The Game that Mario Kart Wished it was and Should've been years ago, but with One broken promise.
Where Mario Kart was more of a gimmick with rubber band mechanics, giving the karts in last place the best special items to use against defenseless players in 1st place, was never too fair when the game gave you no defensive options. Blue Shells anyone?! But Modnation cleverly lets you use Shields (at the expense of your boost meter) when activated at just the right moment so if you're really good, you have a better chance at staying in the top spots, instead of going from 1st place to 8th at the final stretch of the last lap... oh how annoying THAT was in Mario Kart games!
But I do have one gripe that really has disappointed me a great deal. I've been waiting a year for the Snow/Ice Track Theme that UFC (United Front Games) had promised and it finally came out just a couple of weeks ago and it's shameful. Pointless even. It's only cosmetic! As fun as the driving mechanics are in Modnation Racers, no matter what you're driving on, gravel, dirt, or now snow and ice, your grip on the road remains unchanged. How disappointing is that? Very.
I've spent an extra $10 on this new track theme over a year after the game initially comes out, thinking that the delay was their work on the kart properties for the new turf. Nope! All it is, is cosmetic window dressing. Shame on you UFG! Why did it take you a year to let us pay extra money for the roads to change from brown, to white? Thanks a lot. All those ideas on making classic Ice track levels in Mario Kart that I couldn't wait to pay homage to and make even better go unseen.
...Now with that said, the game itself, without the extra DLC is most definitely worth the current MSRP of $29.99. ....Just stay away from the pricey DLC as anything that's really cool to get, is already free of charge via free downloads in-game from the 2 million (and growing) user creations. There are still people playing online and you can usually find a fun race to have, especially if you have friends online or offline as the game supports solid 4-player split screen and 2-player online split-screen. So when you're not too busy making your own tracks to race against the Modnation community, or trying to get that blasted career winning trophy (the last race is quite a challenge) ..It's still lots and lots of fun.