A very apt name, seeing as the game’s speed and unbridled ferociousness could easily create a blurring effect for the mind, but more interestingly, the game would blur the lines between the more cartoony and kid-friendly kart racing games and more realistic racers that had more in common with Need for Speed in its presentation than anything else. Blur was a game that didn’t really set the world on fire when it launched. Despite having a pretty interesting hook and a lot of reasons to play it over other games, it still struggled to maintain a fan base in the way that the game wants you to do within its own mechanics. But why is that? Why would a game being developed from a team that clearly knows what they’re doing in the racing genre that had a lot of interesting ideas that made it stand out from the crowd right off into the distance so fast, never to be heard from again? What the hell happened to Blur?

2010 was a big year for racing games. Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, which is still regarded as one of the franchise’s best games, also came out that year. Along with Gran Turismo 5, Split/Second, and of course Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. So odds are, even if you never heard of Blur, there would be at least one game out of those 4 that would be a good choice for you as they all ran the gamut of the racing genre pretty well. Hot Pursuit had much of the market cornered at the time with it being the smash it that it was, Split Second had much of the fans of arcade racers that wanted something a little wackier, Sonic Racing was a surprisingly excellent kart racing game, and of course Gran Turismo 5 had the simulation market pretty much all to itself at the time. In this set of circumstances, it’s hard to see where a game like Blur would fit.

This is a tough environment for a game like Blur to thrive in, as it wasn’t really a definite member of any one camp, but rather a hybrid of them all. While the idea behind and the execution of Blur was certainly a compelling package, with a fairly steep learning curve, a Need For Speed look, and kart racing mechanics all rolled up into one game, it ended up being hard to say exactly who Blur was for. If you weren’t a fan of any one of those elements, Blur might not have been a good choice for you at that time, and you would be better off with any of the 4 other major racing games that came out that year. Some games certainly benefit from the “all of the above” mentality, but others can just as easily suffer from trying to please too many audiences at once, or at least the perception of trying to do so, and at that time, to some, Blur easily came off as something that wasn’t quite sure what it wanted to be, despite that not really being an issue ultimately.

On top of all of that, Blur also wasn’t really the spotless and outstanding racing game that many seem to remember it as. Most who were able to get their hands on the game and give it the time it deserved would ultimately enjoy the game for what it was. But with the drifting being as touchy as it was, and the races being packed with the better part of 20 different notoriously aggressive racers who are all constantly shooting each other with bombs, laying mines, and using other weapons, the races would often devolve into an utter chaos that merely surviving could quickly fall out of reach, let alone winning them on a consistent enough basis to advance in the game. Online matches would exaggerate these elements of course. While there is nothing inherently wrong with any of this, it’s easy to see a lot of players passing it up in favor of something else with more refinement.

Mainstream gaming critics weren’t exactly loving it either, with the game raking in a lot of 8s and 7s, which, again, aren’t bad scores, but when put up against the 9s and 10s of its contemporaries, many racing fans would spend their hard-earned money on something else. That said, Blur still had a lot going for it in other areas. The 4-player local split screen was a nice touch and the various battle modes and other peripheral ways to play the game were fun enough, but given that the main experience didn’t really knock any one of its ideas out of the park the way that other racing games were doing at the time spelled a quick death for Blur as well as their developer, Bizarre Creations, which was shut down the following year by Activision. Blur never really offended anyone in any one area enough to warrant such a quick death, but with the stiff competition it was up against and only so many racing fans to go around in 2010, it needed to be more than a good game to survive among so many great ones.

Bizarre Creations believed in their game though and immediately started production on a sequel to Blur after the first one launched. According to Nick Davies of Bizarre Creations, Blur was completely intended to be a franchise that would take on the likes of Need for Speed and other long-standing racing IPs. Supposedly it was the online components of the game that would give it the “slow burn” effect and keep the series alive, but all of this was thrown out the window when the studio was closed and the sequel to Blur was cancelled. No sustainable rumors of a sequel have ever surfaced since. A mobile spin-off game would eventually hit Android devices in the form of Blur: Overdrive in 2013, but as you might expect this wouldn’t generate nearly enough buzz to resuscitate the dormant IP.

Blur really is one of those cases where, had it launched at a different time and perhaps with a slightly different set of ideas, it could have easily gone on to become the franchise that it was so clearly intended to be. On paper the idea for Blur is a really interesting one. It’s got a slick presentation, and overall comes together quite nicely. It’s a pretty good racing game that fans of the genre can easily dump many hours into. But the deadly combination of abnormally stiff competition, a handful of nitpicks holding it back from greatness, and a publisher that had little patience for sluggish sales would ultimately prove to be too much for the game and the studio behind it. All these years later despite the game staying pretty relevant among fans of racing games that don’t mind digging into their library of decade old games every now and then, the game Blur has become just that; a hazy memory that only exists in the fuzzy edges of gaming antiquity. Could we see a revival of the game one day? Anything is possible, but I don’t recommend hanging your hat on this one.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Although he does not confirm that it is indeed Blur 2 but he does states that it is from an ‘announced, unfinished project’. The first video showcases the graphical overhaul of the game along with weather effects. While the second video shows the track set in Dubai . The video also shows off the new engine that Bizarre Creations were working on.

As Chris knew that the studio was going to close down, he continued to work on the Dubai level as he thought it will be “a shame that nobody would get to play a finished track, even the dev team.” He continued to work until “the lights went out for good.”

It is shame that the game never saw release. It really would have been pretty awesome sequel considering how good the original was.  The original Blur was released on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. It was published by Activision.

Here’s hoping that some other publisher shows interest in this franchise. What do you think? Are you interested in a sequel to Blur? Let us know in the comments section below.

Thanks Destructoid.

The graphics really are just standard for a racing game, and can be compared to that of Need for Speed. Bare in mind that they are not bad by any standards, they are just keeping up with the standard set by other games. I have absolutely zero complaints with the visual aspect of Blur; in fact I think that it’s quite beautiful at times. The particle system is great and it’s always a treat when a game has collisions with lots of debris flying about.

Blur allows you to take your own screen shots whenever you want.

One of the big problems I have with a lot of racing games, especially games that are developed with a half serious input are the physics. For some reasons it seems like developers put a lot of time into how they want the cars to handle and drive instead of how cars actually perform. Blur seems to have captured the physics with a little more than par. They are by no means perfect, which no game really is absolutely perfect, but it does have a realistic sense of weight and momentum. The turning and drifting is somewhat accurate and brakes are absolutely necessary as the courses get harder.

The single player mode is based around “lights” these are basically the points that you need to earn to advance in the story mode. It reminds me a little bit of Need for Speed: Underground with the whole blacklist set up. Players have to earn a drivers respect and then challenged the boss to earn their whip. There are a lot of different ways to acquire these lights and each stage has a different theme. Some of them are based on destroying other cars and others are based on appeasing the fans.

Looks great, feels great!

Blur has single handedly got me back into the car battle genre, for a long time it just has been really lame and going nowhere quick, seemingly waiting for the next Twisted Metal. I think that this is a great addition to the genre and should appease fans of all aspects of battle racing. As far as it goes for beating the titles currently in existence, I think Blur really does bring home the bacon.

There isn’t a lot to say bad about blur, it features so many good things that I really had to search and scrape the bottom of the barrel for issues. Technically I could not break this game which always frustrates me. I have this problem where if I can’t break a game, I personally feel defeated as a reviewer. Never the less, there aren’t any apparent glitches in the game play or design. One of the only issues I really have is that of minuscule proportions. There is no in-game music, neither developer made or licensed. It’s really not an issue and I didn’t realize it until several hours into the career mode.

Me sporting my signature black paint.

The single player is very challenging; most games these days are not. I found myself actually getting angry at my fake opponents as they bested me time and time again in very close races. I believe that a lot of games try to focus on the multiplayer aspect as being the challenge and make the single player a walk in the park. My next and final complaint about Blur is something that I have complained about since the original Mario Kart. I absolutely despise the weapon that anyone can get at any given time that destroys the leader, might I add that Blur has initially eliminated this. There always seems to be that one weapon that is so over powered that it can take a player from last to first in the final 30 seconds of the race and leave the original leader crying home to moma’.  With the ability to use almost all weapons as a defense and an offence, Blur has really created something to be observed by other developers. Congratulations Activision, that’s right Activision has started another potential title giant.

After messing about in the single player and getting to know the game, it was finally time to move on to the multiplayer. I was shocked! The community for Blur is outstanding. I was set into a group of players, men and women alike and was playing against people who where fun and good at the game. Everyone was laughing and having a great time, speaking on terms of multiplayer Blur and Mod Nation have very similar communities.

Learning the game can be a bit difficult, although it came very naturally to me being an expert gamer and all. When I let certain other friend’s play, whom are casual gamers had a hard time keeping up with the fast paced racing and clutch use of weapons. This is by no means a complaint; I actually indulge in games that take copious amounts of skill to master. If you are a casual gamer, do not expect to see great results in the online world, because players are constantly practicing.

Things can get a little out of hand… STRAP IN!

The use of real cars and city tracks is a very large bonus and remind me of old school racing titles. The originals come back to me in a shocking time traveler’s de-ja-vu. Racing in LA and NY, and everything in the middle is wonderfully exciting and I couldn’t wait to get to the next city. I’m so sick of playing games with fake cars, although I really have a special place for burnout inside my heart; I think that the use of real cars and cities is just so much more appealing.

Over all Blur is an outstanding game, created by an already prestigious developer and those who did not have a good time playing it must either not be into the genre, or need to go back and try it again, because it really is a decent game. If you are into car battle and racing than Blur is right up your alley. The least you could do is rent it and see if it fits the piece. It’s no Twisted Metal, but it will have to do for now.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.

Tokens will be handed out starting from tomorrow. The primary place to get one is FilePlanet, but Activision’s Dan Amrich said that there are many other participating sites.

“Several websites will be launching contests and giving away beta tokens starting on Tuesday, March 2,” he said.

“The gameplay sessions that those tokens unlock does not begin until Monday, March 8. This March 1 date that some media sites are reporting is not the right date for the public beta.”

It is believed that the beta will be exclusively for the 360, although the full game releases for 360, PS3 and PC later this year.

Activision CEO Michael Griffith today said that Bizzare’s brand new racing game “Blur” will be getting a multiplayer beta in March. No specific platform was mentioned neither were any other details released. We certainly are excited here for this particular beta and can’t wait for March.

Blur is releasing on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC later this year. Stay tuned for more news regarding Blur right here.