The racing genre is a fickle beast. It’s a genre that has been around in the video game world as long as any other genre; yet, unless you present the game in a certain manner, you will risk shutting out the larger gaming population. Sim racers run the risk of this problem; they target a specific audience with a specific set of interests. To everyone else looking to have a good time with a video game, a sim racer is often far too frustrating.
The other end of the racing spectrum is the arcade racer….the style that captures a larger range of gamers. From Mario Kart to Blur, the arcade racer is made to cater to a much more “casual” gamer. Arcade racers are filled to the brim with explosions, NO2, insane drifts, and more Hollywood action than you can shake a dipstick at.
Fireburst explodes onto the racing scene with an action packed arcade racer that should cater to fans of things that go ka-boom. If anything, the name of the title should pretty much inform you of everything you’ll need to know about this game. There are wacky characters, a variety of cars that are clearly made to destroy, some GORGEOUSLY rendered levels, and, well….a lot of fire, flames, and explosions.
The thing that I like about Fireburst is how much it reminds me of Crazy Taxi; not so much in gameplay and atmosphere, but more so in overall tone. It’s a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and has the same type of fast-paced arcade styled gaming. There’s a decent rock soundtrack that prominently blares in your speakers, and the characters have some pretty groan inducing one liners. It’s a lot of fun, and definitely harkens back to the heyday of the 90s arcade racing game (a la Crazy Taxi and Cruisin’ USA).
In fact, that’s essentially how I would describe Fireburst’s strengths and weaknesses: in spirit, it’s one of the better “stand-up arcade” racing games in quite some time. It looks great, it’s fun, and it is balls-to-the-wall fast action….but it probably won’t be something to devote 40 hours to. It’s great in short bursts, it’s a blast in multiplayer, and honestly, there isn’t any reason to expect it to be anything more….and I mean that in a good way.
In this generation of epic 40+ hour interactive movies, sometimes it’s just nice to pick up a controller, put the pedal to the metal, and blow some stuff up without putting too much thought into it.
Fireburst is one fantastic looking game. It’s interesting; upon booting up the game and going through the menus, I got a taste of what the characters and overall design of the game look like. To be honest, I wasn’t too impressed. The character design wasn’t really anything to write home about, and the overall tone of the game reminded me a bit too much of Rage.
Upon starting up a race, though, I was thoroughly impressed. I’m not speaking in hyperbolic terms when I say that this is one of the most gorgeous games I have seen in some time. Having graphics that stand out is kind of a rare achievement to me these days; after all, most games look pretty decent and it’s hard to find one that looks terrible. Fireburst has breathtaking environments, great looking vehicle models, and some really cool looking effects. It’s clear that the bulk of the time was spent on these aspects, and not the characters, but you know what? The characters are so wacky and cartoony that it doesn’t matter. This isn’t meant to be a Heavy Rain or L.A. Noire; it’s meant to present you with a variety of Mad Max styled characters, cars, and locations, and let you go nuts.
Which brings me to the gameplay. There are plenty of action racing titles where you have “attacks.” Mario Kart allows you to collect powerups and unleash the fury via turtle shells and lightning bolts. Split Second allows you to use the environment to devastate your opponents. Burnout allows you to use your own car to bring the pain. Fireburst brings something new and rather unique to the table. In Fireburst, you use “overheating” as your weapon of choice. Believe me, it’s much cooler than it sounds.
You start the race like any other racing game. After a 10 second countdown once the race starts, you can use your boost. Boosting gives you the requisite speed boost, but also heats your car up, surrounding you in flames. Any fool unlucky enough to be caught in your flaming circle of destruction goes ka-boom! The downside? You have a meter on the left side that tracks your heat. Once you fill the meter up, you explode. Laying off your boost will cause the meter to go down. However, there are also barrels of water and other bodies of water lying around that, when driven into, will cool you off. If you plan things right, you could potentially be boosting and blowing stuff up through the entire race. I haven’t tried yet, but I suspect it’s possible.
The rest of the gameplay is pretty standard for what you might expect in any racing title. There’s the quick races, multiplayer, and career mode. The career mode in Fireburst is fun, but it’s not particularly meaty. It’s clear that this game was made to be played with friends or for short bursts. In fact, even the career mode reflects this. It’s not so much a “rise through the ranks” type of career like other racers, or even one with a storyline. Essentially what it is, is a collection of challenges. You pick from a batch of characters, and each “path” will provide you with a number of challenges. These challenges range anywhere from finish a race without crashing, or something much more challenging like perform a Legendary Boost (hold boost for 20 seconds). There is quite a variety in the different challenges, so at least things are kept pretty fresh.
Fireburst is a game that I enjoyed immensely during my playthrough. The gaming industry is starting to take itself very seriously, and even in games where there is a heavy tongue in cheek element (like GTA), it’s pretty much still an epic, straight laced, production. It’s nice to see a game like Fireburst come around that just proclaims “I don’t care! Whatever happened to just having fun and blowing stuff up?” Fireburst is a game where I had a smile plastered across my face the whole time, and I caught myself going “OOOOHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” after a particularly nasty explosion, and throwing my arms up in victory after winning a race. It’s simply FUN.
The review scores below are based on the title’s comparison to other games of its kind and launch price-point.
Graphic Design – 9: Absolutely stunning graphics. Great environments, great cars, great effects. Characters could look better, but it doesn’t affect the game at all.
Gameplay – 8: Boost concept is fairly unique. Lots of fun challenges are varied game modes
Presentation – 8: Post-apocalyptic setting has a “been there, done that” feel to it, otherwise the game presents itself exactly for what it is…fun, fast action
Replay – 7: Not particularly replayable in a traditional, long stretches of gameplay sense, but plenty of reasons to get with a couple of buddies and trash talk for a night
OVERALL RATING: 8.0/10
