Fuel Review

Gimme that which we desire

Fuel might have a huge open world – and it is really, really big – but for a technically impressive game it’s actually not all that graphically impressive, to be honest. It doesn’t matter if the world is completely free-roaming and comprises a record-breaking 5,560 square miles; it still doesn’t look good.

As with all console games, there’s a distinct lack of AA in Fuel and while we can’t speak for all versions universally, the copy that we played on the PlayStation 3 had texture-work that was erratic at best.

While some of the ground textures looked incredibly detailed (especially under the blur filter that wraps around the edges of the screen), some in-game objects are incredibly disappointing even to a casual inspection.

Worse than the inconsistent textures though are the frequently faulty physics, which are tragic bordering on laughable. Sometimes the game engine will let you slam into a tree at 90 miles per hour on a motorbike and you’ll do nothing but come to a full stop. Other times you’ll deflect straight up into the air.


Only occasionally will actually you fly off your bike and go sprawling when you hit something – and even then you don’t see the ragdoll, as you’re booted straight back to a load-screen before being reset back on the track – and occasionally facing the wrong direction. Which is, y'know, helpful.

Loading is a difficult point to broach in Fuel, because no matter how you look at it one of the truly impressive things about the game is that you could drive straight across the colossal landscape and never see a loading screen. On the other hand though, why would you want to? 5,560 square miles isn’t a boast; it’s an accurate measurement – one that it’d take you an age to cross when you’re limited to conventional transport. Better to just use the map system to fast-travel to where you want to go.

The claim that you can travel across the entire game without ever seeing a loading screen is perhaps a misleading too, as there are loading screens – several of them in fact – it’s just that they all appear before the game starts. This initial loading takes ages too, with each loading screen only depositing you in another one until you eventually break through to the main menu.


Combine that fact with fact that the game has to spend a good 15 minutes installing on the PlayStation 3 too and suddenly the lack of in-game loading isn’t all that impressive. After all, Oblivion didn’t have any in-game loading when you were outside either and that had all the stuff that Fuel doesn’t have, like good AI and decent graphics.

The main thing that spoils the graphics in Fuel though isn’t the lack of reliable physics or the flat-feeling textures, but the limited view distance. Just a handful of races confirmed that another thing Oblivion and Fuel share is a distracting amount of pop-up that’s been unfortunately combined with a level-design that utterly fails to disguise it. There are plenty of open vistas, mountain views and vast fields in Fuel and in every single one your horizon is spoiled by trees that ungraciously materialise in front of you.

The good news though is that, since the trees and bushes are always popping out of the nothingness, you’ve got a constant and easy excuse for crashing into them – especially handy if you’re playing with a backseat gamer.