'Fuel' video game review

(Credit: Asobo Studio/Codemasters)

Developer: Asobo Studio
Publisher: Codemasters
Available on: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
Reviewed on: Xbox 360

Ever since “Grand Theft Auto III” came out in 2002, there have been dozens of games that have employed an open world motif—whether the game really needed one or not. Consider this open world off-road racing game, in which you drive dirt bikes, ATVs, buggies, SUVs and even muscle cars on hills, dirt paths and paved roads, often within the same race.

"Fuel" is set on a massive 5,000 square mile plot of land, complete with a rather overactive weather system that forces you to drive in thunderstorms, blizzards and even during tornadoes.

The world is broken up into zones, and scattered throughout each zone are races and challenges that award you stars and fuel for mad driving skills. Fuel is then used to buy new vehicles, while winning enough stars opens up new areas of the world, and thus access to more races and challenges. There are also vehicles left lying around you can find, as well as vistas you can locate and later use, along with helicopter pads, to jump to different sections of the zone you’re in.

The problem is that you have to drive to every race, challenge, vista or abandoned vehicle. Which isn’t all that difficult, thanks to your handy map and handier GPS, but since the world is so massive, the drive to a race is often longer than the race itself, which just gets tiresome after a while. Especially at night, when the lack of streetlights makes it difficult to see where you’re going.

There also seems to be a photographer stationed at every checkpoint, who not only takes your picture when you cross one, but since they insist on using a flash, even when it’s the middle of the day, every checkpoint is accompanied by an distracting flash of light. This gets especially annoying since most races have numerous checkpoints.

“Fuel” is otherwise an accomplished racing game. The controls are tight and responsive, the courses are varied and the game really makes you feel like you’re going fast over bumpy terrain. Making things especially challenging is that the courses aren’t always well marked, and in some cases aren’t even plotted out, so you have to figure out how you’re going to get to the finish line before anyone else. This might not sit well with everyone, but for race game veterans, it’s a nice twist.

It’s just too bad everything surrounding the races doesn’t work as well.

Bottom Line: In a racing game, the journey shouldn’t be the destination.

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