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I have to admit, before I saw someone post Beta keys for Blur I knew nothing about the game... Absolutely nothing...

Since then, when I was lucky enough to snaffle a Beta code and download the Multiplayer Beta to my 360, I've played it for a good few hours and have to say I'm very impressed. Picture this. Street racing with a pinch of Mario Kart, sounds enticing? Well believe me it is...

Bizarre Creations have mixed in some old elements to make things new. Specifically with the multiplayer. From what I have seen already, you can have up to 20 players racing at any one time, although I've only seen a max of 12 thus far.

GAMEPLAY

As it's not just street racing, but street racing plus power-ups, it's action a plenty. There are 8 power-ups to collect with 3 that can be stored at any one time.

Power-ups include:

• Barge, A surge of power that radiates from your car knocking over any cars within the immediate vicinity.
• Bolt, Surges of lighting thrown in front of the leader and others to dodge.
• Repair, Been banged up? Repair that car.

The racing element is as it should be, power-sliding corners, smashing into barriers after misjudging a corner. Then add the aggression element in power-ups and you'll be cruising out in front only to have a ball of energy smash into you, flip your car and have half the field zip passed you before you know what's going on.

VISUALS

Blur is a very pretty game, of course the Beta has it's graphical flaws, but in the main it's superb. Whether you're out by yourself in front or in the thick of the action for the minor places with power-ups flying all over the place, the game is very smooth. I have not noticed any slow down when you get hammered by a power-up, when the graphics are at their most intense, impressive for a 1.4Gb demo\beta download....

LONGEVITY

I don't know about you, but I've noticed a trend in multiplayer games recently, one that I like mind you, ranks. Where these ranks work towards rewards, it's an RPG element that keep people playing and it's fantastic. And Blur utilises this quite well, with ranks unlocking more cars and mods.

I hear you asking, "But how does one earn experience to rank?" Well in Blur, the currency is 'fans', the crazier you drive, the more power-ups you use and higher you finish, the more fans you win. These fans accumulate in each race, so it's very similar to experience.

Another way to influence the way you earn Fans is through the use of mods. You have the ability to select 3 mods at any one time depending on your driving style. Mods can do any of the following and many more:

• Earn greater fans for using Power-ups.
• Increase your ramming damage.
• Gain a random power-up at the start of every race or after you've wrecked.
• Earn greater fans for finishing higher.

I've only just unlocked another mod at Rank 6, these unlocks stretch all the way up to the highest Rank, so there is definitely rewards the longer you play and better you get... Smiley

Also in keeping with current multiplayer trends there are Challenges with rank bonuses for completing them, such as wrecking other cars, effective use of power-ups, dodging of power-ups and such.

All in all, just the multiplayer is addictive enough!

CLOSING COMMENTS

Grab your own Beta code from Gamespot, if you're already a member of Gamespot, then voila you can get a key straight up.

Go here: http://au.gamespot.com/event/codes/blur-beta/

If they're out of codes, check out the comments section, as most current Beta participants were given 3 more codes to giveaway to their friends...

Blur is due out in May of this year and definitely worth a look...

Now, who's up for some Blur? Add me on XBL: klevster
What does everyone else think???