FUEL Review - Xbox 360

7

Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 7
Audio: 6
Multiplayer: 5
Innovation: 9

Codemasters has been publishing racing gems for a long time now, so when they announced FUEL our initial thoughts were focused on the possibilities. What could we do in an open world free-roam racing game with natural disasters like floods, fires and tornados circling? FUEL puts you to the test in the harshest conditions known to man, and without any rules or boundaries chaos is guaranteed to occur. Join us as we race in all sorts of vehicles and find out how valuable FUEL is in a world tearing itself apart.

Gameplay

As you’re plunged into the world of FUEL you soon learn that you are only in a small part of a massive open-world. The largest world ever created in a video game, according to the Guinness World Records. You soon learn that in order to unlock new areas of the world you need to win races and gain stars. Stars are given out in order of difficulty, and you’ll get three stars for winning a race on the hardest mode. You are also awarded FUEL for completing both races and challenges, which can be used to purchase new vehicles. Buying new vehicles is not optional… if you want to progress and participate in more events, the game will only let you use certain vehicle types. This is a great way to get you constantly on your toes and keep your FUEL consumption, so to speak, to a necessary minimum.

FUEL has plenty of different types of vehicles: bikes, cars, ATVs, monster trucks, semi trailers, and even more are unlocked as you work your way through the game, with a very impressive vehicle at the end which we won’t spoil for you. At the start you’re given the ultimate in crap… vehicles that can barely go over 100KPH at top speed. This gives you the incentive to save FUEL fast so that you can purchase the faster vehicles, but if you want the most FUEL you have to complete challenges as well, not just races. Each zone has 3-6 races and around ten challenges, but it’s just the races that need to be completed to unlock more of the world.

Vehicles have stats that you must pay attention to if you want to choose the right one to win races. The most important feature is how they handle off-road and on. If you find a race that is mostly off-road, a slower car with good off-road tires will completely annihilate a faster vehicle that can’t handle dirt. Therefore, sometimes purchasing the most expensive car will not do you any favours in particular races.

Challenges include checkpoint racing where the player coming last at each checkpoint gets eliminated, helicopter chasing where you race to a finish line against a chopper that can go in a straight line overhead (some of the latter ones are borderline impossible as you face cliffs), then there’s also a hunting mode where you chase down a couple of vehicles and simply have to touch them to eliminate them. A lot ...