The Undeserved Failure of Split/Second, Blur and ModNation Racers

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

The Undeserved Failure of Split/Second, Blur and ModNation Racers

This article was published by Brendan Rorrison (@Brend) on February 14th, 2018 in the Features category.

 

[Crazy Taylor]

Thought split second was ace. I still play it on PS now.

 

[DUC748inMD]

Split/Second was a fantastic arcade racer!

 

[PinKPanther]

Split Second was awesome. MNR aswell, and the track editor was mint. (i wish GT's track editor could be like that one)

A game that really didn't do well was LBP Karting. I was part of the beta and seriously that game wasn't great.

 

[TheEvstar93]

Modnation Racers is my second favourite game of all time. I've had so much fun playing it. Making my own characters, karts and tracks on that game is simply fantastic! It's so sad that it'll never ever get a sequel.

 

[FT-1]

I have been playing Split/Second for the past couple of weeks via Games with Gold and overall I am really pleased with it. Even for an 8(!) year old game, everything other than the visuals/audio of the game hasn't aged a bit. It had something new to offer and I think the concept of having the world evolve during events was executed very well.

I'm gutted we didn't see a sequel, especially with current-gen technology offering the prospect of more environmental destruction.

 

[mclarenLB]

Blur was a great time online, massive grids and an amazing progression system.

 

[SoullessApples]

I really felt bad for UFG. Modnation was an amazing game. In my opinion, the best Karting game ever made other than CTR. Tons of fun, sleeping dogs was also amazing. They didn’t get the credit they deserved. Blur I played the beta and loved it but never got around to buying it, same goes for split second.

 

[AOS-]

Shallow speculation:

I imagined Split/Second wouldn't hold up in long-term replay value because the hazards would no longer come as a surprise, and you would have to bank on nobody setting off a trap when you're passing by one.

 

[Brend]

Shallow speculation:

I imagined Split/Second wouldn't hold up in long-term replay value because the hazards would no longer come as a surprise, and you would have to bank on nobody setting off a trap when you're passing by one.

I guess it would be fun to see what ridiculous ideas they could come up with. Even for pure spectacle.

 

[inCloud]

Blur, Burnout Paradise and Driver:SF were best arcade racing games from past generation, shame that we dont get sequels. Dont get what was so cool about S/S

 

[PinKPanther]

Atleast Burnout Paradise comes back next month in a remaster.

 

[Crazy Taylor]

Blur, Burnout Paradise and Driver:SF were best arcade racing games from past generation, shame that we dont get sequels. Dont get what was so cool about S/S

My best arcade racer of last gen was PGR4 (who makers bizarre went on to make Blur). Riding in snow on a bike was tops

 

[wolfsburgraz]

I missed out on Blur. I didn't buy it when it was still available digitally (delisted now, thanks Activision) and physical copies go for a decent amount of money more than I'm willing to pay.

I played a distance into Split/Second years ago, I'll have to revisit it now on Games with Gold. The Xbox One / One X should iron out any of the performance issues the game had at the time.

 

[Sergio18]

Blur <3

 

[VBR]

@Brend - Really enjoying your articles mate, good stuff. I remember these games; I think I downloaded a demo of Blur, but it wasn't my cup of tea. I remember Mod Nation being heavily advertised on PS Home, & there was lots of fun & free content on there for it. I never played any of them, & probably never will, but it's great to hear the history & stories behind them.


👍

 

[Brend]

@Brend - Really enjoying your articles mate, good stuff. I remember these games; I think I downloaded a demo of Blur, but it wasn't my cup of tea. I remember Mod Nation being heavily advertised on PS Home, & there was lots of fun & free content on there for it. I never played any of them, & probably never will, but it's great to hear the history & stories behind them.


👍

Thanks man, I had a lot of fun writing this one.

 

[PSN offapple]

Got ModNation on release with my PS3 when I was 10. I've made so many memories from then. It was the birthplace of Nukeshot Motorsport (my racing team), and it's a massive shame that a sequel was never made. Still the best game ever made in my opinion

 

[MrCrynox]

I've got Blur had it for years but only played it briefly, from what I can remember it was good. Just picked up Split Second on Gold, yet to play it. Don't have Mod Nation but after reading this perhaps I will add it to my list. I got my Xbox360/PS3 quite late in 2011 so although having both current gen consoles I do like to mix in 1 previous gen racing game amongst current stuff. Currently I'm playing WRC 7 and Grid Autosport. Im having a blast with both.

 

[SZRT Ice]

Blur was a such an amazing and tactical game! Me and my team were literally just talking about it last night!

Realistic racing. Beautiful and varied tracks and locations. Various weapon types with differing trajectory, shielding, and deflective properties. Shields. Various loadouts. Various vehicle types with differing strengths and weaknesses. Shortcuts, jumps, AND speed boosts. All this, while needing to adhere to traction thresholds, racing lines, and braking points, while evading projectiles and shooting your own. Shots had to be lead in order to hit, and could be shot in reverse or dropped to hit pursuing opponents, or block incoming attacks.

The game was a hidden gem, but maybe a bit too hardcore for casuals, because once mastered, competition was fierce. I'd have loved to see it as an E-Sport honestly. It would've been great, and would be perfect for streaming. So far ahead of its time. And blur 2 was looking even more amazing and beautiful as well... so sad it didn't do well in sales...

Thanks for this piece. People really need to get some seat time with this game. Especially sim & pro arcade racers. There's fun to be had for casuals too. I really hope to see it come back somehow.

 

[c172fccc]

I tried the demo of ModNation Racers and Split/Second and I participated to some kind of beta (?) of Blur. ModNation Racers wasn't my cup of tea, but I loved Split/Second and Blur, but didn't buy any of them for some reasons.

 

[KingFrog]

Ironic considering how toxic GTP was and to a degree still is, against arcade games. This permeates all of the internets as well, with games being called " arcade trash" if they aren't sims.
also, you forgot the great Motorstorm pacific rift and apocalypse.

 

[Northstar]

The only one I got into was Mod Nation. As great as it was the one thing that killed it for me was the load times. IIRC there were plenty of occasions where it took close to or longer to load the race than actually complete it. It's a shame Sony didn't continue the series as I think it could have grown into a legitimate Mario Kart competitor.

Blur is one of those games I've always wanted to try but just never got around to it.

Split/Second for some reason just never interested me.

 

[inCloud]

My best arcade racer of last gen was PGR4 (who makers bizarre went on to make Blur). Riding in snow on a bike was tops

IMO, PGR is more of a simcade, while DSF,BPC and Blur pure arcade.

with games being called " arcade trash" if they aren't sims.

Elitism

Blur is one of those games I've always wanted to try but just never got around to it.

Still gorgeous on PC.

 

[Crazy Taylor]

IMO, PGR is more of a simcade, while DSF,BPC and Blur pure arcade.

I hate blend words. It's either a sim or an arcade game. I also thought revenge was better than paradise. Burnout shouldn't run open world


Elitism


Still gorgeous on PC.

 

[INEEDNAWZZZ]

Blur was brilliant, spent many an hour playing multiplayer, which was rare since I usually only dabble in single player. Loved the quirky car list and the overall style. I'm still salty Activision just went and shut Bizarre down.

 

[KingFrog]

This whole SIM > arcade BS is peddled a lot . A lot of people think realism = good game design . I'd argue that's BS when forza horizon is universally loved and includes the ability to drive a lambo off-road in places it would get stuck if it were real life! If I wanted to drive a real car with real quirks I would go pick out one of my 3 lovely sports cars from my garage . At the end of the day driving games are just games . If you want to race cars go join a local club / track day/ auto cross event . Don't be a smug jerk who thinks he's a track king because he owns a 500$ rig . Like please , my damn RX-7s exhaust cost more than your plastic wheel, you don't see me mocking you for thinking your toy is cool . If you enjoy racing virtual cars that's cool , just don't hate on people who enjoy arcade games . Arcade is flung around like an insult now a days . I swear it's gotten to the point where I just start telling SIM nuts who bellitle arcade games, and people who enjoy them, to fudge off . Like dude you don't even own a sports car ! Imagine If every convo about SIM games included real car owners with track experience saying " nah that's just a game , buy a real car " . That's basically what SIM racers are to the arcade racing community . " Drive club sucks , it's arcade" . Or worst " GT sucks , it's Arcade , Forza a is a REAL SIM." As if being a SIM was some how a sign of being superior .

 

[Brend]

Blur was brilliant, spent many an hour playing multiplayer, which was rare since I usually only dabble in single player. Loved the quirky car list and the overall style. I'm still salty Activision just went and shut Bizarre down.

The Transit Supervan was my weapon of choice.

 

[Bush_Killa-73]

Was watching trailers for Split Second about a month ago & lamenting over how it never got a sequel. Terrific arcade racer that did something different.

I may pick it back up along with their previous game Pure as I never got around to that one.

RIP Black Rock Studios & **** Disney!

 

[Bush_Killa-73]

...If I wanted to drive a real car with real quirks I would go pick out one of my 3 lovely sports cars from my garage. ...my damn RX-7s exhaust cost more than your plastic wheel, you don't see me mocking you for thinking your toy is cool .