FUEL Review

Overview

“Set in a post-apocalyptic world sometime in the future, mankind is suffering the effects of Global Warming, and thus, the world’s fuel resources are on the verge of exhaustion.”

Storyline

Set in a post-apocalyptic world sometime in the future, mankind is suffering the effects of Global Warming, and thus, the world’s fuel resources are on the verge of exhaustion. Boasting an impressive five and half thousand square miles of fully drivable terrain, FUEL offers you the chance to jump into a variety of crazy vehicles and hack it around every available inch of the sprawling landscape in the pursuit of power, glory and, erm, a bit of petrol. Yes, FUEL’s financial system is made up of fuel (see what they did there?) – You race to win fuel, which you then trade in for bigger and badder vehicles that you can use to take part in longer and harder races to win bigger amounts of fuel, which you then use to buy bigger and badder vehicles etc.

It makes you wonder why, in this fuel-ravaged future in which the game is set, people don’t just scrap their motors altogether and walk instead, thus ending the fuel crisis and saving the world a lot of hassle. Although if they did, Asobo Studio wouldn’t have developed this Marmite Sandwich* of a game and you wouldn’t be reading this now. So think yourself lucky on both counts.

* Marmite Sandwich; “You either love it or you hate it.” (It’s a British thing.)

Gameplay

Playing FUEL is quite simple, you can either storm around the landscape trying not to drown yourself, enjoying the impressive scenery and day/night cycle Asobo Studio has created or you can take part in a number of challenges and races dotted around the map, earning stars and that all important fuel. Stars unlock other races and challenges on the map, and although you’re free from the start to explore as much of the landscape as you like, other than the “camp” you start off in nothing else will be available to you.

Each “camp” has its own set of objectives; from timed point to point challenges, to a range of races against AI opponents. It all sounds very bog-standard and business as usual until you consider the outstanding weather effects Asobo Studio has thrown in. Random sandstorms and tornadoes appear out of nowhere (usually carving up the bit of road you were just about to race on) and add an extra dimension to proceedings, as you weave through/around them and watch as your opponents stack it unceremoniously as a result.

Speaking of AI opponents, they do appear to be a bit…jipped. They can usually be found hurtling off the starting line at a rate of knots your meagre skills will never match, invariably by the end of the race (no matter how many times you crash or respawn on the track) they will have kindly slowed down to allow you to overtake as many of them as you can. So, nine times out ten (unless you quit the race or drive so far off course you’re not in even in the same post code), you will win.

Although this provides hardly any challenge whatsoever, it does offer a few easy gamerpoints to begin with and glory hunters will no doubt love it. Vehicle Handling is another major bug bear. Take The Bullet, for instance. It’s a Mad Max style souped-up car that looks awesome and would seemingly go like “shit off a shovel” once purchased, and it does – but only in a “dried up dog turd rattling and sliding about on a shovel” sort of way, and no matter how fast you go the graphics engine convinces you that you are merely pooting around at about 50 miles an hour. Conversely, other vehicles that would be sniggered at by muscle cars (the Quadrophenia-esque Bug, for instance) handle like a dream and seem to have a top speed of 300 miles an hour.

Graphics

Compensating for the five and a half thousand square miles to drive round in, Asobo Studio have managed to squeeze in some really nice landscapes – and helpfully they’ve dropped in a few “Vista Views” onto the map that you can drive to and take in the scenery at. Although, as you can imagine, there is an awful lot of flat, arid land that tends to look the same. Still, Mad Max never had a lush forest to have it in so I guess we’re lucky.

The weather effects are particularly impressive, and the day/night cycle works up to a point, although the transition between dawn and full on morning is so quick it’s like someone’s flicked a switch. However, when night falls and your vehicle lights come on it all looks very moody and impressive.

In instances where you’re riding a motorbike or quad it’s fairly amusing to watch your character gesticulate at your opponents as you sail past them, and all the vehicles are distinct and well animated. There are no damage models though, and no matter how many times you fly head on into an obstacle or how many ninety degree mountains you fling yourself down, your vehicles are largely indestructible and will come out of each scrape looking pristine and shop ready. Quite disappointing when you look at the Codies other racing franchises and how well they handle this sort of thing.

Audio

Unfortunately, the sound is an area that FUEL really does trip up on. Surprisingly there are no licensed songs to help set the mood, instead we’re given a random selection of guitar led rock by numbers to mooch to. None of the vehicles sound particularly meaty, and the skidding effects are exactly the same for at least two of them.

Overall Score & Replayability

Codemasters should have named this game, Marmite: The Racing Game, because it really is a game you’ll love or hate. Arcade Rats, casual gamers and achievement whores will love it. While hardcore Racing Sim fans, on the other hand, will want to hang, draw and quarter it before sticking it’s head on a spike in their front gardens to warn other games of this ilk to stay away. It’s a shame, because FUEL does have a lot of nice features about it, and once (if) you manage to get over the myriad issues with it, it does offer up many hours of quite satisfying, albeit bargain bin, racing.

FUEL Review Results