Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Old-school"

My review of Blur (ps: my English might not be very good and it's a pretty long review so if you dont like it there are plenty of others ou there!):

Presentation 8/10

The game looks very slick and finished: from the menu to the actual driving everything looks good and nothing feels rushed. The neon sort of style they went for really works and most important: they somehow managed to make using power-ups look natural. also the tracks look very good: with some cool features like racing under the golden gate bridge and through the Hollywood sign. overall well presented, but it won't blow you away in amazement

Graphics/performance 7/10

Graphically the game looks alright to me, it's not absolutely beautiful but certainly good enough. the powerups are probably the best looking: it's pretty cool to drive through the mayhem of spattering barges and shunts. on the peformance sights, the game also runs very well, but so now and then there is a slight framerate drop, but its not annoying and happens so far and few in between that it's hardly an issue.

Gameplay 9/10

gameplay is where the game surpassed my expectations: The feel of the game is great and although powerups are the most important feature, there is good fun to be had in just the racing as well.
The racing system is very arcade like, but it's still challenging and fun to, for example, make a perfect drift through a corner. but in the end if the powerups aren't fun, the game isn't fun, so I'm happy to say that the powerups are great, they are just perfectly balanced and you will have to think tactical: save a repair for later, so you don't get wrecked, place the mines in a place they are hard to avoid and wait with you're barge till the moment you can push him into the water/cliff with it. if you use tactics you will have a advantage over the ones who don't.
there is also good variation in races: normal circuit racing, time challenges, destruction mode (destroying as many cars in limited time), motormash (destroying other is a sort of arena) and boss fights. and al of this comes together into a great varied racing game with a lot of variety in cars aswell. (koenigsegg, BMW, the beetle, Supervan 3, landrovers, drag cars and many more)

storyline/singleplayer 7/10

This is probably the weak part of blur: the story is simply nonexisting: beat races to beat bosses and get to the top and that's it. not really a good drive to finish the singleplayer. but there are fan demands and an unlock system that works well enough to save this component, and a good variation of races. the game has A cod style unlock system, in which you gain fans (experience) and so win new cars. aswell as ontrack activities like getting a certain challenge done, to get a fan bonus while you are also struggling for first place. and I do mean struggling because the AI is hard. but all in all the singleplayer is decent but It doesn't live up to multiplayer.

multiplayer 9/10

this is the great component of the game: the unlocks system is back, splitscreen! and massive chaos with friends. the splitscreen unfortunately is stripped but still, it's just great fun to be driving with your friends in the same room. (It gave me some nostalgia to need for speed high stakes/road challenge, which this game feels like in some ways.) putting it short: the multiplayer is addictive and a whole lot of fun. (and easy to get into)

Conclusion:

In the end the game doesn't change the gaming market, but it manages to rehash old school fun and ideas into a refreshing new game. It's probably not a game that you will play 24/7 but you will probably come back to it for a long time. the game is polished, not a rubbish console port an good (very good) fun!

Verdict: 40 of 50 points: means a very good 8 out of 10!
so if it sounds like your taste go buy it!