Bizarre Creations Blur Is Facebook Of Racing Games News

Merely racing around circuits was so last year it seems; next year's racers will have to up the action stake if Disney Interactive's Split/Second and Activision's Blur is anything to go by.

We've known about Blur for a little while, but today's announcement fills in some of the blanks and reveals a little more on the game's social networking aspirations. 

As we've previously noted Blur offers car/combat gameplay, dropping players into "heart-pumping, electrified racing action" with 20 cars (all feature damage models) on the track racing to the finishing line and picking up power-ups along the way.

The action takes place on real world locations including LA, San Francisco, Hackney (!) and Barcelona with plenty of hair-raising jumps and alternative routes packed in.  A variety of competitive and team-based multiplayer modes compliments the single-player mode, allowing up to 20 players to compete online or engage in four-player splitscreen.

Intriguingly, Blur's narrative will be presented through Bizarre's community-based interface, described as a "unique story-driving  network", which will evolve dynamically as players compete in races and make new friends, rivals and fans.  The social gaming experience expands into custom groups, allowing gamers to create unique multiplayer modes based on their favourite ways to play the game.  These modes are in turn shared via Blur's social network.

"We did our homework and saw a huge opportunity to move beyond traditional racers and create a game completely focused on making racing 'fun' again,"  said Martyn Chudley, creative director, Bizarre Creations.  "Blur delivers a new style of racing experience for all gamers, regardless of their experience, skill or genre preferences.  Everything the player does, both in their cars and with their cars, is a dramatic adrenaline rush; it's a real blast!"

"We know that racing can be fun for everyone, and we are excited to enter this genre with a game that keeps players in the pack and combines fun with intense racing battles," said Maria Stipp, EVP and GM of Owned Properties, Activision Publishing.  "Bizarre Creations is one of the most creative studios in the industry with a rich heritage of top-rated racing games and we are excited to partner with them on Blur, which is set to break the mold of traditional racing games.