ModNation Racers

We recently previewed ModNation Racers for the PlayStation 3, and now we’ve taken its little portable cousin for a spin. As with so many PSP ports of PS3 titles, it’s always amazing how much can be fit onto that tiny screen – in some ways, it’s just like playing the bigger versions.

ModNation Racers is, at heart, a kart racer, and this means highly manoeuvrable vehicles vying for first while employing various weapons to inconvenience the opposition. It’s pretty standard stuff, but the big thing about MNR is its customisability. Racers, vehicles, and even tracks can be made and modified to your heart’s content, and then shared with your friends.

I was very impressed with how these mod tools made their way to the PSP. Or more specifically, how well the track maker made the transition. It was still very easy to get a semi-decent level up and running, and while a few tools from the PS3 seemed to have been cut or trimmed back, the guts of the system is still there, and you can still go crazy on track designs. Hopefully a decent ecosystem of users builds up around the PSP version of MDR – it’ll really add a lot of value.

The single player modes remain the same as the PS3 version, including a surprisingly fun career mode peppered with funny CGI cutscenes. I was going to say that kids will enjoy it, but that implies adults won’t – and if you’re after light-hearted fun sprinkled in amongst your kart racing, you’ll like this. You can also play single races or take part in a ‘last man standing’ mode that eliminates the racers who are falling behind.

But while the feature list is impressive for MNR on PSP, I felt the core driving gameplay was somewhat lacking. It’s hard to define, but it just felt significantly less thrilling than the PS3 version. This dissipated over time as I got into the game, but it still felt a little too empty and sterile. But hey, perhaps this was because…

…I was playing in single player. And for a kart racer, that’s a strange thing to be doing. If you have friends with PSPs who like multiplayer matchups, then MNR should be a pretty safe bet. And even if you don’t, the final version will support both Ad-Hoc (local) and infrastructure (not local!), meaning you can challenge people from around the world. Unfortunately, the build we had didn’t allow for this, but it’s still pretty obvious that taking on your mates on a track you just built is where the true fun of this game will lie.

One other thing that disappointed me: unlike on the PS3, weapons didn’t seem upgradeable. It’s maybe a small thing, but I really liked getting a level 3 lightning blast and unleashing hell on other racers. It provided a bit of difference in a genre largely dominated by eager copycats.

Still, in general, ModNation Racers for PSP is looking extremely solid, providing a feature set that’s nearly the same as its big brother. As for the racing itself: the career mode is fun, but do yourself a favour and get some multiplayer games happening when MNR comes out in the near future.