Up until now, most publishers have never successfully released a kart racing. It's a genre whose roots have always been firmly planted in Nintendo's camp. However, the time has come for Sony to step up to the challenge, and for the PS3 to receive its own, very unique go-kart game, giving Nintendo a run for its money. "ModNation Racers" looks to usher in the next generation of karting, taking full advantage of everything that Sony's console has to offer.
The Basics
"ModNation Racers" is a kart racer inspired by Sony's new initiative for gamers to "Play. Create. Share." and it demonstrates just what can be done on all three fronts. The gameplay is more complex than other racers that you may already be familiar with, yet simple enough for most people to pick up and play. Creating custom characters, karts and tracks is surprisingly easy, and actually enjoyable to do. And sharing your in-game creations allows you to let the entire "ModNation Racers" community see what kind of talent and vision you have. It follows the "Play. Create. Share" mantra to the same extent of Sony's other flagship creation game, "LittleBigPlanet," and manages to pack a solid racing game in there somewhere to boot.
The Highs
Customize The World
A lot of games these days come complete with their own character creation tools, but "ModNation Racers" goes above and beyond what most games offer, and makes it easy to use. Using items that you unlock as you progress through the game or download for a fee, you can let your imagination run wild with your character, taking it from a blank slate to a complex freak of nature in just a few short button presses. The game then takes those customization tools and applies them to both the karts and the tracks, all of which can be shared with the entire community, offering up an infinite amount of gameplay.
It's Not Just Old School Kart Racing
"ModNation Racers" takes kart-racing gameplay to the next level by tweaking the genre's formula, making it feel more like "Burnout" than "Mario Kart." Upgradeable weapons, sideswiping, and turbo boost are just a few of new mechanics that are seamlessly worked into the game that make it feel like a whole new take on the genre and not just another cut and paste release.
Story Time
Another attempt to move away from the standard kart formula is the infusion of a story into "ModNation"'s single-player campaign. Instead of just racing around as your favorite character from a long-established franchise you play as Tag, a new competitor on the ModNation Racing Championship and you follow the ups and downs of his career as he tries to make his way to the top. While it's not an entirely necessary addition, it does make running through the single-player a little bit more compelling.
The Lows
Loading
If you're going to sit down and play "ModNation Racers" you might as well bring a book or something else to occupy you in between races, because you're going to spend a lot of time waiting for your races to load. After just a couple races, it becomes quite frustrating to spend upwards of two minutes in-between races, when you account for both loading and cutscenes. Sure, a lot of games have long loads, however, "ModNation" also packs in a mandatory 3.2 gigabyte install before you even load up the game.
Difficulty
"ModNation Racers" starts off slow and simple like many kart racing games. However, most players will hit a wall after just an hour or two with the single-player career as, all of a sudden, the races go from casual to hardcore. You'll need to take each turn almost perfectly, preserve your boost, and stock up on items just to place and progress to the next race. While I'm not opposed to a little challenge in game, "ModNation" kicks it up way too fast.
Gary and Andy
Taking their cues from classic "Celebrity Deathmatch" announcers Johnny Gomez and Nick Diamond, both in appearance and tone, the two announcers that follow Tag's career through the ModNation Racing Championship, Biff and Gary, just never seem to shut up. Tossing insults back and forth before every race, the novelty of these guys wears off after the first cutscene, but you're stuck with them for the rest of the game.
The Verdict
"ModNation Racers" is one of the most robust kart racing experiences ever released for a console, offering an infinite amount of content for players to delve into, however it still manages to leave some stuff out. The game's difficulty will leave less experienced racers in the dust only halfway through the single-player mode, and while there is a standard list of multiplayer racing options, "ModNation" is missing the casually competitive battle mode. However, if you're a fan of customizable kart racing, character creation, or have ever wanted to build your own track then you should absolutely play, create, and share your heart out with "ModNation Racers."