{"id":1103,"date":"2022-08-12T19:00:22","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T23:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/?p=1103"},"modified":"2022-08-06T20:31:44","modified_gmt":"2022-08-07T00:31:44","slug":"modnation-racers-issue-42","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/index.php\/2022\/08\/12\/modnation-racers-issue-42\/","title":{"rendered":"ModNation Racers \u2014 Issue 42"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The mods must be unimpressed<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Mod\u00adNa\u00adtion Rac\u00aders stum\u00adbles at start\u00ading line despite wealth of options<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

When you come for the king, you bet\u00adter not miss. And, as much as Mod\u00adNa\u00adtion Rac\u00aders tries to come for Mario Kart, it miss\u00ades by quite a wide mile.<\/span>
\nMod\u00adNa\u00adtion Rac\u00aders tries, I\u2019ll give it that. There\u2019s depth to be had here for an arcade go-kart rac\u00ader. There are var\u00adi\u00adous modes to jump into, includ\u00ading a career mode and online and offline play. Addi\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly, the cre\u00adate-a-char\u00adac\u00adter and track edi\u00adtors are seri\u00adous time sinks. A once-thriv\u00ading and robust online store for all sorts of mods \u2014 the name of the game \u2014 is still there. The cus\u00adtomiza\u00adtion remains deep, with var\u00adi\u00adous ways to dress your char\u00adac\u00adter and build a rig that suits your aes\u00adthet\u00adic. This is where Mod\u00adNa\u00adtion has the advan\u00adtage over Mario Kart, and that\u2019s obvi\u00adous from the get-go. <\/span>
\nBut under\u00adneath the sur\u00adface, Mod\u00adNa\u00adtion starts to fal\u00adter big time. The tracks are gener\u00adic and bor\u00ading and are gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly under\u00adwhelm\u00ading with a clunky design to the over\u00adall feel. There was noth\u00ading that jumped out as inter\u00adest\u00ading, and they feel slapped togeth\u00ader and cliche. And, equal\u00adly as bor\u00ading is the char\u00adac\u00adter design. Despite the char\u00adac\u00adters being chibi-rac\u00aders, they aren\u2019t cute. The super-deformed look works when you can pull it off, and Unit\u00aded Front Games did\u00adn\u2019t suc\u00adceed here. The char\u00adac\u00adters look gener\u00adic and stale with no personality.<\/span>
\nAs bland as the char\u00adac\u00adter design is, even goofi\u00ader are the con\u00adtrols. Kart rac\u00ading, while not a pre\u00adci\u00adsion genre, should be easy to con\u00adtrol. Mod\u00adNa\u00adtion Rac\u00aders is not easy to race in, con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00ading there\u2019s some\u00adthing assigned to every but\u00adton on the con\u00adtroller and then some. On top of that, the con\u00adtrols feel impre\u00adcise, loose, and slop\u00adpy. Also, the speed lev\u00adels, while cus\u00adtomiz\u00adable, are not tuned prop\u00ader\u00adly. What should have been the eas\u00adi\u00adest and slow\u00adest speed for a new\u00adcom\u00ader still felt like the equiv\u00ada\u00adlent of 150CC<\/span> in Mario Kart. That\u2019s not easy, and the con\u00adtrols are unhelp\u00adful in deal\u00ading with that sen\u00adsa\u00adtion of speed. <\/span>
\nAlso, some of the rac\u00ading mechan\u00adics are ques\u00adtion\u00adable at best. The drift\u00ading fea\u00adture is ter\u00adri\u00adble; at no point was com\u00adplet\u00ading a drift pos\u00adsi\u00adble going as fast as I was going. And, the AI\u2019s con\u00adsis\u00adtent abil\u00adi\u00adty to pre\u00advent weapon pick\u00adup even on the eas\u00adi\u00adest lev\u00adel was grat\u00ading as was the con\u00adstant bump\u00ading into objects and bar\u00adri\u00aders. It\u2019s obnox\u00adious also that there is no weapons dis\u00adplay beyond words and a meter. Explain\u00ading what the weapons are and their effects would have con\u00adtributed to more playing.<\/span>
\nAdding insult to injury, the sound\u00adtrack is gener\u00adic and for\u00adget\u00adtable. Not a sin\u00adgle track stood out, and much like the lev\u00adel design, seemed half-thought-out and lazy. I kept hop\u00ading and lis\u00adten\u00ading for some\u00adthing, any\u00adthing, to pique my inter\u00adest, but I was dis\u00adap\u00adpoint\u00aded there also.<\/span>
\nMod\u00adNa\u00adtion suf\u00adfers from the adage of too much of a good thing. While it\u2019s nice to have the wealth of cus\u00adtomiza\u00adtion options, it comes across as what the kids call \u201cdoing too much.\u201d Every\u00adthing seems extra and a lit\u00adtle bit too much. It\u2019s try\u00ading too hard to tack on a lot of things that are designed to out\u00adshine the com\u00adpe\u00adti\u00adtion when it should have focused on get\u00adting the basics cor\u00adrect. Even where there is depth, some\u00adtimes you have to know where to rein it in, and Mod\u00adNa\u00adtion Rac\u00aders stum\u00adbles on the steps on the way to cast their bal\u00adlot for them\u00adselves as the king of kart rac\u00ading. It\u2019s an admirable but ulti\u00admate\u00adly flawed chal\u00adlenge to the throne.<\/span><\/p>\n