currency. It's what you win, it's what you find, and it's what you use to by your vehicles for races. Released by CodeMasters, the masterminds behind Dirt and Grid, Fuel promises an epic racing experience, but can it live up to it?
What's Good?
- World Record. While it's not something that directly lends itself to the game, the fact that this game holds the actual world record for largest area of play in a video game is really incredible. This game brings in 5,000 square miles of explorable terrain, with over 10,000 miles of driveable roads, covering all possible terrains you can imagine. Deserts, beaches, cities, mountains, forests...literally everything imagineable. With this much area covered, it's no surprise that these guys landed a world record, one that may be beaten out in the near future with the way games are growing, but still pretty cool.
- Lots of Vehicles. The races you participate in usually have a single vehicle type required to be able to enter, but you get a lot of choices. Bikes, Quads, Buggies, Cars, Trucks, Monster Trucks...and all you need is enough fuel to be able to make each one your own and blow the competition away. As far as handling goes, they don't really feel incredibly different from each other, but they have some crazy body and paint styles that are sure to be pleasing to the eyes.
- Rewarding Map. Once you win a race, you'll unlock a whole slew of prizes. Outfits for your driver to wear, liveries and parts for your cars, and after unlocking them they are scattered on the map. In an area this big, that would be frustrating, but thankfully they were nice enough to give you waypoint-beams that indicate where these items are, so all you have to do is point towards one and start driving.
- Rewarding Map. Once you win a race, you'll unlock a whole slew of prizes. Outfits for your driver to wear, liveries and parts for your cars, and after unlocking them they are scattered on the map. In an area this big, that would be frustrating, but thankfully they were nice enough to give you waypoint-beams that indicate where these items are, so all you have to do is point towards one and start driving.
What's Bad?
- Big Map, No Encouragment. It's the biggest staple of this game, the size of the area you get to explore. But the game doesn't do anything in the way of making you want to explore it, unless you're the gamer that wants to collect every single item. There's more than a dozen differentt zones scattered across the wasteland, and all must be unlocked by earning enough stars in previous races to open these areas up. But once you unlock them, you don't need to find them and discover them on your own at all. Just kick back to the main menu, switch camps, and go do some new races.
- Crash and Load. By far the most annoying feature of this game. Most (honestly just about every) other racing game, when you crash, you get turned into a ghost and instantly reset on the track. Get back up to speed and you're on your way. Fuel? Nah it's different here. Crashing out triggers a mini cutscene of you smashing into whatever it is you've hit, and then a black loading screen with the games logo appears for about 10 seconds, and then you finally get back into the race. The problem? During your cutscene and load screen, everyone else is still active. So you have no way of telling if anyone is catching you or has already zoomed past until you respawn in and find yourself in 5th place instead of 1st. Obviously not the worst feature ever in a game, but in this one it is definitely the sore thumb.
Is it Worth it?
GameStop holds this game hostage for $10 on the 360, or half that price on the PS3. Do you get your money's worth? Definitely. It won't be a perfect journey, but it's still worth the ride. One cool thing (but wasn't really worth blurbing about above) is when you're in the race, the position tracker tells you the distance between you and the leader, as well as the car directly in front and directly behind you. The tracks split off into multiple routes, meaning that you can do whatever you want to get to each checkpoint. In this game, "suggested line" is exactly what it means, suggested. Fuel offers a lot of freedom and a lot of space to explore and drive. If you can come across this one, definitely consider adding it to your collection.
5,000 square miles. The only real way of "beating" this game is by collecting every item, and obtaining every star in each race (you can earn up to three depending on if you win and what difficulty you chose to race at). I'm nowhere near finishing this one, but I definitely want to. I also have the PS3 copy but to me the 360 controller feels more comfortable for racing games. But when I get to covering this one during my PS3 Highlights, there will definitely be an extra blurb comparing the two versions.
GameStop holds this game hostage for $10 on the 360, or half that price on the PS3. Do you get your money's worth? Definitely. It won't be a perfect journey, but it's still worth the ride. One cool thing (but wasn't really worth blurbing about above) is when you're in the race, the position tracker tells you the distance between you and the leader, as well as the car directly in front and directly behind you. The tracks split off into multiple routes, meaning that you can do whatever you want to get to each checkpoint. In this game, "suggested line" is exactly what it means, suggested. Fuel offers a lot of freedom and a lot of space to explore and drive. If you can come across this one, definitely consider adding it to your collection.
5,000 square miles. The only real way of "beating" this game is by collecting every item, and obtaining every star in each race (you can earn up to three depending on if you win and what difficulty you chose to race at). I'm nowhere near finishing this one, but I definitely want to. I also have the PS3 copy but to me the 360 controller feels more comfortable for racing games. But when I get to covering this one during my PS3 Highlights, there will definitely be an extra blurb comparing the two versions.
