A fun go-kart game that tries to hard.
Modnation Racers puts you in the Modnation Racing Championship, as Tag, an up-and-commer in the series. With an old crew-chief that has been in the sport a very long time, combined with two of rather odd announcers, makes for rather boring and short cut-scenes. So without a spectacular storyline, you would think the racing would be amazing. The first series of the career is easy, and basically a tutorial for the game. It is in the next series of races where the game really spins out. The AI becomes difficult, and the "special" racers you must beat are especially challenging. Think of them as superstars. The Crosbys, Ovechkins and Malkins of the MRC. Usually, they are nearly impossible to beat. In order to obtain more items for creation (more on that later), you not only need to beat these racers, but do different challenges as well. Races have a minimum of three challenges to do, some of which require you to do the race three times to beat all the challenges. As someone who enjoys getting trophies, the career was not an enjoyable experience.
The next part of the game is the creation station. From here, you can use unlocked items to build Karts, Mods (Characters) and Tracks. The possibilities are endless. However, it takes lost of time to create that fantastic looking Kart, or the perfect track. If you have lots of spare time, you can create almost anything. I have seen very nice replicas of real life cars, and some pretty fancy Mods and Tracks as well. Once you have created a Mod, Kart or Track, you have the option to publish it. Publishing it shares it with the world. People can download and rate your creations, just as you can do the same with everyone else's' creations. Getting views, ratings and downloads gives you Create XP. You can also get Create XP when you or someone else races on or with your creation. The creation station is the highlight of ModnNation Racers.
Then there is the online. You can race in either Ranked or Unranked races. Ranked races give you Race XP, but you can only race on tracks made by United Front Games. While on Unranked, you have a host who can pick any track, made by anyone, to race on, but you don't get Race XP. You can also do Local Split Screen as well as Split Screen Online, which is only Unranked. The online is my favourite part of ModNation Racers, as I find it somewhat easy to win races, and I get to show off my creations.
I tried really hard to like this game. I was in the beta, and thought it was kinda meh. But I thought the actual thing would be better. It was, but not to what I had hoped. Another horrendous thing is the load times. It takes a very long time to load anything in this game. That was another disappointment for me. One thing is, im not really sure what the target audience is. On one hand, you have got the rather childish looking characters and Nintendo like atmosphere. On the other, you have a very difficult career mode coupled with a creation mode that isn't the easiest either. Either way, if you are creative or just want a game to play with friends, then this is a game for you. But "trophy hunters" should stay away.
This review was done by JKG33 of LeafsCentral. For more reviews, visit www.leafscentral.co.uk