ModNation Racers to get casual mode

By Ellie Gibson Published 13 July, 2010

Less aggressive AI drivers promised.

PS3 kart game ModNation Racers is to get a new mode which makes it easier for rubbish players to compete.

That's according to community manager Ramone Russell. Posting on the PlayStation blog, he said a new patch has been developed in response to community feedback and is almost ready.

"One of the improvements is the addition of a "casual" career difficulty that has less "aggressive" computer-controlled racers," Ramone wrote.

"I was able to spend some time last week playing the new build. Let me just say that I had a blast playing through the casual career difficulty and I think those that have been asking for this will be very pleased when you can get your hands on it!"

There's no word on when the new patch will appear.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (16) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • jonsaan #1 2 years ago

    WHAT ABOUT THE RIDICULOUS LOADING TIMES? That's the games biggest issue by far.

  • 8bitMofo #2 2 years ago

    Pfft, call yourselves gamers?

  • Spunkweazle #3 2 years ago

    Why not just take the front wing off your team mates car

  • BigJonno #4 2 years ago

    Sounds good. I bought this for my eight year old and, while he was making steady progress, he was struggling just to get to the next race, let alone complete any of the challenges. I lost count of the number of times he'd driven what looked like a damn near perfect race, but got hit near the end and came in last. For a genre that's going to attract a lot of kids and families, ModNation Racers is brutally unforgiving.

  • sonicyoda #5 2 years ago

    After all these years of gaming, you'd think someone would have found a way to make games load faster. Go back to cartridges I say.

  • darkmorgado #6 2 years ago

    Or, in the real world where we speak english:

    "We are implementing a patch to fix the horrendous rubberbanding and unfair AI"

    Amazing how changing the way you phrase something can turn a patch into extra content.
    Edited by darkmorgado at 13/07/10 @ 14:10

  • darkmorgado #7 2 years ago

    After all these years of gaming, you'd think someone would have found a way to make games load faster.

    There is. They can duplicate data packets across the disk to shorten seek times, and compress data better, something which they could easily have done with MNR as it doesn't come close to filling up a blu-ray. Hell, some developers say "hey, look, we filled a blu-ray!" when all they've done is duplicate data loads of times to get around the poor read time of the drive and not compressed anything.

  • vizzini #8 2 years ago

    Reading comments from so-called core gamers who need easier AI for Modnation saddens me. Even the hardcore aren’t hardcore anymore, what is happening to the world of gaming?

    The game is still quite manageable. Learn the track, learn where to boost, jump trick, drift, etc. Always remember to leave a level one boost tank available, for holding down circle to shield against hydras,etc. Learn to drift boost, so you can get boost back quickly; and remember that crashing while drifting will stop you collected your boost tank, so remember to snake in tricky sections.

    The hud on left shows when the hydras/rockets, etc get close to you, and the audio is a good indicator of when the attack is inbound.

    You can even look behind with triangle (on straights) to wait until they actually try to strike; to timing holding down circle perfectly. Yes some attacks need a level 3 boost to defend, but winning races against the AI without boosting isn't that hard either.

    Defending is a skill that everyone should be able to master in modnation. When you can do that; you’ll be able to beat the AI by half a track length, just like you do in Mario kart Wii.

    And no, the game isn’t suited for many gamers below the age of 15.

  • darkmorgado #9 2 years ago

    @vizzini

    That still doesn't excuse the fact that the rubberbanding in modnation is inexcusable, especially considering that the game goes down the all-karts-are-created-equal route.

  • trubadman #10 2 years ago

    Sounds good, at least kids have a greater chance of getting far in the career mode

  • vizzini #11 2 years ago

    Well, I tried to help with some tough love strategy, but even good tips disappear at 10 negative votes from public view.

    Good luck with career mode, it looks like a lot of core gamers really need it or a patch.

  • SilentNinja92 #12 2 years ago

    Thats why i never got this game

    Mario kart on the wii was great, ip until you had your 5th try on this one race, didit perfectly, and then got hit by something which has no game mechanic to dodge it. After much cursing i gave up on the campaign alltoghether.

    Im fine with losing if its becuase someone else did better. in online shooters when i die sometimes im not in the least annoyed as it was actually a pretty dam good kill. But losing when its the games fault is god damn awful

  • darkmorgado #13 2 years ago

    @SilentNinja

    Exactly. The problem with losing in modnation isn't lack of skill - it's because the AI is coded to cheat and the game is designed to punish you for trying to win.
    If I lose because my opponents are better than me, than I can take it on the chin and say "ok, I need to get better at this."
    If I lose because the computer is giving my opponents an unfair advantage and that there is nothing I can do about that, then I get pissed off, the disc gets taken out the machine and it goes back to the shop.

    Happened with Split/Second and it happened with Modnation.

  • Arwin #14 2 years ago

    I've told myself I defintely wouldn't buy this before the first patch is released. Looks like that'll be about a month away?

  • vizzini #15 2 years ago

    I know a few people thought this game would follow LBP's price after release; but I think this game will remain full price until it goes platinum.

    Even if this game had cost me £150 it would have still been excellent value for money, the editing tools alone are worth £100, and the loading times have become a small gripe, in what is the perfect karting game for me.

    The challenge of the career mode with the achievements provide me around 40hrs of single player fun, before I started playing multiplayer and creating stuff.

    Anyone who hasn't bought this yet, should really download the demo and play until they can win against the Elite AI. There's alot of fun to be had even just from the demo.

  • Gromit #16 2 years ago

    I am really bad at driving games, but I have really enjoyed MNR.

    All the create and share stuff is great as well, and it's really rewarding drifting round a corner when overtaking somebody.

    Have to say though. I think I may need the patch as it's getting harder and harder in career mode.

    As someone else said as well - the load times seem less noticable each time you play.