Over the years I've had a wax and wane attitude towards racing games. I went though quite a Gran Turismo phase back during GT2, but almost without fail I've been an arcade racer fan rather than a simulation guy. So when I first heard about Fuel and what it was promising to do, I'll admit I was quite intrigued. While they seemed stuck on talking about the "largest game ever made," I was interested in the story vibe of Mad Max-esque battle though racing.

So, was my curiousity warranted.... or does this game run out of gas before the finish?

Fuel is a huge, open world racer where you drive around for events (a la the later Need For Speed games) and offers a wide range of off-road rural type racing (Motorstorm). No one would accuse Fuel of trying anything new, but that's fine so long as the elements come together for a fun experience. Fuel does, for the most part, succeed in being a fun competent racer... if not a bit generic.

While the game boasts of over 5000 square miles to drive around in, you don't really need to. While you're certainly welcome to drive over the rivers and through the snow to find events, you can just pick them off the menu. This saves you a ton of time because while there are some things to find by driving around the countryside (mostly related to achievements) you'll never need to "discover" the new events or territories. It's entirely possible, if not preferable, to avoid the open world of this open world racer.

This is definitely a plus. The game world, while HUGE, suffers from a serious lack of excitement. There's just not much going on in the world outside of the races.

It would've been nice if the terrain were more interesting to drive around in, but what matters is how the terrain drives when you're racing over it. And in that sense the game does a decent job of giving you that roughshod off-road racing experience that has thus far only been rivaled by the PlayStation-exclusive Motorstorm franchise. Every moment is a mad dash for the finish line with little care for your vehicle or your competition. The cars/bikes/whatever all handle differently and feel correct in their respective weights. My only major complaint in the actual racing is the GPS system. It does a terrible job of getting you where you need to go, and more than once sent me off into nowhere. Word to the wise -- follow the other cars.  And if you're in the lead... just hope the GPS doesn't fuck you over.

Fuel isn't going to be for everyone. Those looking for a realistic racer are obviously not going to get it here. But since Motorstorm is a PS3 exclusive, this should fill that epic off-road madness niche nicely if you're looking for something similar on the Xbox 360.

YAY! - Offers up a Motorstorm-style experience on multiple platforms. 
NAY! - Open world is pretty much unnecessary.  Bad GPS makes it hard to maintain a lead.

For those of you who really hate reading, or only learned to read numbers: - 6/10

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