I've got a better 4 letter word for this game.

A warning to our beloved SHR readers: I only put in about 3 hours before putting together this review. While for most games this is not nearly enough time to warrant a solid and fair review, FUEL is an exception. Read on to see why.

FUEL is in the Guiness Book Of World Records after making this game, for largest playable area ever in a console game. While that sounds intriguing, it’s actually the game’s biggest downfall, and I only saw 1/10th of it. Why? It’s boring as all fuck, that’s why. It’s a large steaming pile of boring. I can’t imagine being one of the guys/gals who sat there day after day creating this “giant” world. It’s the first thing I noticed as I’m free riding in just the first area.

There’s collectables in these areas, but they’re nothing special (paint jobs, scenic overlooks), and certainly not worth the effort it takes to get to them. It seriously takes 10-15 minutes to get to something, and as you’re getting there, it’s just, trees. Hills. More trees. Ugh.

Ok, so the free ride mode sucks. So there’s half your time spent on this game already shot. How about the racing? It’s not bad, but it has serious A.I. problems. The major one being, once you take the lead in any race, they just seem to give up. You suddenly find yourself miles ahead after taking half the race to get to 1st.

Which brings me to another huge problem with this game. It’s 1st, or NOTHING. That’s right. 2nd place or worse gets you nothing but a retry option. Sound like fun? It’s not.

Oooh a tornado. You won't care by the time you unlock it.

There’s challenges also, spread across the land. Most of them are standard fare, A to B against the clock, checkpoint races, etc. They get very boring fast, and different terrain doesn’t make a lick of difference, so later areas unlocked really means nothing but harder tracks.

The final straw that broke the Loco’s back in this game was the music. No licensed tracks, and for some inconcievable reason, during the game’s only loading screen, the same 20 second generic rock music is played. Every time it loads. Ugh, again.

The game looks and plays great when you first fire it up. But once you start realizing the scenery doesn’t change and the A.I. stinks, you start losing interest real fast.

Hi Rez: Fun, for a couple hours tops.

Low Rez: Sad how much time was wasted on the size of the land, when there’s absolutely nothing to actually discover. Is a bridge or some kind of landmark too much to ask?

Verdict: Rental at best, but I wouldn’t bother.

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