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A few months ago I got to play ModNation Racers on the PSP for the first and only time -- and I was pretty impressed. The drifting was too stiff, but the track creation was pretty awesome as you could whip up a three-dimensional course without ever seeing the PSP chug or slow down to think about anything. I figured I'd get the game, get used to the stiff controls, and be on my way.
Sadly, that didn't really happen. Driving never feels all that precise or fast, and I think it holds back an experience that's got a lot of great ideas.
Unaware of ModNation Racers? Well, you're crazy, but this is a kart racer that's the next member of Sony's "Play, Create, Share" family that was kicked off by LittleBigPlanet. Sure, you'll be able to participate in a five-series career mode and race online, but there's also this suite of creation tools that let you crank out your own tracks, racers (called Mods), and karts that you can then share online so folks all around the world can download your babies. If you dig the game, you're going to have a near-constant stream of content, as long as people are popping online to play.
Sadly, that didn't really happen. Driving never feels all that precise or fast, and I think it holds back an experience that's got a lot of great ideas.
Unaware of ModNation Racers? Well, you're crazy, but this is a kart racer that's the next member of Sony's "Play, Create, Share" family that was kicked off by LittleBigPlanet. Sure, you'll be able to participate in a five-series career mode and race online, but there's also this suite of creation tools that let you crank out your own tracks, racers (called Mods), and karts that you can then share online so folks all around the world can download your babies. If you dig the game, you're going to have a near-constant stream of content, as long as people are popping online to play.
Trouble is, I don't know how many people are going to stick around and make this community soar. It's not that ModNation PSP is bad; it's just a bit rough.
Kart racing lives and dies by how it handles on the track, and ModNation PSP's scheme is just a bit too stiff. See, drifting is an enormous part of ModNation Racers. As you slide around corners, you're filling a little meter that can then be exchanged for a boost or a shield. The boost should be easy enough to wrap your head around, but the shield is a defensive measure you can use to block incoming attacks (items you and your opponents pick up on the track).
Unfortunately, drifting's a bitch to get a hang of. It's not all that natural, and it's so stiff I found myself losing control of my kart and smashing into the wall quite a bit. Don't get me wrong, I sort of had a handle on it six hours in, but there were still turns where I'd lose it and blow the entire race. You can also fill your boost/shield meter by spinning when you catch air off the game's jumps. You do this by holding the analog stick to the side to bank some boost juice. It's a fine system in theory, but sometimes I'd pop off small hops, the game would think that I was trying to spin, and I'd turn just enough to be in the opposite direction of where I wanted to be.
These little issues kind of suck the "wow" factor out of racing. I mean, the game is fine -- it works and it's racing -- but it's nothing special, you know? There's no real sense of speed as you play; you're just putting around the tracks. There are weapons here, but they're really basic and sometimes you don't even know what you're getting hit with. I drove through deserts and mountains, sideswept opponents, got jumpstarts off boost pads, and found plenty of shortcuts, but I was never blown away. I was never compelled to race more, even though there's a bunch of creation parts and characters to unlock.
What was I compelled to do? Create tracks. The course creation here is nothing short of impressive. You choose an environment, drive a paver around to lay asphalt, and then double back to raise the terrain and place props such as buildings and trees. There were no loads as I plopped down trees or dropped item pickups -- it's silky smooth and you can create some stuff that really looks great.
Kart racing lives and dies by how it handles on the track, and ModNation PSP's scheme is just a bit too stiff. See, drifting is an enormous part of ModNation Racers. As you slide around corners, you're filling a little meter that can then be exchanged for a boost or a shield. The boost should be easy enough to wrap your head around, but the shield is a defensive measure you can use to block incoming attacks (items you and your opponents pick up on the track).
Unfortunately, drifting's a bitch to get a hang of. It's not all that natural, and it's so stiff I found myself losing control of my kart and smashing into the wall quite a bit. Don't get me wrong, I sort of had a handle on it six hours in, but there were still turns where I'd lose it and blow the entire race. You can also fill your boost/shield meter by spinning when you catch air off the game's jumps. You do this by holding the analog stick to the side to bank some boost juice. It's a fine system in theory, but sometimes I'd pop off small hops, the game would think that I was trying to spin, and I'd turn just enough to be in the opposite direction of where I wanted to be.
These little issues kind of suck the "wow" factor out of racing. I mean, the game is fine -- it works and it's racing -- but it's nothing special, you know? There's no real sense of speed as you play; you're just putting around the tracks. There are weapons here, but they're really basic and sometimes you don't even know what you're getting hit with. I drove through deserts and mountains, sideswept opponents, got jumpstarts off boost pads, and found plenty of shortcuts, but I was never blown away. I was never compelled to race more, even though there's a bunch of creation parts and characters to unlock.
What was I compelled to do? Create tracks. The course creation here is nothing short of impressive. You choose an environment, drive a paver around to lay asphalt, and then double back to raise the terrain and place props such as buildings and trees. There were no loads as I plopped down trees or dropped item pickups -- it's silky smooth and you can create some stuff that really looks great.
You can create Mods and karts as well, but some of the luster is lost here. When you put an eye on a face, you can't resize it; you're stuck with a bunch of pre-created stickers and you can't change their color schemes; and it just seems like every asset and creation I made was a bit blurry. They didn't pop, and thus I never really cared about anything I cranked out. They were easy to make and the program ran well, but it wasn't awesome.
In the same "OK but not awesome" boat is ModNation's multiplayer. There's a full Infrastructure mode here that'll allow you to race your PSP brethren, but there's no sense of community. For example, you can rate other people's creations, but the little info boxes that pop up on them host blurry art. Or when you set out to race, you can't chat via voice or text. Furthermore, you're earning experience points and leveling-up, but you have to click on your profile and the other players' profiles to see these stats, rather than have them pop up elsewhere. And, of course, there's no friends list or way to invite your friends to races. The online system (and ad-hoc, for that matter) runs well during the six-player matches, but the only really cool part about it is that -- after logging on -- some load screens will brief you on the most downloaded tracks and such.
In the same "OK but not awesome" boat is ModNation's multiplayer. There's a full Infrastructure mode here that'll allow you to race your PSP brethren, but there's no sense of community. For example, you can rate other people's creations, but the little info boxes that pop up on them host blurry art. Or when you set out to race, you can't chat via voice or text. Furthermore, you're earning experience points and leveling-up, but you have to click on your profile and the other players' profiles to see these stats, rather than have them pop up elsewhere. And, of course, there's no friends list or way to invite your friends to races. The online system (and ad-hoc, for that matter) runs well during the six-player matches, but the only really cool part about it is that -- after logging on -- some load screens will brief you on the most downloaded tracks and such.
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