Fuel (Xbox 360)

[aruljothi]

Release Date: 12/5/2009
ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
Genre: Racing
Publisher: Codemasters
Developer: Asobo Studios

FUEL is a conundrum wrapped in an enigma. Is it a mediocre racer with some fancy tech, or does it want to be a mediocre racer with some fancy tech? All signs point to the latter: Beautiful visuals and interesting vehicles that look like they were stolen from the set of Mad Max -- but on the flip-side, the game offers nothing in terms of customization aside from a few minor cosmetic changes to your driver and vehicle. Then it gives you long stretches of raceway across an apocalyptic world, only to populate it with nothing interesting to see or do besides, well, race against poor A.I. opponents. To make matters worse, there is actually a decent driving system in place, but it's hampered by poor automatic transmissions with no option for shifting gears or changing the default control scheme.

I suppose this gives FUEL more in common with arcade-style racers like Motorstorm and Pure -- your rider even does tricks off their ATV when in the air that you have no control over -- giving you a gritty race against a large number of opponents. The way FUEL tries to differentiate itself from its counterparts is that instead of resetting a vehicle if it falls off the path, it encourages you to find your own way across the finish line; all you have to do is hit every checkpoint along the way. Unfortunately, this off-the-beaten-path racing does little to give you an edge in most races -- you're better off staying on course, following the GPS.

The point of all this racing is to acquire fuel. Fuel is required to purchase new vehicles -- but not custom parts or anything similar. You gain fuel by winning (not coming in second) various races across the large barren landscape. Race, get first place, buy new cars, and the cycle continues. The makes and models of the vehicles are fantastic, in that they are hulking, gas-guzzling rusty buckets of speed. Sure, this may be counter-productive if you're desperately racing to collect more fuel (you'd think you'd want conserve it), but this is a videogame, so I'll let it slide. What I won't let slide is the game's constant mediocrity.

For starters, it would have been nice to have more of a point to all of this racing. There are no championships to win, or rival drivers, much less any faces to put on your opponents in this empty landscape that gives you nothing to see or do worth your time. Even if the developers had included a simple thing like race replay, it could have given the game some type of life. After all, it is nice to look at.