First off, let me say that I didn't get these games solely because of the hype (was there even any for Darksiders?). I played the ModNation Racers demo for a day last January (someone gave me a download code literally a day before the timed demo ended), and I played it for a while. I loved ever moment of it. Creating my racer and my kart, limited as the options were, was really fun. I didn't know if you could create tracks because I jumped straight to races after creating karts. It was all great.
I decided I would buy the game.
Weeks later, I downloaded the demo for Darksiders. They said the demo was the first level of the game, so why not? I thought I should try it out to see if I'd like it before buying the game, and boy DID I LIKE IT. The gameplay reminded me of God of War somehow, albeit with a lot less enemies to kill, and it was actually very fun. I decided to buy Darksiders as well.
I like how they give out demos for games now. If it were me, I'd prefer that they make demos mandatory rather than trophies. I can see how demos are double-edged swords, though, as some games run the risk of boring potential consumers, as was the case for me with Fuel and Just Cause 2 - I would never buy those games at full price.
Now, fast forward to the end of May. I find myself with a copy of Darksiders and a copy ModNation Racers in a small, yellow DataBlitz plastic bag. I pop in ModNation Racers on my PS3 and get greeted by an install screen. Okay, sure, a lot of games have installations, and I don't really get bothered by it - I have a PC after all. It would be nice to minimize these, though, or at least do them in the background.
What do I notice first when I played ModNation Racers? The initial loading time after the installation. It wasn't as severe as what I've read on the net (like taking more than a minute for some people), but it was still very, very long. Okay sure, whatever. Take your time.
Then I played through the first race and find out how frustrating the game really is.
The AI is as merciless as the fury of hell.
Let me say that I am not, in any way, good in simulation racers. I always spinned out in Gran Turismo. I preferred Need for Speed until I played Race Driver GRiD. With that, I am more used to arcade racers with wonky physics. Yet ModNation Racers still wouldn't let me get first place even in the first race. Every. Single. Time.
When I played the demo, I was immediately reminded of Crash Team Racing, my favorite racer ever. I spent most of the time in CTR powersliding and driving sideways.
In this game, that itself is a chore. The AI is unforgiving, there is no difficulty adjustment, and the game does not ease you into it in any way.
Then there's the controls - they are not configurable. You are forever stuck to the horrible "R2 is accelerate" controls until United Front Games decides to grow a brain and let you choose your own configuration. I'm sure I'm not the the only one who uses the right stick to accelerate and decelerate. This has been my default ever since I discovered it.
In the end, I quit the game and decided to play the first level of Darksiders instead (which wasn't actually the level featured in the demo). Unlike ModNation Racers, this game was even more fun than the demo I played, and even though I'm on my last sliver of life right before the level boss, I wasn't frustrated at all. I'm playing on Apocalyptic and getting my ass kicked by angels but this game is still fun as heck.
I'll give ModNation Racers another chance later, but I doubt I'll play it more than Darksiders.
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