Codemasters is working on Fuel

Recently Codemasters announced they have three new titles that they will show at this years Games Convention show in Leipzig, Germany. One of the three games is a racegame with the (code)name Fuel.

We are talking here about a free roaming game that will make use of the Neon engine, which is already used in Race Driver: GRID. That's all the information for now, we will see more of it at Leipzig.

[Alexander Roy]

Dear Codemasters,
since you have an amazingly creative way of finding new, fresh names for your racing games, I would like to participate and make some suggestions.

Tire
Wheel
Engine
Clutch
Asphalt
Rubber
Headlights

As you can see, these names will provide for quality titles for at least the current and the next generation of consoles.

Yours truly,
A gamer who thinks your marketing guys lack imagination

[Diselage]

The titles of their games may suck but their games are pretty much amazing and I have no idea why they don't get more recognition.

[Alexander Roy]

I agree. I love the arcade-y feel they give me. But their names are starting to get lame. Better that way than vice versa, though.

[yanikins111]

Im going to correct you. Very politely. And by that i mean i wont kick you, scream at you or swear at you.

Codemasters, a long long time ago, in a galaxy far away, produced games that were nothing short of pure perfection. Titles such as Toca, Collin Mcrae rally, toca 2, collin mcrae rally 2.0, Toca 3, v8 race driver.

Then something happened. A disturbance if you will. Dirt, was born. While on the exterior a very nice game, it was kind of expected that it would do away with the floaty-car-pivots-on-a-center- axis feeling. That and the art director obviously had eye patches on when he configured how much bloom to add to the graphics.

And then it all fell apart. This next title was going to have better graphics than gt5p, was going to have the perfect blend of arcade/realism, was going to be the herald of the new series of Race Driver games.

Instead we got grid. With all its sweet bloom, with all its stupid-f**king-retarded handling. With poor-to-say-least track design (ok, take a step back. If you are playing a circut racing game, and can get lost, your level design is on the wrong side of the digestive process). I dont know if it had real world locations. I honestly couldnt play it for that long. It was really bad. Go and play the original toca, or collin mcrae, then play race driver grid.

You will not see this fall in quality any where else on this sweet blue planet outside of the grand theft auto series. On which note, the handling in gta4 was 30 times more manageable than grid.

And no its not because i cant play racing games. Ive won nearly all the races in gt5P, ive mastered dirt (then got sick of it), i finished the original toca, the original collin mcrae, pwned vrally - vrally 2, and probably the one i am most "proud" (if any human with a life can ever be proud of a computer game achievment) of, is the fact i completely mastered the tvr griffith in the original Gran Turismo.

Grid just sucks. Codemasters games used to be automatic must buys for me, but until they get back to making GOOD racing games, im staying away.

[Alexander Roy]

Well, talk about completely different receptions.
I remember playing one of the Colin McRae games ages ago on the PSX and I really didn't like it. Maybe it was because I never used the brake in a racing game, so I won't blame it on the game. I also never took the time to get into the handling. So I just say that my first impression wasn't good.
Then I downloaded the DIRT demo. It was fast, I slided a lot (played the trucks first) and found myself enjoing it. Maybe it was that little boy inside screaming in joy because I could pretty much just full throttle all the time without a real penalty and I made the first place.
Then, the GRID demo came along. The first time I played I almost smashed the gamepad into my TV because all I did was 360s all over the place after the first corner. Then I took some of that more adult patience, figured out the brakes, practiced the corners and eureka, I lost to that eBay ghost by just 0:00:03 difference. Since I pretty much suck at racing games of all kinds (you wouldn't want to see me play GTHD), I felt satisfied.
I agree with what you wrote about all the bloom and fancy light effects. GRID and DIRT are probably the most eyecandy-oriented racing games I ever saw in terms of flashyness. At times, it's over the top, IMHO, but it doesn't cross the line for me that makes me vomit rainbows.
I think what they did with their latest racing games is dumbing it down to make it more mainstream friendly. Every time I go to a store I see little kids playing the GRID at the demo booths and they don't do too bad. I'd also like to say that I neither own GRID no DIRT - I liked the demos, but I didn't 50-Euros-worth like them.
The series took a sharp turn from the original games that you loved back then to the games I like today. Maybe they can make a game that we both can enjoy in the future.

[jams_shop]

and yet another 4 letter title but they do make good games

[Truplaya]

come on Codemasters, give us split screen modes please! i miss them in GRID and DIRT

[nos4speed]

that you dont have the twitchty add controls like in Grid, ok it was suposed to have the arcade feel but the handling was just terrible, you could go round a corner at 30mph or 130mph and you really couldnt feel any difference, if they mess up the new F1 game like that ill be really P'd off.

[VMAN_01]

Speaking of Codemasters I hope they don't put in that horrible GRID like handling into there new F1 game.

[W S K]

@Alexander Roy and @yanikins111

very nice discussion...bubbles for you both!

I also think that the earlier Race Driver games were 1000 times better...but...i think.....they had something in their minds that they made that decision to change both of the series (Race Driver AND Colin McRae).

The last Race driver title "RACE DRIVER 3" had almost all the things that GRID and DIRT now have combined...so i think what they wanted to do was to split the streetracing thing and offroad racing in two different games.....AND (at the same time) make it more accesible to people that are not into racing games.

but in my eyes they didnt managed that good.....BECAUSE: the handling in both games is too arcadey and the damege modell is too realistic (not in generall...but in relation to each other....if you have a arcade style racer then u usual have no "realistic" damage...same for the opposite)

I dont think that DIRT and GRID are bad games ( NO...actually they are pretty good...even if i hate the steering in both games from time to time ;-) ) but like "yanikins111" said: "if you played TOCA and the Race Driver titles" its really different now...i know...different is not the same as bad but...i would have liked to see a new TOCA (more of a simulation)

but...Race Pro (from Sim Bin) is coming to the 360... so maybe thats more my cup of tea....and im waiting for the Formula 1 game from codemasters (i actually like F-1 games...very fast and no space for mistakes)
I hope it doesnt go in that Arcade direction (but i think they said that its going to be more of a simulation)

[aggh im on fire]

I love racing games and was really looking forward to grid but graphics aside its awful. Played in for an hour or so trying to like it but to no avail. Took it out of the tray and put Forza2 back on.