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When we were first introduced to ModNation Racers over a year ago, I more than most was ecstatic. It was a title taking the concept that LittleBigPlanet introduced and adding it into the world of racing – something I felt was missing from LBP. We’ve seen these elements in racing games before – custom cars, created tracks, mods, all that ModNation includes we’ve seen before. However we have never seen it in this type of atmosphere. There is no default in this game; your creative mind can go to great lengths with customization. Just look at the brilliant creations we’ve seen in games like LittleBigPlanet when it comes to characters and levels. Or on a similar note, look at the creations we have seen in games like Forza Motorsport when it comes to vehicles. Imagine all those elements and then some and that is ModNation Racers.
Despite my enthusiasm at first glance, I was nevertheless skeptical. I came to the realization that while I thoroughly enjoyed LittleBigPlanet I did grow tired of it. There were some phenomenal creations out there and it is because of those phenom creations I log back in occasionally but over the past year I find myself having less and less of a desire to go on there. It was a great idea, it was packed with replay value but given the saturation of games on the market I just couldn’t find the time to get more LBP in. I had this same worry about ModNation. What happens after I create a few tracks or a few mods? What happens after I play the same in-game tracks a few times with others? Will the longevity stay?
The answer is yes…for now. ModNation took me by surprise with just the amount of fun, balanced racing that is to be had for those seeking an arcade experience before they prepare for the simulation of Gran Turismo 5. I participated in the ModNation beta months ago and found myself interested to see how this game and the community would grow the concept of Play Create Share label. Keep in mind this game focuses on just one aspect – racing – where LBP could focus on different gameplay elements (and LBP 2 will expand on that even further).
The beta caught my interest but if anything the demo hurt my impressions. The demo was a bit too limited on the experience. I will say this – it is hard for the developers to create a demo for this type of game that revolves around socializing and customization. The demo simply gave you a taste of single player racing and just a select few options on how to customize your mods, karts, and tracks. I still had every intention of getting the game but was planning to wait for a discount. Lucky for me I found a discount before the game even came out and therefore received my copy the first week it came out. I am happy to say the purchase was money well spent.
The selling point to this title from the get go was the online aspect. The game could not survive without it. By saying this for those seeking a single player experience – ModNation has one for you. While the single player is merely a way for you to unlock new items for your customization needs, the racing is both challenging and addicting. If you were to judge the game by its cover you would think the single player campaign would be short, easy, and far too basic. Quite the contrary – the the campaign was longer than expected and quite difficult at times. The first few races would not give you that impression but once you reach the races where you need to perform specific tasks and have assigned challengers – the game picks up in its difficulty.
I cannot tell you how many times I would be forced to redo races over and over again just to be able to progress. Some races require you to finish 3rd or better, others might require first place. I would be begging for the races that asked 3rd or better as even accomplishing that became a chore. The beauty of the difficulty level is that it gets to a point where you keep playing until you achieve what is demanded of you but it never reaches the point of frustration.
Each race has three objectives – labeled as Advances, Payoffs, and Bonuses. Advances are required objectives you must meet to unlock any further races. They will only consist of your finishing position. Advances and Bonuses ask you to achieve other objectives in races, such as driving over three boosts in a race, destroying a certain number of karts, defeating a certain character, etc…If all three objectives are met in a race you will unlock a Challenge race if that particular track offers a challenger. The more objectives you accomplish the more items you unlock.
If for whatever reason you do get frustrated with the single player racing campaign, and/or want to get into the meat and bones of the title, hop online where the true experience of ModNation comes about. The entire title, like LBP, is online focused. Immediately as you boot up the game (even if you are in single player) the game launches you into an online room called the ModSpot. Here you can create or download new mods, karts, and tracks, complete the single player, join into an XP race or race series, casual race…it’s your hub to the game to put it bluntly. If you are not online or for some reason cannot connect, your ModSpot will be filled with AI racers instead of other human racers and the outside of creating new things, you can only partake in single player or offline multiplayer racing.
When the game first launched the online XP races were satisfying when it came to entertainment but were a bit disappointing in selection. There were far few tracks being utilized in XP races, but as of this review’s post time I can happily say that is no longer the case. There are now a plentiful selection of tracks for online XP races and race series (which consist of five consecutive races), and more reason for you to hop on to boost up your rank and notoriety.
When it all comes down to it though, there is no more satisfaction in the world until you and others compete on a track that you created. The tools at your disposal to create your own track at first glance seem to be infinite but when it create a handful of tracks you find yourself not using everything that is available. Making a good track is based on trial and error. When I created my first track in the demo I thought to myself that this is super easy and my tracks are the best of the best. After experimenting with a few different ideas you find that with each track you make your progression on “expert track making” improves each time. The only fault of this is when you go back to one of your earlier tracks you find yourself disappointed on how truly crappy it is.
Like LBP you will be amazed on the creations people can make with the tools they are given. It comes as no surprise that most of the highly rated and downloaded mods and karts are licensed themed. To this day the top three mods are Mario, Iron Man, and Spiderman. This is where one of the flaws in the game lies. Unfortunately with every unique creation there are a dozen more already created ideas dominating the download boards. If you are one to create a unique mod, chances are it will be neglected for one that is either a mock up of a real life person or character. Then again I should not be one to talk as my two most used mods that I created for myself are Michael Scott and Dwight K Schrute.
This problem doesn’t happen so much in track creations – you are given a much better chance to get your track noticed than Mod. What I found odd though is that there is a spot for the top three mods and karts but no spot showcasing the top three tracks in your ModSpot. You can view the top new tracks via an interactive screen but the only true way to get your track noticed and out there is by racing them with others. Created tracks cannot be used for XP but only in Casual Race mode. The developers do use the occasional created track for the daily Hot Lap mode though. My advice for you to get players interested in your tracks is when you create a Casual Gameroom, be sure to have at least three custom tracks created so that you can race in a variety and not the same track over and over. After each race on a created track every player is asked to rate the track on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. Players can also leave comments. I am happy to say so far my experience with this has been positive as no doubt there will be a time you will run into people who will purposely rate a track 1 star because they either lost or are just being a jackass.
The only other major flaw plaguing the online experience are glitchers. Fortunately glitchers are only plaguing the Hot Lap leaderboards rather than online races so it all comes down to whether or not you find yourself even remotely interested on the accuracy of the Hot Lap boards. The development team are working on a patch to remove glitchers from the boards but lets face it, it only gives those racers more inspiration to continue ruining the experience for others. I have yet to encounter any glitching in online races so the fun factor is not nearly as affected as it could have been if that weren’t the case.
Overall ModNation is off to a solid start. The game surprised me on just how addicting it can be. You will find yourself immersed to play XP race after XP race, and you will be shocked on just how many hours you will waste creating new tracks and Mods. The single player campaign is challenging and leaves you craving to go back for more to get every unlockable. This title proves the Play Create Share brand is on a positive track and with LittleBigPlanet 2 coming soon, it only leads me to believe that this is a brand that will stick around. With a heavy focus on community and socializing ModNation takes racing games to a whole new level. Look out Mario Kart, you got yourselves a new challenger.
The key to the game is to keep the game fresh – so far the developers have added a few new mods and karts but hopefully new tracks and new objects will be available as well. Without community support as well as developer support this title will not survive. For the time being, you will not be disappointed if you are a fan of arcade racing and online multiplayer. If racing is not your thing or you didn’t get much into LittleBigPlanet you may find it better to give this game a rental before purchasing it. I advise you not to judge the game on the demo, give the full game a shot as the demo limitations barely give you a taste of the experience.
View the full review complete with screens and scorecard:
http://whatsmythoughts.com/...
Mario Kart has always reigned supreme when it comes to the best kart racers out there to play, but there are still a few other racers that are must-plays.
Sony Interactive Entertainment will be shutting the servers down for two PS3 racing games in July.
Sad, hopefully they make a new Modnation racers game. wait, is it completely shutting down or can you still download tracks?
This is what I'm wondering also. There's so much quality maps available online and it would be unfortunate if people couldn't download those anymore.
Yeah, I didn't play much online anyways. But I always use to play local multi with my cousin and download so many amazing levels. Sadly 8 didn't get to platinum it. Had only the create trophy, level 30 and 100 races i think left. I had I believe 87 last time 8 checked lol. Might go on to see if I can get my last few lol. Remember my win ratio was decent since I did around 160 races maybe, 170 ranked
@Teflon02
Yeah same here, but I actually jumped in not too long ago to play again and it's still holds up great for a 8 year old game. It's was a really good game when it came out and it still is.
I had some good memories playing Modnation. :( Sad to see it go, but it was inevitable.
There were plenty of notably excellent PlayStation 3 exclusives that were one-and-done during its long history. Games like Mag, Starhawk, Heavy Rain and LittleBigPlanet Karting were solid titles that were not given a chance to expand on their potential with sequels. Ironically, the developer of LittleBigPlanet Karting, United Front Games, had another kart racing title prior to this. Its first game, ModNation Racers, successfully implemented an aspect that wasn’t done previously and hasn’t been done since.
I loved this game, and it's a crying shame that the studio closed eliminating the possibility of a PS4/PS4 Pro Modnation game :(
Imho this is my fav kart racer. I still play Everhart now and then to this day.
Other than load times the game was excellent
game was great. However it felt soules Mario Kart. The load times on the game for Psvita were beyond horrible
