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Fuel

EMAIL PRINT ps3

8.0 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 44 critic reviews
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Based on 15 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Codemasters

Developer: Asobo Studio

Genre(s): Racing, Driving

Players: 8

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Release Date: June 2, 2009

Summary

Get fuelled up and prepare to race and explore the world's largest ever racing environment - over 5,000 square miles of spectacular wilderness. Set to revolutionise multi-terrain, multi-vehicle racing, FUEL is a fiercely competitive game without boundaries. On and off-road, two and four-wheeled vehicles race a massively diverse environment, from scaling the highest snow-capped mountain to racing the deepest arid canyon. In a fictional present, vast swathes of the United States have been ravaged by the extreme effects of accelerated global warming: tornados, brush fires, hurricanes and tsunamis have driven people from their homes leaving huge areas of America abandoned. Now these dangerous areas have created the perfect playground for a new breed of adrenaline junkies who set out to conquer each other, and Mother Nature, in closely fought races. There are over 70 different vehicles with which to take on any challenge that FUEL’s stunning environment throws at you. On-road and off-road bikes, cars, quads, trucks, buggies and dragsters take dangerous short-cuts, perform death-defying jumps and tear through spectacular cross-over points. FUEL's landscape is powered by cutting-edge technology and, using satellite data, features some of the most exciting and inspiring areas of America - including the Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, Mount Rainier and much more. In FUEL, if you can see it, you can drive to it, taking any route - on or off-road - that you want. With a draw distance of 40KM, 100,000 miles of roads, tracks and trails and hundreds of race events FUEL’s epic world demands to be explored. [Codmasters]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Play Magazine

You want Bikes, ATVs, Muscle Cars, SUVs, Buggies, Trucks…they’re all in here, along with every conceivable type of race set across thousands of miles of populated ultra-realistic topography, complete with dynamic weather. And it all looks and plays spectacularly. Unless you’re looking for an authentic hard core sim, there’s no reason you shouldn’t leave right now, and even if you are, a little FUEL might just change your mind.

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Playstation: The Official Magazine (US)

A top-notch addition to the genre. [Aug 2009, p.67]

GamingXP

Fuel is a game every racing fan should consider worth buying, despite little weaknesses like annoying trees and shadows which pop in and out of the screen frequently. If you like simulations as Gran Turismo, rent this game before paying the full price – you won't be disappointed in any case!

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Worth Playing

Fuel is a good game, reveling in its goodness and its genre, without trying to be the exclamation point for every racing title ever developed.

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Cynamite

Quotation forthcoming.

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Playstation Official Magazine UK

So you can keep your super serious racers with their parts, bins, gear ratios and manicured race tracks; I'll be playing Fuel with its tornadoes, hovercraft and XXL off-roading. [June 2009, p.92]

XGN

Despite some flaws, FUEL is so much fun to play you'll keep coming back to it.

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Edge Magazine

Even if some of the fundamental stuff has been sacrificed to the creation of this huge world, Fuel still makes it across the finish line on a far-from-empty tank. [July 2009, p.97]

GamePro

As it stands, it's the third best next-gen off-road racing title I've played and while third place won't get you the checkered flag, it still gets you onto the winner's podium.

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Game Informer

Some gamers may appreciate the freedom Fuel gives you, but I feel like the lack of payoff and context blunts any adventurous feelings I have. [July 2009, p.84]

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Vandal Online

This Asobo Studios game is a good entry in the racing genre, although some aspects, specially the audiovisual part, could have been better.

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Games Master UK

It's not the size - it's what you do with it. Freedom to race at the expense of focus. [July 2009, p.76]

Cheat Code Central

If you were expecting lightning in a bottle, Fuel keeps the electricity in the environmental elements and out of the gameplay.

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WonderwallWeb

A decent racer, though not in the same class as others such as Codemasters own Race Driver: Grid.

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PSM3 Magazine UK

Overall Technically audacious, but the huge map means FUEL loses focus.

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ZTGameDomain

FUEL has a ton of potential, and moments of brilliance stashed under its rough exterior. The problems are hard to ignore though, and unless you have a ton of time to dedicate to it, the races will likely grow boring long before you uncover half of this massive world.

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GamesNation

FUEL didn’t meet its goal. Actually it went quite far from what Codemasters had promised. Although it is evident that the dev team has put a lot of effort in creating an innovative and fresh concept, and has produced a vast free-roamable terrain of proven technical quality, some unfortunate gameplay solutions and a improvable AI have mined the overall experience.

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RealGamer

FUEL is a very good addition to open world and off-road racing genres. But despite the overall enjoyment I got from the game, I can’t help but feel that it lacks the competitive elements that have enabled so many racing games to succeed.

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3DJuegos

Those who have followed the development of Fuel will be disappointed with the final result, while those who know nothing about its scope will find an enjoyable but at the same time unremarkable game.

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InsideGamer.nl

FUEL is a huge project but never quite fulfills its potential. The game lacks polish and style, and the overwhelmingly enormous world is too lifeless to keep you entertained. Thus, FUEL never manages to impress, making it nothing more than an average off road-racer inferior to competitors like Pure and Motorstorm.

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Meristation

Huge as it is, Fuel has many good things to offer. Fun gameplay, incredibly big environments, good visuals and a lot of challenges are on the plus side. But it lacks any depth, and the lack of a career mode makes all the trip a bit illogical. Good game with good ideas, ideal for arcade lovers, but not so much for those who look for a much deeper experience.

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SpazioGames

Fuel is without a doubt a complete game, that thanks to the numerous unlockable areas, cars, challenges and so on, reaches an enviable longevity. Unfortunately the gameplay lacks all the functionality typical of the competition, and there are some techincal issues that ruin the overall score. Fuel is a game for all arcade-off-road racing games, but beware as you won't find the dynamism of Motorstorm nor the attention to detail of Pure, but a different game, with good free-roaming gameplay.

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ImpulseGamer

At the end of the day, it seems that the developers were a little too ambitious with this game, although I must admit that we did enjoy the first half of this game, unfortunately after that it does become a little too repetitive.

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Everyeye.it

The structure (divided in free roaming phases and simple races) is unbalanced, the global style not so shiny, and the phisical engine has many issues. Just for Arcade lovers.

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Multiplayer.it

14000 square kilometers are not enough to make a good game. Fuel tries to overlap its competitors by taking a sand box approach to the genre, but it fails by offering races that are neither challenging nor thrilling set in enormous and boring open spaces.

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Gameplayer Sweden

While the racing experience in Fuel is far from perfect, the sheer size and beauty of the game world still makes it an off road racing game worth checking out.

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GameSpot

This expansive arcade racer may be ambitious, but it doesn't nail all of the basics.

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Eurogamer Portugal

Minor details takes down the magnificence this game could have. Nevertheless, some good ideas made me want to see a possible sequel with this whole basis, but free of errors.

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PS3bloggen.se

Fuel was a bit of a disappointment. Yes, the world is large and looks good. Yes, there is a lot to do in this Guinness Book of Records-game. And yes, I like the notion of a free world to do whatever I want in. But the physics and the feeling lack several important pieces for this to be a great game.

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GameZone

A cool-looking racing game that ultimately crumbles under the weight of its own slow pace.

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PSX Extreme

Despite its massive terrain, a barren game world, a poorly structured and limited scope prevents Fuel from being anything worth your time.

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NZGamer

Fuel feels like one giant exercise in proving a point, a huge technical achievement that manages to eschew the fundamental rules of a good racer and drive itself, tragically, into mediocrity.

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GameTrailers

Fuel may set records and feature tons of things to do, but very little of it is actually worth doing. While the scale of its world may be impressive on paper, this is one case where bigger isn't necessarily better.

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IGN

After putting in numerous hours with Fuel, I've struggled to find anything that I especially like about it. The racing has issues, but in and of itself (outside of not being able to select a ride you might want), it works well enough. Not great, but well enough.

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Total Video Games

We had high hopes for FUEL, which promised to offer an expansive game world teaming with insane weather and even crazier racing. Ultimately, however, Asobo Studio has served up a barren wasteland filled with nothing to do, bland race events, and weather effects that are far less dynamic than Codemasters might have you believe.

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Eurogamer

There's no denying Asobo's achievement in building such a daring, beautiful landscape on such a vast scale, but the core of any good racing game is falling in love with its vehicles, the things you can do with them, and the places you can take them, and by that measure FUEL is distinctly average.

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1UP

Ultimately, this is a missed opportunity through and through. I would have expected better from a Codemasters published game.

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Gamer.nl

Fuel is a race game with two faces. On one hand you've got a huge and open world in which the impressive weather effects and the sheer size alone are a new milestone in it's genre. But on the other hand the game feels a little lost and lacks decent gameplay mechanics. In the end the flaws take the upper hand and giving us the feeling that Fuel could have been so much more.

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Eurogamer Italy

Lot of content, little quality. A huge world to explore is not enough.

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Eurogamer Spain

It's always fun to race through FUEL's huge scenarios without a particular reason, if you're patient enough.

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Level7.nu

The massive world and tons of secrets to be found in it are two of the few strengths in what is otherwise a really bad racing game. Poor AI, horrid driving mechanics, shoddy physics and tacky design. Put simply, avoid at all costs.

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My Gamer

Fuel definitely separates itself from the competition with its expansive open area. However, despite its technical achievements, it fails to nail the basic necessities that most of its competitors games give.

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Play UK

Fuel is just too ugly, unpolished and lacking in focus to have any impact on the genre, crossing the finish line on just the wrong side of average.

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Playstation Official Magazine Australia

A mess in need of a thorough overhaul. [July 2009, p.81]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 15 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Cesar P gave it a6:
This game is boring but as I played it more it got kind of fun. Vehicle designs are horrible, liveries ugly. Racing is boring and so are the challenges. The chopper chase is stupid.The AI is cheap, sometimes they try to go over a hill they can't climb and you end on winning the race without a problem. The more interesting races are the ones with tornadoes.The day/night cycle is too damn fast. I wish some DLC could fix that like MC:LA cycles. I saw some jets flying why can't we use them it would be cool. I wish L1 & R1 were used for nitrous or punching. When your damage meter reaches its capacity it doesn't show an awesome crash like Motorstorm it goes to a screen that says FUEL thats it and you respawn. The music is another letdown hope some DLC you can put your own playlist. The map is huge and I can see why it's in the records for biggest map in a game.If you do get this game try this From Tsunami Reef Camp go all the way to RedRock Bluffs Camp w/out using the helipad you can get a lot of fuel on the way and a trophy c'mon why is this trophy bronze it should have been at least silver. I wish there was some story and characters and taking over camps for glory. When on top of a mountain I wish the skylines looked more like GTA4's. Why isn't there any deformable plants, I was driving a fast monster truck and I destroyed a trailer but then I hit a small tree and it stopped me C'mon this is 2009 we shouldn't be seeing that right now.I'm disappointed in Codemasters and Asobo Studios. What a letdown.

Komrad A gave it an8:
I am SO glad i played this game. I had high hopes for this and i wasn't let down. The Environment can be absolutely STUNNING. There are games that exist that you're glad you played. This one is definitely one. If you need to be ushered into the races and do not want to stray from a race to whimsically explore your surrounding, stay away from this game. But if you like to explore, drive off a cliff for no good reason, marvel at how incredibly similar you drive to Evel Knievel, Fuel is the place to be. Asobo is now on my map. The only things i had a problem with was the AI ( they slow down at the last lap / check point etc. whatever is the last portion ) in the races and Mediocre music. ( not like in the trailer or start screen or remotely close. this could have been fixed with the ability to play your own playlist.)

Ken C gave it a1:
Fuel was a huge letdown. Not what it was hyped up to be. I pre-paid for my copy at gamestop 3 weeks in advance and traded it back in for $20 the day after it was released. I was told there was already a scheduled price drop and that was the reason for the $20 trade in value(Go figure). Go back to the drawing board Codemasters. Seriously, Motorstorm came out almost 3 years ago and nobody can even come close to it??? Whats up??

Phil F. gave it an8:
This game is really cool, comparison with Motorstorm is inevitable but this game stands on his own. Graphic are great, the play zone is gigantic and the sounds is cool. Minus to the control which is a bit clunky at times. It's a great game that doesn't deserve a 5 or less. My opinion.

Sébastien M. gave it a9:
Great game, nice graphics, not much eye candy like Motorstorm. but good nonetheless. Sound effects are quite average. Controls are a little bit floaty, but the vehicles behave nicely on the different surfaces (gravel, asphalt, mud,etc). The game is very focused on exploration and unlocking things (liveries, challenges vehicles and so on). The game map is splitted in 19 areas, and there are tons of stuff to find and races to win in every one of them. You can free roam where you want and when you want. You have to unlock areas to race there by completing races and earning stars. The map is absolutely huge, never seen before in video gaming history:it took me 45 minutes of real time to drive from one area to two areas further.; I suppose it can take 5-6 hours to drive around the map. Don't worry, you can "teleport" with the helicopter to places you've already been. Multiplayer seems good to with lots of stuff to do and free roaming with other pilots. Good game, not for everyone, but if you like to free roam and like "sandbox" like racing games like Burnout Paradise and Test Drive Unlimited give this one a try.

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