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[Review] Blur

taimoor — Mon, 31 May 2010 13:12:01 +0000

The modern evolution of kart racers.

At its core, Blur is Mario Kart (or better yet, Crash Team Racing) mixed with Project Gotham Racing. Bizarre Creations’ latest racer is the perfect example of big boys toys. You’re still playing a kart racer, but things get serious when you’re driving real world (licensed) cars.

The fact that this is a racing game by Bizarre Creations means that Blur has a lot of style and an equal amount of substance to backup the flair. Visually the game is very pleasing on the eyes, with neon lights and diffused effects and light trails going all over the place. The cars themselves look crisp, but the same can’t be said for the tracks. Make no mistake however, Blur will not blow you away with its graphics. While this is certainly a departure from previous Bizarre Creations’ games that have always had awe-inspiring visuals (Project Gotham Racing & Geometry Wars), especially considering Blur’s biggest rival Split/Second is one of the most beautiful racing games out on the market. That said, Bizarre Creations have taken a Blizzard approach (as in World of Warcraft) with their design philosophy. Both games are highly stylized without being too hardware intensive. So while they don’t look at great as other, more ‘realistic’ looking games, they still look great nonetheless. Certainly World of Warcraft as aged very well, and looks good even 5 years after launch. Obviously the biggest reason people still play it is because of its online nature. And this is exactly where Blur is headed.

Blur will be played on for an incredibly long time after its release because of its beautifully crafted and addictive multiplayer. Heck, the game’s Main Menu itself gives you just 2 options to choose from: Singleplayer or Multiplayer. All other sub-menus fall under these two categories. For all intents and purposes, Blur’s singleplayer is mutually exclusive from its multiplayer component. Cars you unlock in singleplayer are not carried over to multiplayer. You start from scratch in both scenarios. So if it weren’t for achievements, I doubt people would be playing Blur’s singleplayer at all; certainly not for all the rival models (aka bosses) that you encounter during singleplayer. I know Blur has an urban theme going on for it, but blatantly using these useless, albeit hot, models as your bosses is just undermining the maturity of your target audience. It’s certainly too cheesy to be taken seriously, which is where the multiplayer comes in.

Your multiplayer career progression is pretty much like any of today’s shooters, i.e. you unlock better stuff as you keep on gaining levels. Unlocks in Blur aren’t just limited to bigger and more powerful cars either, you unlock car mods as well, which are essentially perks that give you an upper hand over your opponents. (OK, I’ll stop the Modern Warfare multiplayer references here). So the ‘Show Off’ mod, for instance, allows you to gain more fans (the XP of Blur) to gain levels faster. The tradeoff here being that someone else will have an ‘Aggressive’ mod that will shunt opponents more easily and clear the way for him, or perhaps the ‘Defensive’ mod which helps you take in more damage and avoid your car being wrecked completely. So it’s not just a simple rip-off of the Mario kart formula as you can see. Obviously all levels of cars within that class category are allowed to compete with each other, the unknown factor here being all the power-ups that cause enough mayhem to reverse the tables at any given moment.

Then there are the different racing modes. Blur doesn’t limit your ability to drive like a maniac to just simple races. From 2, up to 20 people can join in on the massacre in Battles (just destroy cars) or Team Battles or World Tour, where you can change the type of power-ups, track types, etc. Beyond just the different gameplay types, Blur keeps trickling out rewards as you gain more levels, thus keeping the multiplayer addictive for a very long time, and lets not forget some good old fashion 4 player split-screen fun. Of course, I cannot finish the review without mentioning the social networking features of Blur. Facebook and Twitter updates are integrated into the game, so that once you sign-in to your account(s), you can Tweet or send a FB status update of anything you like. These update statements can range from you just Tweeting out your current number of fans to your position on various leaderboards or comparisons amongst your friends.

So all in all, if multiplayer racing is your thing, there’s no better alternative to Blur right now. I would suggest people pick up Split/Second if they’re more into singleplayer games. Both are great racing games, but both specialize in different fields. So it’s up to you to decide how you play your games and then which one to pickup.

[Review] Split/Second: Velocity

taimoor — Mon, 24 May 2010 12:05:49 +0000

The Burnout 3 of this generation?

Arcade racers this gen have been somewhat of a hit & miss affair. Criterion themselves couldn’t evoke the feelings of the utter glee I felt when crashing and burning my opponents in Burnout 3: Takedown; Burnout Revenge and Paradise both feeling lackluster. MotorStorm came close to, and even exceeded, Burnout’s carnage and fierce destruction, but it never felt like Burnout.

So here we are, a new decade, a different studio (Black Rock) and a surprising publisher (Disney) that promises to bring us one of the most exciting and visceral racing experiences in years. And with Split/Second: Velocity, they delivered.

The game takes place in a Reality TV show named Split/Second (but of course). Spread out over 12 episodes for the whole season, each episode hosts about 4 to 6 match types. These matches range from regular races to time trials to elimination races. Then there’s the ‘Air Strike’ race where Apache helicopters rain death on you in the form of multiple missile strikes that you have to avoid. Similarly there’s ‘Air Revenge’ races where you strike back at the Apache helicopters! Finally there’s ‘Survival’ race where you’re supposed to overtake huge trucks that throw out exploding barrels. This Terminator 2’s LA canal chase inspired sequence is also littered with other cars who’re trying to avoid the barrels (but usually don’t), resulting in a huge mess of exploding cars rolling over and around you, similar to the highway chase scene in Bad Boys 2.

As you rightly guessed, Split/Second has a lot of influences from Hollywood blockbusters, Jerry Bruckheimer’s being a key source of inspiration for the studio. Therefore the basic gameplay Split/Second is to fill a bar (split into 3 sections) by drifting, drafting and jumping (getting air time) while you’re driving. As your opponents get ahead of you, a small icon will blink on top of them for a short while, which is when you trigger explosions, called Power Plays. The big draw here is that these explosions vary from small stuff (tower cranes dropping off containers) to big stuff (oil tankers or cargo jets dropping onto the track itself). Using level two Power Plays (indicated by red icons) will usually result in huge things blowing up, ultimately altering the entire track.

The game runs at 30fps, but I will not fault Black Rock because Split/Second is so densely packed with giant structures as the race track intricately goes in and around the setpieces, that there’s no sense of the game ever feeling slow. This is especially the case when you unlock higher tiered cars which drive at insane speeds. With so much going on the track at any given moment, I understand why the developers also decided to leave out any sort of boost option, i.e. no NOS. That said, certain cars handle so sluggishly that once you initiate a turn, it’s extremely hard to allow for minor course corrections. As such, some option for a boost would have been nice as I would’ve avoided many untimely crashes. Perhaps that’s something they will put into the sequel.

The multiplayer aspect of the game is a huge disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, the game plays exactly like the singleplayer, with Power Playing fun to be had with up to 7 other people online and no hint of lag. It even has split-screen added in for good measure. What breaks the game is the decision to allow all levels of cars to compete with each other. This meant that my level 5 car (acquired around Episode 4) was always left in the dust behind the level 10 cars (acquired near end-game). The fact that your opponents are so far out ahead of you that you can’t even see them, means you can’t trigger any Power Plays except maybe activating shortcuts. So your initial races will be nothing but humiliation, unless you start the multiplayer after finishing the singleplayer. As you should, since the game is devoid of onscreen maps, meaning that you will often have to memorise the track, and be aware of when to trigger Power Plays and when to be weary of being crashed by your opponents.

All said and blown, Split/Second: Velocity is set to be the definitive arcade racer of this generation. It doesn’t feel as ruthlessly fun as Burnout 3, but it successfully captures the charisma and presents it with such style and substance that you can’t help but fall in love with all the carnage going on.

Split/Second PC demo released ديمو لعبة ‘سبليت/ سكند’ للحاسوب

TheEd — Sun, 23 May 2010 07:33:33 +0000

Black Rock has released a PC demo for their explosion-laden racer Split/Second. Coming in at 1 GB , the demo offers a tutorial and an airport level. You can download the demo from here, here, here or here.

The PC Split/Second demo consists of a tutorial and an airport level for players to race and blow their way on! Competitors in Split/Second don’t just collide with other vehicles to knock them from the track — they can also trigger explosive events that drastically alter the dynamics of the race. Players must use strategy and pinpoint timing to derail opponents, tactically alter the track or create entirely new routes.

صدور ديمو لعبة ‘سبليت/سكند’ للحاسوب

أصدرت شركة ‘بلاك روك’ ديمو إصدارة الحاسوب من لعبتها ‘سبليت / سكند’ الزاخرة بالإنفجارات. حجم الفيلم 1 جيجا بايت ويقدم إرشادات للعب ومستوى المطار. يمكنكم تنزيل ملف الديمو من هنا أو هنا أو هنا أو هنا.

بإمكان اللاعبين التسابق في مستوى المطار وشق طريقهم الخاص في مضمار السباق بالتفجيرات! عادة يقوم اللاعبين في ألعاب سباقات السيارات بمحاولة إخراج منافسيهم من السباق بالاصطدام بسيارتهم ولكن الأمر يتعدى هذا الأسلوب في ‘سبليت / سكند’؛ فبإمكان اللاعبين إطلاق متفجرات في المكان الذي يحلو لهم على طول المضمار لتغيير آليات السباق تماماً، كما يتعين عليهم استخدام استراتيجيات معينة وتحديد الوقت الأنسب لكل تفجير ليتمكنوا من إخراج منافسيهم من السباق أو تعديل مساره أو فتح مسارات جديدة تماماً فيه.

Split/Second all geared up ‘الاستعداد لإصدار لعبة ‘سبليت /سكند

TheEd — Wed, 19 May 2010 23:34:32 +0000

With their game on sale starting today, Black Rock Studios and Disney Interactive have been actively releasing news about the extra additions for their latest destruction racer, Split Second. First of all, Disney is detailing how to unlock the XD Car, on their website here. Second, and thanks for Play.com which revealed that the first DLC for Split/’Second is entitled “Hyper Car Pack”.

The Hyper Car Pack will include: 3 super-high performance vehicles which rank among the most powerful vehicles in the Split/Second tournament. Taking any of these onto the start grid of any event gives the driver an instant advantage over any opponent – providing they can handle the extra speed, and drift dynamics!

Click for a bigger image

When we take into account that ModNation Racers and Blur, along with Split/Second, are all racing games, coming out around the same time, we can understand how important it is to appeal to gamers, and what better way than freebies and add-ons!

Split/Second Velocity comes out on May 20th in the Middle East and Europe for Xbox360, PC, and PlayStation 3.

الإستعداد لصدور لعبة ‘سبليت /سكند’

بمناسبة بدء بيع لعبتهم اليوم، أمطرتنا ‘بلاك روك ستوديوز’ و‘ديزني إنتراكتيف’ في الآونة الأخيرة بأخبار الإضافات التي أضيفت على ‘سبليت سكند’ أحدث ألعابهم للسباقات المدمرة. أولاً، شرحت ‘ديزني’ على موقعها بالتفصيل كيفية الكشف عن السيارة DX، ثم كشف موقع Play.com عن أول حزمة محتويات قابلة للتنزيل للعبة Split/Second وتدعى ‘هايبر كار باك’ Hyper Car Pack.

تشتمل حزمة ‘هايبر كار باك’ على : 3 سيارات خارقة فائقة القوة وخارقة من حيث الأداء وتصنف على أنها أقوى السيارات في مسابقات ‘سبليت/ سكند’، فقيادة أي من تلك السيارات الثلاثة في أي سباق تعطي ميزة إضافية للسائق من اللحظة الأولى للسباق (هذا إن تمكن من السيطرة عليها مع سرعتها والتحكم في آلياتها في الإنحراف).

تصدر ألعاب ModNation وRacers و Blur مع Split/Second في نفس التوقيت تقربياً ولهذا كان من الضروري وضع عناصر جذب للاعبين وما من عناصر أفضل من الإضافات والهدايا المجانية طبعاً.

تصدر لعبة ‘سبليت سكند فيلوستي’ Split Second Velocity في 20 مايو (آيار) في الشرق الأوسط وأوروبا لمنصات ‘أكس بوكس 360’ والحاسوب و‘بلايستيشن3.’

Split/Second Opening Cinematic ’فيلم دعائي يقدم ‘سبليت/سكند

TheEd — Thu, 13 May 2010 09:20:14 +0000

Here is the opening video for Split/Second Velocity. The game comes out on May 20th in the Middle East and Europe for Xbox360, PC, and PlayStation 3. This is going to be an intense driving game! Disney has made something awesome!

In the US, the game is called Split/Second, while in Europe and Middle East, it will be called Split/Second Velocity… Beats me!

فيديو دعائي للعبة ‘سبليت/ سكند’

إليكم الفيلم الافتتاحي للعبة ‘سبليت/سكند فيلوستي’. تصدر اللعب في 20 مايو (أيار) في الشرق الأوسط وأوروبا لمنصات ‘اكس بوكس 360’ و‘الحاسوب’ و‘بلايستيشن 3’. أتوقع أن نرى سباقات عنيفة مذهلة! فقد صنعت ‘ديزني’ لعبة رائعة.

اسم اللعبة في الولايات المتحدة ‘سبليت /سكند’ بينما اسمها في الشرق الأوسط وأوروبا ‘سبليت/ سكند فيلوستي’… ترى لماذا الإختلاف؟!

Split/Second Air Attack vignette ’قصة ‘سبليت سكند ايرأتاك

TheEd — Wed, 12 May 2010 11:11:50 +0000

Preparing for an imminent launch, Disney launched a video detailing the helicopter role in their upcoming racing and destruction arcade racer, Split/Second. The game is slated for a May 20, 2010 release, just one week before the release of its rival: Blur!

Oh, and for some bizarre reason, Disney is calling the game Split/Second in the US, while in Europe and Middle East it will have Velocity attached to its name!

قصة ‘سبليت سكند اير اتاك’

تستعد ‘ديزني’ لاطلاق لعبتها الجديدة ‘سبليت سكند’ باصدار فيديو دعائي قصير، والفيلم يشرح بالتفصيل دور المروحية في لعبة سباقات السرعة والتدمير القادمة ‘سبليت سكند’. من المقرر إطلاق اللعبة في 20 مايو (أيار) 2010، قبل أسبوع واحد من غريمتها: Blurr!!

ولسبب غامض قررت ديزني اطلاق اسم ‘سبليت/ سكند’ على اللعبة التي ستطرح في أسواق الولايات المتحدة، بينما ستضيف كلمة ‘فيلوستي’ على الإسم في الإصدارة التي ستطرح في أوروبا والشرق الأوسط.

Split/Second Power Plant Trailer فيلم جديد للعبة سبلت/سكند -مرحلة المصنع

TheEd — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:11:03 +0000

Disney has let loose a new trailer for its upcoming destruction racer Split/Second, slated for release in May 2010 on the PS3 and Xbox360. A demo is already out.

You can see the whole achievements list from this French link. The game features 46 achievements and will reward you with the usual 1000 points, with Perfection being the most rewarding (130 points) which you get when you complete every event and Season Championship race in first place. (No matter how hard it sounds, someone will achieve it!).

[Update: here's a First Look article posted at the PlayStation Blog]

فيلم ترويجي جديد للعبة سبلت/سكند – مرحلة سباق المصنع

أطلقت شركة سوني فيلم ترويجياً جديداً للعبة السباقات والتدمير القادمة Split/Second، والتي ستصدر في شهر مايو 2010 على كل من PS3 و Xbox360. مع العلم بأنه تم مؤخراً توفير نسخة ديمو لها، كما يمكنك الاطلاع على قائمة الإنجازات الكاملة Achievements من هذا الرابط (الموقع فرنسي) حيث تتضمن اللعبة 46 إنجازاً مختلفاً تعطيك عند الوصول إليها جميعاً 1000 نقطة، وقد تم تمييز إحراز إنجاز “الكمال” Perfection بأعلى عدد من النقط (130 نقطة) وتنالها عندما تقوم بإنهاء كل جولات السباقات ومراحل البطولة في المركز الأول دائماً. (مهما بدا الأمر صعباً، فلابد أن أحدهم سيقوم به في النهاية!).

Split/Second Velocity demo live! توافر ديمو سبليت/سكند على شبكة لايف

taimoor — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:20:40 +0000

In a surprise move, Disney Interactive Studios has released the singleplayer demo of Split/Second on Xbox Live. The 808mb demo, will go live on Sony’s PSN on the 5th of May, next week. Meanwhile X360 owners can enjoy the Airport level which was first shown off at last year’s E3. Don’t worry though, this demo is from the latest build of the game, so expect near finished game level of quality.

Sadly there’s no multiplayer demo in sight, but at least this should give you an idea of whether to buy this or Blur. Or both.

توافر مرحلة ديمو من لعبة سبليت/سكند على شبكة لايف

في خطوة مفاجأة، أعلنت استوديوهات Disney Interactive عن إطلاق نسخة تجريبية/ديمو خاصة باللعب المنفرد من لعبتها القادمة Split/Second وذلك عبر شبكة Xbox Live. سيتم توفير هذا الديمو الذي يبلغ حجمه 808 مي[ابايت، الأسبوع القادم في 5 مايو على شبكة PSN أيضاً. وحتى يحين ذلك الوقت فبإمكان مالكي أجهزة X360 أن يستمتعوا بمرحلة المطار، والتي تم عرضها أول مرة خلال معرض E3 الماضي، لكن لا تقلقوا، فهذه النسخة مأخوذة من آخر إصدار لهذه اللعبة، لذلك يمكنكم أن تطمئنوا بأن هذه المرحلة ستقترب من جودة النسخة النهائية إلى حد كبير.

للأسف، لن يتم توفير نسخة تجريبة خاصة للعب الجماعي، عير أن الديمو الحالي سيعطيك فكرة على الأقل فيما إن كنت ستشتري هذه اللعبة أو لعبة Blur أو كليهما.

[Dated] ModNation Racers تاريخ إطلاق لعبة السباق مودنيشن

taimoor — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 12:48:02 +0000

May 21st is the date when we get ModNation Racers, one of the few games from Sony’s “Play. Create. Share.” initiative where people can create and play on maps (and other in-game content) designed by other players. You know, like Little Big Planet.

While US gets the game a little late (May 25th), the 21st of May is quite an interesting date since you may remember another racing game coming out the same day: Split/Second Velocity. Also, Bizarre Creation’s Blur comes out the next week. Racing fans rejoice!

[Source: VG247]

تاريخ إطلاق لعبة السباق مودنيشن

في 21 مايو القادم، ستتاح لنا الفرصة للحصول على لعبة ModNation Racers، وهي واحدة من الألعاب القليلة التي أنتجتها Sony ضمن إطار ألعاب “Play.Create.Share” أي “إلعب. أبدع. شارك”. وهي تظاهرة أطلقتها سوني من أجل أن يقوم اللاعبون بتصميم مراحلهم وخرائطهم الخاصة ومشاركة بقية اللاعبين بها. بشكل يشبه لعبة Little Big Planet.

سيتم نشر اللعبة في الولايات المتحدة بوقت متأخر قليلاً (25 مايو)، بكل الأحوال فإن يوم 21 مايو يحمل العديد من الأحداث المهمة، إذ ستصدر فيه لعبة سباقات أخرى هي Split/Second Velocity. كما أن شركة Bizarre Creation ستطلق لعبة Blur في الأسبوع القادم..افرحوا ياهواة ألعاب السباقات!

Blur beta available for all tomorrow نسخة بيتا من لعبة بلر في متناول الجميع

taimoor — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 06:22:12 +0000

Bizarre Creations either actually ran out of numbers beta keys, or maybe came to their senses and thought it was a good idea to have the multiplayer demo beta released for everyone to play and really stress test their servers. Whatever the case, those of us who couldn’t get a beta key are now in luck. If you want to try out the latest arcade (kart) racer from the makers of the Project Gotham Racing series, then turn on your Xbox 360s tomorrow for the multiplayer beta out on Xbox Live!

The game’s out on the 28th of May, next month.

غداً سيتم وضع نسخة بيتا من لعبة بلر في متناول الجميع

إما أن تكون شركة Bizarre Creations قد وزعت كافة رموز التشغيل الخاصة بالنسخة بيتا من لعبة Blur فعلاً، أو أنها تريد إطلاق نسخة لعب جماعي لاختبار مخدمات اللعبة فعلياً في حالة حدوث ضغط حقيقي نتيجة زيادة اللاعبين عليها، وذلك قبل إطلاق النسخة النهائية. مهما كان السبب، ولكل أولئك الذين لم يستطيعوا الحصول على رمز تشغيل النسخة بيتا من أحدث لعبة سباق سيارات (نمط Arcade)، ومن نفس الشركة التي صممت سلسل ألعاب سباق Project Gotham، فقد حان الوقت لتشغيل أجهزة Xbox360 كي تستقبل غداً نسخة اللعب الجماعي بيتا عبر شبكة Xbox Live!

سيتم إصدار النسخة النهائية من اللعبة الشهر القادم، في 28 مايو/أيار.