No, really: In Blur, when you hit level 50 in the multiplayer system, you have opened up all the cars (oh, Koenigsegg CCX, how I love thee), activated all the mods (Mastermine – which fragments other people’s mines and gives you the points for it – is my favorite), unlocked all the game modes (including Motor Mash and the fan-driven Community Event playlist), and hopefully have a decent strategy for all the tracks, from the tight turns of Hackney to the one-way trip down Mount Haruna. And when you reach level 50, well, there’s nowhere else to go. Except around the track, of course. Preferably very quickly.

And then, much like Modern Warfare 2, you face a decision: Do you keep playing with all the big toys, or do you challenge yourself by hitting a Legend rank and building up your reputation and garage again, based on pure skill?

As I write this, I’m level 40 or so. I’m going to get some more racing time in this week. And this weekend, the Blur developers at Bizarre Creations are offering a little Halloween treat – double XP from Friday the 29th through Sunday the 31st. (These are the perks when your studio’s logo is a jack-o-lantern.) That means for every race, you get twice as many fans, which means ranking up twice as fast, filling your garage with gorgeous Corvettes and Elises and Vipers in record time.

My mind is made up. I’m not wasting a weekend of double XP to just sit on my level-50 throne – as soon as I can hit Legend status, I’m going for it. Of course, it does not hurt that, by doing so, I will also unlock an exclusive car as well as a Gold Trophy. Plus, I get to use all the cars I earned in the single-player career mode in my online races, too. Armed with that, I’m willing to put my rank on the line.

The double XP goodness flows all weekend, but if you race Saturday, October 30th from 11am to 2pm, you might find yourself trading paint with the Bizarre Creations developers themselves. And of course, look for me too – my PSN ID is OneOfSwords. With any luck, I’ll be at the front of the pack!

While we may have to wait a little longer for the next installment in the James Bond series, gamers and Bond fans can take a quantity of solace in the fact that the suave super agent is getting the videogame treatment from blur developer, Bizarre Creations with James Bond: Blood Stone, a wholly original 007 epic penciled in for release later in 2010.

While much of the plot – from a script by Bruce Feirstein, the writer behind GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is Not Enough – is being kept under wraps for now, we do know that Blood Stone’s globe trotting thrills and spills are set against a backdrop that involves the diamond trade, a missing scientist and a new Bond Girl: Joss Stone. Yes, Joss Stone. The lovely Miss Stone, who was in attendance at the announcement, has also co-written and performed the games’ theme song ‘I’ll Take It All’ with former Eurythmics man, Dave Stewart; it’s a catchy one!

At the swanky event, Activision and developer Bizarre Creations showcased the game’s opening mission, a self-contained pre-credit sequence that owes much to the way the movies are structured. Consider it a whopping great teaser for the level of wanton destruction that’s about to ensue as you hunt the bad guys across a slew of gorgeously designed locations in true Bond style.

Set in Athens, this sequence sees the fledgling agent with a license to kill hot on the heels of a bad guy holed up on a yacht. Parachuting from the back of passing plane, Bond quickly descends to the yacht taking out a few henchmen in quick succession with a combination of hand-to-hand combat and pistol action. As the action ramps up the pursuit turns into a speedboat duel as Bond guns it towards his goal, shooting bad guys in slo-mo and dodging collapsing buildings, before switching once again into a high speed car chase through the streets of Athens.

Then BAM! It ends as Bond rams his target off the road and the theme song kicks in. Although it was only a ten minute demo, the intent of which was to highlight the varying gameplay elements, I was hugely impressed – it’s just a shame that I didn’t get to play it; strictly hands-off at the moment.

What I did glean from the event was this: it’s a 70/30 split between on-foot and driving missions (there are six according to the developer). By performing melee attacks through a simple button tap you can earn up to three Focus Kills, which allow you to mark and execute villains in quick succession – ideal for sticky situations, then!

There was no mention of multiplayer, but being that this is a Bond game, and Bizarre Creations are known for weaving superb multiplayer components (check out Blur and The Club and you’ll see what I mean) into their titles, I’m assuming it’s a given. I’m definitely excited to see where this one goes, and what kind of missions Bizarre and Activision will reveal before the game arrives later in the year.

Today, the PlayStation 3 demo of Blur became available in the PlayStation Store — and you know what comes standard? Pools of lightning bolts, explosive mines, bursts of nitro speed, and big glowing red balls of homing-missile danger. This is the kind of arcade-style combat racing that gets my motor running. Oh, and the mileage is excellent — I’ve been playing Blur for weeks now and I’m still not bored.

The Blur multiplayer demo gives you a pretty sizeable chunk of what the game has to offer. A dozen real-world cars, including I’ll-never-own-it-but-I-can-drool rides like the Lotus Exige Cup 260 and Ford GT; six tracks in two gameplay modes; seven mods that let you tweak the game mechanics to match your style of play; all eight of the chaotic power-ups; and the ability to boast about your skills to friends on the PlayStation Network with a single button press. (The full retail version also lets you brag on Facebook and Twitter.)

I’ve been pretty vocal about my love of this game over at oneofswords.com. I have hosted PS3 Blur gameplay nights on multiple continents, and have more in the works. I shared some of my personal Blur strategies for success (and people used them against me). I even had Gareth Wilson, lead designer from developer Bizarre Creations, on my podcast to explain some of the choices that went into the game and wound up getting him to reveal a key to success that I’ve been personally milking all the way to the finish line.

If you haven’t tried Blur yet, it’s understandable – heaven knows there are plenty of options when it comes to quality PS3 racing games. But the demo’s free for the taking as of today, so check it out and let me know if you feel what I feel when you play it – I’m @OneOfSwords on Twitter. And know that I’m serious when I say I will see you on the track…