Motorbikes, ATVs and Big Rigs – MotorStorm features some serious vehicular goodness.Developing an exclusive launch title for a brand new video game system is a risky business.
Too often, games fall short of eager expectations, are dismissed as rushed, and resigned to collect dust for the rest of time.
Enter MotorStorm – a brutal, no-holds-barred off-road racing game for the Playstation 3. Set in the fictitious desert environment of Monument Valley, MotorStorm is a muddy kaleidoscope of dirty racing, rock music and hair-raising tracks where the goal is not only to win, but survive.
Players can pilot a number of vehicles from lightweight motorbikes and all-terrain-vehicles to big rig trucks that plough over and above the opposition.
The single player mode is shallow, though the thrill of just playing the game is reason enough to totally forget what it is you’re trying to achieve.
Track design in MotorStorm is mostly non-linear, providing different routes for the lightweight and heavy vehicles.
Raingod Messa, the downloadable demo track available through the Playstation Store, is an absorbing, goosebump inducing circuit set high above the desert floor. It’s like racing on a knife-edge.
But with fewer than 10 tracks to unlock and race around, you’ll find yourself wanting more, and more, and more.
The moment you pick up the PS3 controller, it is clear that MotorStorm has a definitive x-factor and it comes in the form of the game’s spectacular ‘crash’ sequences.
When you run into significant grief during a race, the game enters a matrix-like super slow motion mode that highlights every fine detail of your demise.
The music fades out as the camera pans around your shattered vehicle, and the driver’s body soaring lifelessly through the air.
Watching crash scenes feels like a guilty pleasure, but they are never repetitive because each sequence is unique.
Throw in a licensed soundtrack, which includes the work of Wolfmother and an addictive, although limited, online component and MotorStorm is a solid racing package. If MotorStorm is a reliable indicator of what the future holds for Playstation 3, the outlook is appetising.
Pros: The racing engine is incredible, track design is remarkable and the music is worth listening to. Online play is extremely fun. Bring on the beefed up sequel!
Cons: Shallow single-player mode, lack of options and less than 10 tracks significantly shorten MotorStorm’s lifespan.
Score: 8.5/10
