Review: FUEL

Today we have our second guest piece, this time from our good friend wick15. You may remember that he created some awesome StartGame cars on Forza 3, and is also an Administrator of our Steam Group. Stalk him on Twitter by clicking here, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Developer: Asobo Studio

Publisher: Codemasters

Fuel is an open world racer set in an alternative present and based in a post-apocalyptic America. With the people of America moving to ecological safe zones it’s open season for anyone with a lust for speed, as the remaining fuel is left behind to be consumed. With a wide 14 square kilometre map and 75 vehicles, Fuel is not short on scale. The map itself is divided into separate areas that you unlock as you complete career and challenge races. This does have its downsides though, as a map such as the one in Fuel can tend to drag on a bit because of its size. Don’t get me wrong, the map size is impressive, but it does start to feel a little like it’s been copied and pasted after a while of cruising around.

Of course, it’s not all about the free roam in Fuel, there is also a jaw dropping 190 challenges coupled with 70 career races. It’s fair to say that the challenges and career races are certainly the best aspect of the game. They are fast paced and action packed, filled with moments where you are at the edge of your seat, as somebody tries to push you over the edge of a massive cliff to your inevitable doom or a giant tornado rips through the course, taking out anything that it comes across. The race routes always utilise the expansive map, shortcuts are always present and you can make your own as you go along. It’s not just races that fill up the map though, there are lots of other objectives to do; things such as Vista Points and Livery schemes for vehicles dot the map everywhere. Vista Points are just areas you visit to admire the view and locating a livery gives you that livery for its specified vehicle.

The array of vehicles that are present in Fuel vary from agile, fast dirt bikes to monster trucks and rally cars. Sounds like any petrolhead’s idea of heaven, right? Different vehicles have different purposes; for example, a buggy is far better at tackling the rough terrain, whereas a rally car is far better adapted to racing on tarmac and gets bogged down in the rough. Fuel does of course have its share of special vehicles, one of these is the Hovercraft, or if you need to go somewhere in a hurry, why not use a 200mph drag racer?

Besides having an absolutely massive map and wide variety of vehicles Fuel also has multiplayer features, which include online free roam and career races. Unfortunately for Fuel it suffers when it comes to a community, as the game has been out for a while now, meaning that it has passed its prime. Personally, I have spent hours of time racing around in the online free roam and I have only ever come across a few players. It’s sad really. The career races online are much the same as the single player ones, except for the fact that you’re racing against real people, so knowing your way to checkpoints really can make all the difference. Another great thing in Fuel is the Race editor, and with up to 32 checkpoints at your disposal you can go wild and create a route that few would dare race. After you have finished making your Frankenstein creation you can go race it and see what you think. This is a great part of Fuel and really helps to utilise the map.

Fuel does have some annoying flaws though which don’t always stick out clearly at first but become evident as you play the game. One of the main ones that I noticed is the way some of the races pan out. In most races you are restricted to a certain vehicle and that’s not a problem, the problem is that the other AI racers tend to be able to gain massive leads on you even if you’re in the same vehicle. Another irritating thing that is present is the reset feature. If you go flying off the track, for whatever reason, you would just reset. The drawback is that it sets you too far back on the track, in a stationary position, which puts you at a disadvantage and gives the other racers a greater lead on you.

All in all, Fuel is a very fun game. The wide variety of races and vehicles make it fun to play and keeps the player strapped in for hours. I had lower expectations for Fuel and after buying it I wasn’t sure if I had made a wise choice, but after a few hours of churning up some mud and sand, and after my jaw had moved back in place after seeing the size of the map, my opinion completely changed. It’s a very enjoyable game and is certainly unique, but it’s sad to see that it didn’t quite catch on though. I would recommend this game to people who really are into open world racing, for other people I would definitely suggest giving it a try.