Firstly, let me get the obvious out of the way. You can’t review ModNation Racers without mentioning the customisation aspects of the game. Obviously, if you know anything about the game, you will know that it is basically the equivalent of lovechild conceived by Mario Karts and Little Big Planet. You are given a set of parts, and you can basically do whatever you want with them. See an interesting developer track, but feel that it needs a new shortcut, yup, that’s easily arranged. Just go into the create station and mod away to yours heart’s content. If you’re playing online, and you see somebody has made an awesome avatar (Mod), simply download it, make your own unique changes, and publish your totally unique Mod to the world.<\/p>\n
New to this user-created heaven, is the credit system, whereby the original creator will be mentioned in any modification you make to the original. If you take somebody else’s kart, for instance, and make a few changes, it will be created by you, but based on a design by the original. This is known as remixing. It’s an interesting system, and one that holds great potential for gameplay lifespan, as there will always be something new being made to keep the game fresh. Of course, when something is published (shared online), you are given the option of allowing others to edit your creation or not.<\/p>\n
Speaking of keeping the game fresh, it seems United Front Games is committed to releasing premium downloadable content. Already there are two new karts and Mods to download, the latest taking the form of Sweettooth from the Twisted Metal series. Presumably, this is made with new parts that are not available in the usual game, otherwise the entire concept is pointless, if people can simply make their own Mods. Again, think of Little Big Planet, where they released new parts as DLC.<\/p>\n
The creation mode is just the cherry on top of the cake, and the actual gameplay is fantastic too. In a variety of locations, you will face increasingly difficult opponents, and race for dominance. The kart racing gameplay really feels natural for this title, when considering the cartoony nature of the creations and the art style. You will be powersliding around tracks, dodging rampaging robots, annihilating your enemies with a variety of different weapons, managing your boost and trying to time your shield use to deflect your opponents’ projectiles: sometimes all at the same time!<\/p>\n
The way ModNation Racers works is boost doubles as a shield. If you have a certain amount of boost, you get shield, so it’s always a good idea to try and keep at least some boost available, because the proverbial “Blue Shell” weapon will always be lurking somewhere behind you, waiting to destroy you right on the finish line.<\/p>\n
That being said, the gameplay is not perfect. The difficulty ramps up ridiculously after the first tier, and from there it just gets silly. To progress, you just have to come third, which isn’t a problem, most of the time. What is a problem is the optional goals, where you have to both perform the goal, and come first for it to count. It really makes for a frustrating experience, especially when you fail through no fault of your own. For example, I was way in the lead in a specific race, and was on my way to a victory. Then, I got hit by a projectile, and was forced to reset. For some reason, the game kept me on a loading screen for about 30 seconds, which cost me seven places and obviously the race. Very frustrating.<\/p>\n
In addition to the optional goals, there is also a specific number of tokens to collect on each course. The good news is that even if you don’t place high, these tokens remain collected, and so it is easy to simply take a race leisurely to make sure that you grab all the tokens. The same is true for the optional goals – you can concentrate on each goal in individual races, and you don’t have to worry too much about the actual race. <\/p>\n
Loading times are a bit on the annoying side. Not only when starting a new race, but when entering a new place, connecting online, downloading a track … basically everything needs to load for at least a minute before it can actually work. In fairness, it’s a minor gripe, and the game is still excellent despite this shortcoming. <\/p>\n
The online is sound, if a little unstable, and the user created content is nicely organised. It would be nice for a “Download All” option, which could be used on specific creators who are especially talented, but for the moment, the system works fine.<\/p>\n
If you’re a fan of kart racers or arcade racers, we definitely recommend this title. If you are big on the user-created content, we’d also recommend this title. In fact, everybody’s lives will be better with ModNation Racers in it. Highly recommended.<\/p>\n