- Accessible and Fun — For racers, newcomers to videogames or an aspiring game developer
- Classic Kart Racing Action — Exceptional kart handling and physics technology, including drifting, jumps and boosting
- Create your own track, character and kart — Spend minutes creating or hours perfecting
- Story Mode — Rise up to become an elite racer in the humorous campaign
- Online Community — Race and rate other peoples creations and enjoy endless user generated content
- Available on the PS3 and PSP
- Developers - United Front Games
- Release Date US - May 25, 2010
Modnation Racers is a racing game created by United Front Games. Their motto, race, create, share follows a similar pattern to Little Big Planet. In the game, you do just that. The game comes with a story mode all ready to play. In the story mode, you unlock new objects for designing levels and your character along with your vehicle.
The racing shares similarity to standard kart games. Its fun and carefree, however also very addicting and hardcore to some. Its something that appeals to all ages. Racing consists of standard kart racing, you go around a track three times, gaining power-ups along the way and killing your opponent. So far, there are shields, rockets, lightning storms, and sound waves. You are also able to powerup your weapons, adding the strategy of when to use them.
However, what makes this game different from other kart racers is the ability to create. You are given massive freedom in doing so. You are able to fully customize your kart and your racer. What really attracts people however is the aspect of creating your own track.
Creating your own track is a simple yet deep process that all can do. Tools are made easy, easier than LBP. You can manually create your track or use an auto-populate button that decorates your track for you. However, you are able to widen the tracks, bank turns, create ramps and shortcuts, etc. The possibilities are endless.
May 4, 2010 - For the past few weeks, it seems like all I've been talking about is ModNation Racers. Recording video reviews, working on previews, and just chatting with friends -- United Front Games' baby has been on the tip of my tongue. Being engulfed in a game this way can often lead to a person getting sick of the title in question, but that hasn't happened here.
ModNation Racers is just too damn good.
Been ignoring IGN for, say, the last year? Well, first, welcome back, and second, you missed a whole bunch of ModNation awesomeness. At first glance, this game is just another kart racer with HD graphics. It comes with a career mode, a plethora of colorful characters to race against and earn for your stable, and an experience point-packing online universe. But as you settle in behind the controls, you'll find ModNation is so much more than just a kart racing game.
For starters, this is the second title in Sony's "Play, Create, Share" catalog of games -- a lineup that started with LittleBigPlanet -- and it's worthy of that prestigious distinction. In ModNation Racers, you can create racers (known as Mods), karts and even tracks that you can then upload and share with the world, which means you can download other people's works of art, too. Before you say "Oh, I never create anything in games," give these tools a look. You don't have to worry about adjusting body types, heights and what not when you're making a Mod; they're all the same body size, so it's just up to you to decorate them. It's like working with a really, really advanced Easter egg.
How advanced? Well, you can opt for a preset pattern that'll make up your character's skin, but you can also jump into the color wheel and spin through a vast array of shades, then tweak if your creation is made of rubber, cloth or metal, and then go nuts with 247 eye types, 315 mouths and so on. Toss in the fact that there are shirts, pants, hats, horns and more, and you're looking at a blank canvas you can do pretty much whatever you want with.
You can even take the basic shape stickers and layer them to create your own unique logos. I'm no artist, but I was able to whip up the Ghostbusters logo without any trouble in just a few minutes. All of this creative wonder and ease carries over to the karts. You can choose from a number of body styles, and then pop on wheels, hood ornaments, and your custom stickers.
When it's time to create a track, you choose from one of the preset themes -- alpine, desert, seaside or jungle -- and get to work. You'll simply drive to lay your road and have the freedom to twist and turn however you like. The right analog stick controls elevation, so you're free to climb to the sky or dip low into the ground and crisscross your already laid asphalt. If you're up for it, you can place buildings and sheep or you can select "auto-populate" and watch the computer bring your roadway to life in an instant.
I really can't stress how brilliant all of this creation stuff is. I loved LittleBigPlanet, but after creating my one level, I knew the process was too deep and convoluted for me. To date, I've made about a dozen Mods, tracks, and karts, and none have taken me more than 15 minutes. You can create really cool, detailed stuff in no time that looks like it belongs on the ModNation disc. My Zombie Daemon Hatfield looked good with his gray skin and red eyes, but then I began resizing dirt splotches and blood smears on his suit, and the creation came to life. When I looked online, I found people had already begun posting spot-on recreations of Spider-Man, B.A. Baracus from the A-Team and Bob the Builder.
But, let's say you have no interest in creating anything -- you're a busy dude or dudette and just want to take from the endless stream of content others are making while playing a good kart racer. ModNation Racers has you covered. For my money, this is one of the best handling kart racers on the market and it's definitely got the genre cornered in terms of online options.
The first time I drifted in ModNation Racers, it felt natural; it's firm and precise. This is good because drifting is critical to this game. As you do so, you're earning points and filling a little meter on the right side of the screen. This meter, which can also be filled by spinning an airborne racer with the right analog stick, can then be used to boost or put up a temporary defensive shield.
The shield is a life saver -- it's one of the ways ModNation differentiates itself from the competition -- because the weapons here will kick your ass. As you're racing, you're running into item pods that give you a weapon or an ability. If you hold on to your payload and keep hitting the pods, you'll upgrade whatever you're carrying to one of three levels. Missiles that fire straight ahead become swarms of homing missiles, jumpstarts become portals that teleport you down the track, and so on. There are just four weapons/abilities, but multiple weapon levels make them feel varied.
When you feel the need to race -- and ever since getting this game, I have felt that need -- there are a few ways to scratch that itch. If you're jonesing for a solo experience, you can jump into Career Central. Here, you're playing as a character named Tag, but whatever Mod or Kart you want to use will be used and incorporated into the game's cutscenes, which is dynamite. This comical tale of revenge and redemption plays out over the game's 28 built-in tracks and offers you a ton of reasons to come back and replay the races.
Each course comes with one mandatory goal to advance to the next track (usually finish third or first) and then two additional objectives. Completing these unlocks content for you to use in your creations -- items, settings, stickers, and more. Sometimes, these optional challenges entail attacking an "elite racer," one of the characters United Front Games created. Do so, and you'll be challenged to a grudge match after the race. Here, you race the bad guy and some goons. Win, and you get the character. Lose, you suck.
Making the single-player, offline pot even sweeter is that every career level has five tokens hidden in it. Once you find these, you can cash them in at the shop and get a random accessory to use in your creating space.
All this playing with yourself is fine and dandy, but there are a bunch of things you can do with others -- and ModNation Racers really wants you to play with others. You can host local split-screen matches on your TV for up to four players, you can take one friend online with you via split-screen, and from there you can just join the online fold. You can host or join Causal Races where you can invite friends or jump into XP races that reward you with experience points so that you can level up your online persona (a number will appear next to your name on race screens). Both races allow for 12 players, but you can max out the ranks with bots in casual mode.
What rocks about ModNation multiplayer is how easy it really is. You can hop around the gameplay modes via a shortcut meter, but there's also a hub world called the ModSpot. You can see the most popular Mods and karts on pedestals, enter lap competitions, and just drive up to other players to start challenges or scope their creations. Clicking a button lets you see where your friends are, join them, and so on.
So, when's the other shoe drop, right? I've spent this entire review telling you that ModNation Racers is awesome, but it didn't get a 10, so what gives? For starters, there are a couple of small things that are basic oversights. When you're challenging a lap time online, you can't restart when you know it's over -- you have to finish the lap. While the game runs great most of the time, local four-player split screen does drop the framerate a bit. Although it's awesome your character pops up in cutscenes, these Mods can look a bit blocky here.
Still, the biggest issue is one I've been worried about since the beta: load times. Back then, the game was plagued with excruciating loads, and although those have been improved, they're not perfect. Basically, any time you jump between a major section of the ModSpot or enter into a new race, you have to sit through a load that can be anywhere from 15 to 45 seconds. Don't freak out -- most of the loads are not 45 seconds, but the more complicated tracks do take some time. Every time you start the game, there are two loads you'll have to sit through.
You'll always know what you need to do to unlock goodies.
You'll always know what you need to do to unlock goodies.
Undoubtedly, this is disappointing, but I don't find it to be a deal breaker. It tarnishes the experience a bit, but it's important to point out that (as hokey as it sounds) good things take time. Yes, you're waiting for 40 seconds or whatever to jump into a level, but once you're there, the game runs without dropping a frame, chugging, or loading a thing. The same can be said for the creation suite -- once you're in, you can switch between Mods, karts, and tracks, slap down homemade logos, and not have a noticeable load to speak of. I mean, you can lay track, drop a ton of sheep on it, auto-populate your course and never have to sit through a massive load.
Closing Comments
It’s a shame that something as seemingly inconsequential as the load times is the main problem with a game as good as ModNation Racers, but I guess that speaks to the overall quality of everything else. The driving is fun, the creating is deep but easy, and the community is going to thrive. Sure, you might have to wait a bit longer than you’d like to get to the racing, but it’s honestly not that bad and this game is worth it.
8.0 Presentation
The loads are long, but that’s really the only hitch when it comes to presentation. The story drops your character into cutscenes, and it’s a breeze to communicate with others.
9.0 Graphics
The game looks awesome in motion. The fact that your created kart and character can look like they’re from the developer amazes me. Cutscenes could be sharper, though.
8.5 Sound
The career hosts deliver a funny performance. You’ll need to listen for incoming weapons to time your shield usage right. I could’ve gone for more voices for my creations.
9.0 Gameplay
Drifting feels great, the shield is welcome, and I was challenged without being frustrated… too much. Being able to restart lap challenges would’ve been nice, but the online stuff rocks.
9.5 Lasting Appeal
Tokens to find, an online community to conquer, and a nearly endless stream of free content – if you don’t mind the loads, you’ll be playing for a long, long time.
9.0
Outstanding OVERALL
(out of 10)
ModNation Racers is just too damn good.
Been ignoring IGN for, say, the last year? Well, first, welcome back, and second, you missed a whole bunch of ModNation awesomeness. At first glance, this game is just another kart racer with HD graphics. It comes with a career mode, a plethora of colorful characters to race against and earn for your stable, and an experience point-packing online universe. But as you settle in behind the controls, you'll find ModNation is so much more than just a kart racing game.
For starters, this is the second title in Sony's "Play, Create, Share" catalog of games -- a lineup that started with LittleBigPlanet -- and it's worthy of that prestigious distinction. In ModNation Racers, you can create racers (known as Mods), karts and even tracks that you can then upload and share with the world, which means you can download other people's works of art, too. Before you say "Oh, I never create anything in games," give these tools a look. You don't have to worry about adjusting body types, heights and what not when you're making a Mod; they're all the same body size, so it's just up to you to decorate them. It's like working with a really, really advanced Easter egg.
How advanced? Well, you can opt for a preset pattern that'll make up your character's skin, but you can also jump into the color wheel and spin through a vast array of shades, then tweak if your creation is made of rubber, cloth or metal, and then go nuts with 247 eye types, 315 mouths and so on. Toss in the fact that there are shirts, pants, hats, horns and more, and you're looking at a blank canvas you can do pretty much whatever you want with.
You can even take the basic shape stickers and layer them to create your own unique logos. I'm no artist, but I was able to whip up the Ghostbusters logo without any trouble in just a few minutes. All of this creative wonder and ease carries over to the karts. You can choose from a number of body styles, and then pop on wheels, hood ornaments, and your custom stickers.
When it's time to create a track, you choose from one of the preset themes -- alpine, desert, seaside or jungle -- and get to work. You'll simply drive to lay your road and have the freedom to twist and turn however you like. The right analog stick controls elevation, so you're free to climb to the sky or dip low into the ground and crisscross your already laid asphalt. If you're up for it, you can place buildings and sheep or you can select "auto-populate" and watch the computer bring your roadway to life in an instant.
I really can't stress how brilliant all of this creation stuff is. I loved LittleBigPlanet, but after creating my one level, I knew the process was too deep and convoluted for me. To date, I've made about a dozen Mods, tracks, and karts, and none have taken me more than 15 minutes. You can create really cool, detailed stuff in no time that looks like it belongs on the ModNation disc. My Zombie Daemon Hatfield looked good with his gray skin and red eyes, but then I began resizing dirt splotches and blood smears on his suit, and the creation came to life. When I looked online, I found people had already begun posting spot-on recreations of Spider-Man, B.A. Baracus from the A-Team and Bob the Builder.
But, let's say you have no interest in creating anything -- you're a busy dude or dudette and just want to take from the endless stream of content others are making while playing a good kart racer. ModNation Racers has you covered. For my money, this is one of the best handling kart racers on the market and it's definitely got the genre cornered in terms of online options.
The first time I drifted in ModNation Racers, it felt natural; it's firm and precise. This is good because drifting is critical to this game. As you do so, you're earning points and filling a little meter on the right side of the screen. This meter, which can also be filled by spinning an airborne racer with the right analog stick, can then be used to boost or put up a temporary defensive shield.
The shield is a life saver -- it's one of the ways ModNation differentiates itself from the competition -- because the weapons here will kick your ass. As you're racing, you're running into item pods that give you a weapon or an ability. If you hold on to your payload and keep hitting the pods, you'll upgrade whatever you're carrying to one of three levels. Missiles that fire straight ahead become swarms of homing missiles, jumpstarts become portals that teleport you down the track, and so on. There are just four weapons/abilities, but multiple weapon levels make them feel varied.
When you feel the need to race -- and ever since getting this game, I have felt that need -- there are a few ways to scratch that itch. If you're jonesing for a solo experience, you can jump into Career Central. Here, you're playing as a character named Tag, but whatever Mod or Kart you want to use will be used and incorporated into the game's cutscenes, which is dynamite. This comical tale of revenge and redemption plays out over the game's 28 built-in tracks and offers you a ton of reasons to come back and replay the races.
Each course comes with one mandatory goal to advance to the next track (usually finish third or first) and then two additional objectives. Completing these unlocks content for you to use in your creations -- items, settings, stickers, and more. Sometimes, these optional challenges entail attacking an "elite racer," one of the characters United Front Games created. Do so, and you'll be challenged to a grudge match after the race. Here, you race the bad guy and some goons. Win, and you get the character. Lose, you suck.
Making the single-player, offline pot even sweeter is that every career level has five tokens hidden in it. Once you find these, you can cash them in at the shop and get a random accessory to use in your creating space.
All this playing with yourself is fine and dandy, but there are a bunch of things you can do with others -- and ModNation Racers really wants you to play with others. You can host local split-screen matches on your TV for up to four players, you can take one friend online with you via split-screen, and from there you can just join the online fold. You can host or join Causal Races where you can invite friends or jump into XP races that reward you with experience points so that you can level up your online persona (a number will appear next to your name on race screens). Both races allow for 12 players, but you can max out the ranks with bots in casual mode.
What rocks about ModNation multiplayer is how easy it really is. You can hop around the gameplay modes via a shortcut meter, but there's also a hub world called the ModSpot. You can see the most popular Mods and karts on pedestals, enter lap competitions, and just drive up to other players to start challenges or scope their creations. Clicking a button lets you see where your friends are, join them, and so on.
So, when's the other shoe drop, right? I've spent this entire review telling you that ModNation Racers is awesome, but it didn't get a 10, so what gives? For starters, there are a couple of small things that are basic oversights. When you're challenging a lap time online, you can't restart when you know it's over -- you have to finish the lap. While the game runs great most of the time, local four-player split screen does drop the framerate a bit. Although it's awesome your character pops up in cutscenes, these Mods can look a bit blocky here.
Still, the biggest issue is one I've been worried about since the beta: load times. Back then, the game was plagued with excruciating loads, and although those have been improved, they're not perfect. Basically, any time you jump between a major section of the ModSpot or enter into a new race, you have to sit through a load that can be anywhere from 15 to 45 seconds. Don't freak out -- most of the loads are not 45 seconds, but the more complicated tracks do take some time. Every time you start the game, there are two loads you'll have to sit through.
You'll always know what you need to do to unlock goodies.
You'll always know what you need to do to unlock goodies.
Undoubtedly, this is disappointing, but I don't find it to be a deal breaker. It tarnishes the experience a bit, but it's important to point out that (as hokey as it sounds) good things take time. Yes, you're waiting for 40 seconds or whatever to jump into a level, but once you're there, the game runs without dropping a frame, chugging, or loading a thing. The same can be said for the creation suite -- once you're in, you can switch between Mods, karts, and tracks, slap down homemade logos, and not have a noticeable load to speak of. I mean, you can lay track, drop a ton of sheep on it, auto-populate your course and never have to sit through a massive load.
Closing Comments
It’s a shame that something as seemingly inconsequential as the load times is the main problem with a game as good as ModNation Racers, but I guess that speaks to the overall quality of everything else. The driving is fun, the creating is deep but easy, and the community is going to thrive. Sure, you might have to wait a bit longer than you’d like to get to the racing, but it’s honestly not that bad and this game is worth it.
8.0 Presentation
The loads are long, but that’s really the only hitch when it comes to presentation. The story drops your character into cutscenes, and it’s a breeze to communicate with others.
9.0 Graphics
The game looks awesome in motion. The fact that your created kart and character can look like they’re from the developer amazes me. Cutscenes could be sharper, though.
8.5 Sound
The career hosts deliver a funny performance. You’ll need to listen for incoming weapons to time your shield usage right. I could’ve gone for more voices for my creations.
9.0 Gameplay
Drifting feels great, the shield is welcome, and I was challenged without being frustrated… too much. Being able to restart lap challenges would’ve been nice, but the online stuff rocks.
9.5 Lasting Appeal
Tokens to find, an online community to conquer, and a nearly endless stream of free content – if you don’t mind the loads, you’ll be playing for a long, long time.
9.0
Outstanding OVERALL
(out of 10)
It was about halfway through my demo of ModNation Racers yesterday that I stopped listening. The developer was telling me all about the elaborate kart racer and how you can create your own drivers, cars and courses, race online with two players on the same system, have four-player split-screen matches and more. But when I figured out that I could feasibly create the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters, my ears shut down and I began running the possible shapes I could use to create the "no ghosts" logo.
If you missed the debut of ModNation Racers back at E3 2009, think LittleBigPlanet mixed with Mario Kart. On the surface, this is a neat little kart racer where you drift around and draft behind opponents while picking up power-ups and vying to be No. 1. However, beneath that, you're going to fall in love with the tenets of LBP: play, create, share. You'll whip up your little racers based on the "urban vinyl" art style. You'll make your own cars with stickers, engines, and crazy bits such as wooden wheels and complete tracks with ramps and obstacles. The kicker is that you'll then upload all this stuff and share it with the world. Folks will download it and rate it while you do the same with their stuff. It's going to be rather epic if it all comes together. Think about what skilled creators are going to be able to do when they get their hands on these tools.
Now, I'm not that talented of an artist on paper or on the TV screen, but I'll be damned if I didn't scurry home with my preview copy of the game, sit down, and crank out a pretty decent homage to the Ecto-1. True, the ambulance/hearse body I'd really need isn't in the game (or at least I haven't unlocked it yet) but with the game's simple but deep design suite, I was able to make a little white car with a red fin back that was obvious at first glance. For the logo, I had imagined a simple "no" symbol, but when I sat I cranked out a simple red circle-black circle-red line image, I began to dream bigger. Soon, I had the ghost's circle body, teardrop head, stars for hands, and so on. Before I knew it, I had a Ghostbusters logo I could be proud of.
I know that I've written about how simple all this creation stuff has seemed in the past, but this was my first time getting to really tear into it on my own, and I was floored by how easy it was. Truman and Gordon weren't things I set out to create. I just sat down, started fooling with the tools, and before I knew it, I had these characters. Choosing skins, changing materials between rubber and cloth, and modifying outfits is a snap. When you put a suit and tie on a character and decide to edit the colors, the game bumps the colors that you're already using on your Mod racer and kart to the top of the pile so you can stick with the same scheme without trudging through menus. When you piece together a logo with multiple stickers like I did with the Ghostbusters one, you can go into the sticker tool, group all of those pieces together, and have an original sticker you can copy and paste wherever you like.
All of this creativity carries over to the track creator as well. You can drive the paver around to make your roadway, come back to raise the terrain underneath it, and then choose to turn part of the track into a tunnel that'll feature boost pads on the top for alternate paths. Hell, once you've laid out the roadway you can drop super-ramps and dictate at what arc people are going to come off of them and how far they're going to go. Then, you can select Point A and Point B on your track and have the game create a shortcut for you.
If you listen to me talk to people about this game, you'd forget that the racing's actually really fun as well, and I don't want that to happen. I know a lot of people passed LittleBigPlanet up because they didn't want to create levels, but just like that game, ModNation Racers is fun just to drive around in, and who doesn't want an endless stream of free user-created content? Last night, I started my career. You start as a premade dude getting into the ModNation Racing Circuit, but as soon as you whip up your own kart and character, they're inserted into the story. If you change to one of your other karts or characters while playing, they're dropped in when you make the change. There are funny commercials and commentaries that run between races, but they don't overshadow how good the actual driving feels. Drifting is tight, the power-ups level as you collect them, and using your boost to either sideswipe enemies, race out in front of the competition, or create a shield to block incoming attacks is a nice idea.
When you head into a career race, you're given three objectives. If you complete one of them – stuff like avoiding walls for a lap or finishing a race in third or better – you unlock characters and items for your karts and Mods. Also hidden on the track are tokens that you can collect and then redeem in the creation station to unlock random parts.
I've only scratched the surface of ModNation Racers, but there's so much more to talk about. There are more than 240 eye styles, you can mark your favorite Mods and karts, there are lots of mustaches, and can put candy finishes on cars that change color when the light hits it. You have more than 20 tutorials to help you get the most out of the game, from the main menu are you can see the top Mods as voted by the community, and the list literally goes on. There's obviously a lot United Front's trying to do here.
ModNation Racers is ambitious and though the long load times during the beta made some a bit wary, I think it's going to deliver. Playing the game off of a disc and not the digital file makes a world of difference as the karts handle tightly, corner well, and feel right. Toss in all the creation tools I've prattled on about and the potential for what people are going to share, and this thing could be the definitive kart racer on the market.
Will it live up to that potential? We'll have to wait until this spring to find out, but I'd be on the lookout for more creations vids and such from us here at IGN.com in the meantime.
If you missed the debut of ModNation Racers back at E3 2009, think LittleBigPlanet mixed with Mario Kart. On the surface, this is a neat little kart racer where you drift around and draft behind opponents while picking up power-ups and vying to be No. 1. However, beneath that, you're going to fall in love with the tenets of LBP: play, create, share. You'll whip up your little racers based on the "urban vinyl" art style. You'll make your own cars with stickers, engines, and crazy bits such as wooden wheels and complete tracks with ramps and obstacles. The kicker is that you'll then upload all this stuff and share it with the world. Folks will download it and rate it while you do the same with their stuff. It's going to be rather epic if it all comes together. Think about what skilled creators are going to be able to do when they get their hands on these tools.
Now, I'm not that talented of an artist on paper or on the TV screen, but I'll be damned if I didn't scurry home with my preview copy of the game, sit down, and crank out a pretty decent homage to the Ecto-1. True, the ambulance/hearse body I'd really need isn't in the game (or at least I haven't unlocked it yet) but with the game's simple but deep design suite, I was able to make a little white car with a red fin back that was obvious at first glance. For the logo, I had imagined a simple "no" symbol, but when I sat I cranked out a simple red circle-black circle-red line image, I began to dream bigger. Soon, I had the ghost's circle body, teardrop head, stars for hands, and so on. Before I knew it, I had a Ghostbusters logo I could be proud of.
I know that I've written about how simple all this creation stuff has seemed in the past, but this was my first time getting to really tear into it on my own, and I was floored by how easy it was. Truman and Gordon weren't things I set out to create. I just sat down, started fooling with the tools, and before I knew it, I had these characters. Choosing skins, changing materials between rubber and cloth, and modifying outfits is a snap. When you put a suit and tie on a character and decide to edit the colors, the game bumps the colors that you're already using on your Mod racer and kart to the top of the pile so you can stick with the same scheme without trudging through menus. When you piece together a logo with multiple stickers like I did with the Ghostbusters one, you can go into the sticker tool, group all of those pieces together, and have an original sticker you can copy and paste wherever you like.
All of this creativity carries over to the track creator as well. You can drive the paver around to make your roadway, come back to raise the terrain underneath it, and then choose to turn part of the track into a tunnel that'll feature boost pads on the top for alternate paths. Hell, once you've laid out the roadway you can drop super-ramps and dictate at what arc people are going to come off of them and how far they're going to go. Then, you can select Point A and Point B on your track and have the game create a shortcut for you.
If you listen to me talk to people about this game, you'd forget that the racing's actually really fun as well, and I don't want that to happen. I know a lot of people passed LittleBigPlanet up because they didn't want to create levels, but just like that game, ModNation Racers is fun just to drive around in, and who doesn't want an endless stream of free user-created content? Last night, I started my career. You start as a premade dude getting into the ModNation Racing Circuit, but as soon as you whip up your own kart and character, they're inserted into the story. If you change to one of your other karts or characters while playing, they're dropped in when you make the change. There are funny commercials and commentaries that run between races, but they don't overshadow how good the actual driving feels. Drifting is tight, the power-ups level as you collect them, and using your boost to either sideswipe enemies, race out in front of the competition, or create a shield to block incoming attacks is a nice idea.
When you head into a career race, you're given three objectives. If you complete one of them – stuff like avoiding walls for a lap or finishing a race in third or better – you unlock characters and items for your karts and Mods. Also hidden on the track are tokens that you can collect and then redeem in the creation station to unlock random parts.
I've only scratched the surface of ModNation Racers, but there's so much more to talk about. There are more than 240 eye styles, you can mark your favorite Mods and karts, there are lots of mustaches, and can put candy finishes on cars that change color when the light hits it. You have more than 20 tutorials to help you get the most out of the game, from the main menu are you can see the top Mods as voted by the community, and the list literally goes on. There's obviously a lot United Front's trying to do here.
ModNation Racers is ambitious and though the long load times during the beta made some a bit wary, I think it's going to deliver. Playing the game off of a disc and not the digital file makes a world of difference as the karts handle tightly, corner well, and feel right. Toss in all the creation tools I've prattled on about and the potential for what people are going to share, and this thing could be the definitive kart racer on the market.
Will it live up to that potential? We'll have to wait until this spring to find out, but I'd be on the lookout for more creations vids and such from us here at IGN.com in the meantime.
Talk about it...please :3.
