Codemasters Presents First Gameplay Video of FUEL

Codemasters has released the first in game footage taken from its upcoming racing title called FUEL. If you want to watch it in its full High Definition glory, then get it here from Softpedia. It's no less than 63 MB of data for about one minute of content, but we're gaming enthusiasts and we'll take whatever publishers give us.

FUEL is one of the most ambitious racing projects ever seen. The game aims to fully simulate the terrain and the physics of about 161,000 kilometers of real world space, going from Mount Rainier to Utah and the Grand Canyon. All the terrain in the game world will be modeled after satellite images and will contain all the features that the real world has, like the extended salt flats in Utah. The video clearly aims to show the depth of the simulation available in the game, as it focuses on the terrain before showing off the bikes, the roadsters and other vehicles that will roam on it.

Codemasters has set FUEL in the near future but in an alternate universe where global warming is much more powerful, making all the zones featured in the game pretty much uninhabitable. As humanity retreats from the wastes that it has created, racers are getting ready to move in, seeing the area as perfect for racing, mayhem and destruction. The players will need to battle not just other players or the computer but also the environment. The game features a full day and night cycle and actual weather patters that could lead to the development of dust storms and tornadoes, which might affect various zones within the game world.

FUEL is at the moment slated for a May release and Codemasters is set to offer more information as the launch date approaches. The game will arrive on the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and the PC, via Games for Windows.