ModNation,

This is a good game and it is Little Big Planet meets Mario Kart for sure, it's huge mainly because of the online sharing aspect. It does have a career mode which isn't too easy , it's annoyingly hard to honest, but that doesn't make it a lesser game.

I've created a couple of Mods (avatars), a couple of Karts and one track…. which are all out there for others to download, I'm currently designing track number two…. which will be called Cam's Vroom Vroom Room 002…. this is a game I think will be a slow burner, like LBP….

The downside of ModNation is getting online… not the sharing stuff that seemed to work fine, but the actual connecting online to race, it was very hit and miss… I forgave that on the Thursday as the game was officially out on the Friday, but Friday afternoon it was still taking 1 in 6 attempts to connect to the online race server…. I'm hoping over the weekend they sorted it….

When you did get online there was a distinct lack of people to race against… also on the downside of the game was the loading, man was it slow…. also there was one annoying thing… if you went into a couple of the game modes, say Quick Race or Time Trail or Hot Lap… when you finished the race the game would put you right back outside the game lobby…..

Basically ModNation Community is a little like Sony Home in that you have essentially an area similar to Home's Public Square…. from that area you drive your kart to the entrance of one of the buildings, these building being Online, Career Mode, Split Screen, Quick Race, Hot Lap, What's New, Extras and Creation Centre…. so if you go into Quick Race there are 12 pre built tracks, but you can also access your created tracks and also any tracks you've download from other Modders in the community…. but once you finish a race, instead of being taken to the menu where you select the track, you actually put right back at the entrance to the Public Square, which means if you want to race on another Quick Race track you have to drive your kart all the way back to the building, a small thing, annoying…..

So far based on what I've played so far I'd have to give ModNation an 8/10 as it loses marks due to the things I mentioned, but get those sorted it's all good… Buy Rent or Avoid (rating system provided by Next Level Podcast, part of the Geek Syndicate franchise)….. for me it's a buy if you like creation games like LBP, Sims etc because the game will take a while to find it's feet as all the users start building tracks, but a def Rent if you just want to see what the game is about…..

Split Second

I'd say this is a great game…. you basically play a driver of car who once you show your worth, are given entry into a 12 episode TV show. Each episode is made of about 8 Acts so to speak, one of which is a bonus act, bit like bonus on a DVD… the last act being the main event which you have to complete in a designated position to qualify for the next episode…. Once you qualify you get a glimpse (like a trailer of a TV show) what the main event is in the next episode….. as you complete each act you get tokens which are used to release further Acts and Bonus material and also to give you faster, stronger cars….

Each Act is either an out and out Race, an Elimination Race, Air Strike, Air Strike Revenge, Detonation and Survival…. my personal favourite is Air Strike… In Race, Elimination and Air Strike Revenge you have to build up power, which you do by slipstreaming (drafting) an opponent, drifting round corners or even down straights and also by getting airtime… and as you do so you get access to blow up scenery which can come crashing down on the other racers, or will cause racers to swerve to avoid the drama happening around them, but it's often not about taking them out but slowing them down…..

Now what makes this game great so far is the following…. It is really like being in a movie… you know those scenes in movies where Siegel, A Team, James Bond are driving themselves out of danger and all is exploding around them.... but this is even more so in Air Strike, where you have a helicopter firing missiles at you as you drive and have to survive as long as you can…. 

There are red dots on the road hinting where the missiles are going to strike which may sound a cheat, but trust me, when you got 8 or 9 red dots ahead of you, you're going at top speed (as you don't get any points if you drive too slow) and you're trying not to drive into a wall it's not that easy…. but what is great is that the missiles don't just explode job done, each explosion affects the handling of the car… so you could avoid one then two missiles but the explosive shockwave could send you car veering towards where missile three is gonna strike…. seriously is like being the getaway drive in the movie…..

The racing can be quite tactical too, often it's not about taking out the car in front, but sometimes I found myself just drafting behind a car whilst in say 4th place…. biding my time building up power, then three or four corners from the finish unleashing on the cars in front as and when, so that I slow them down or take them out so I win the race, but you have to time the explosion or take down, also if you get it wrong or mis-read what is about to happen when you unleash, you can actually take yourself out…..

Downside of Split Second, I tried to go online on Sunday afternoon (two days after game release)… went into Public game lobby… twiddle thumbs for 5 minutes still no one else came online….. also I have reservation that after you've blown up building which has fallen and wrecked 5 of you opponents in one go and has also opened up a new route for the 8th or 9th time… will it be as much fun or when you have a crashing airplane, but the actual escape route is the same every time, 8 or 9 goes later is it still gonna be wow that was close…..

I'd have to give this game 8/10 but can't base score for online as didn't get online, though it's a pretty good online menu…. also I question the longetivity….. Rent Buy or Avoid…. I'd say Rent now, buy later… def worth a rent now whilst it's a new hot game, but in terms of replay… not with £40 esp. when there is Burnout Paradise out there for £23 and with Blur out very soon and Gran Turismo 5 at some point… but pick it up for say £15 then good game to have in you collection for when the pals are round…