MotorStorm - Review (PS3)

Can you remember where you were during E3 2005 when you saw Sony’s demo reel of the PS3? So many “target demos” were shown that it was hard to keep straight what game was what. One of those highlighted titles was soon to be known as MotorStorm. The video depicted a crazy scene in the desert where mud junkies were racing and crashing all over the place. The Sony community was thrilled, now all they needed to do was make a game that played like it looked.

That’s where Evolution Studios comes into play. They have a history of making “off road” games with their World Rally Championship series. Sony, more or less, gave them carte blanche to craft the next franchise to sit with the racing classics like Twisted Metal, WipEout, and Gran Turismo. The hype reached a feaver pitch when journalists and gamers alike got their hands on the playable demo which featured amazing visuals and fantastically fun gameplay. That duo alone was just enough to have eager PlayStation 3 gamers salivate.

Head To The MotorStorm Festival
The entire game is centered on one geographic location - a desert badlands full of rocks, plateaus, mud, and mesas. Adrenaline junkies flock to this spot to relish in dangerous racing and music. Think of it as Woodstock for gear heads. During the festival, you have control over a number of different classes of vehicles. ATV, Dirt Bike, 4X4, Semi, Rally, Mud Plugger, and Buggy cars and trucks are selectable for different styles of racing. You take your ruggedly built machine and race it on all kinds of muddy tracks. While the general location is similar, the courses are actually diverse while still staying true to the central festival theme. It might seem on the surface that the festival idea was just a way to loosely hold the game together, to the contrary, it helps immerse you in the MotorStorm universe.

Look Out For That Giant Boulder
Navigating your way around the unforgiving terrain in MotorStorm can be handled in two ways. The first is the most traditional method of controlling, the good old analog sticks. The other method for controlling the game is via the SIXAXIS controller. At any time during a race, you can toggle on the motion controls. The motion controls are very sensitive. Too much turning your wrists will send you jack-knifing left or right. If you have played Excite Truck, the principle is the same, only in MotorStorm you have the option to not use the SIXAXIS motion.

Depending on the mode of transportation, each car or truck class handles differently. The bikes and ATVs are fast and nimble but will explode if they hit a pebble. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the semi cabs. They turn as well as a rotating door filled with buffalo but they can plow through any obstacles in the field that would cause others to slow down. Subtle differences like that make each class stick out. Unfortunately, some vehicles aren’t as fun to drive as others. ATVs and Bikes tend to explode all the time and the Semi trucks go too slow. A lot of the problem steams from the paths the vehicles take. Each course has twisty and uneven surfaces that are more fun to drive on compared to the straightforward mud pit. As you imagine, smaller vehicles can handle the twisted paths while bigger ones can’t.

You Can Hear Them Come From A Mile Away
Part of the MotorStorm festival is music, and there are plenty of hard rock tunes to keep the gas peddle on the floor. There are enough tracks to not repeat itself too often. The music selection does a great job at making the MotorStorm universe consistent to the games concept. It should be noted that these are licensed music tracks so these aren’t original scores from the developers. Aside from the top notch sound track, there are the sound effects that accompany it.

The engines roar and the crashes sound painful. That about sums up the SFX experience for MotorStorm. They do enhance the gameplay quite a bit because if you have the TV down, you feel like you are missing a key piece to the game. Even the boost meter gives audio clues before your engine explodes into a fiery mess.

Next-Gen Has Never Been More Brown
The joke floating around the internet is that all the next-gen games all have brown tints to the game. MotorStorm keeps that stereotype alive but not without good reason. Mud will fly all over the place and you’ll see your vehicle and driver start to get all dirty from the AI kicking up dust and mud. There is a neat trick the developers used to make there be a slight risk driving the mud, splatter hits your TV screen and obstructs your view for a few seconds. Nothing too crucial, just something to make you more immersed.

The canyons you race in all look gorgeous. MotorStorm must have barrowed some assets from Formula 1 because the lighting looks just as good too. For how dull rocks usually are, Evolution Studio brought them to life with ultra detailed scenery and lighting techniques that compliment the landscapes. To add a more human touch, there are structures that are man-made so that the racers can better traverse the courses and vehicle specific routes. In high-def this baby will stun anyone that passes by. The max resolution supported is 720p which is more than enough to show off just how good this game looks. With all these fine visuals, there is not much noticeable slowdown. I did pick up on a few frame rate hiccups that didn’t last more than a moment. Even when there were chain reaction crashes, slowdown was virtually non-existent. To date, MotorStorm is the best looking PS3 game.

Racing At Its Finest
The biggest stand-out feature of MotorStorm is that it is one of the best racing experiences out there today. To say MotorStorm is just “fun” is a huge understatement. Part of reason why is the combination of smartly designed courses and complex AI that keeps the game challenging. The courses are designed to keep races chaotic. Boulders will clutter the race tracks and you have to decide what way to go around them. Think for too long and you’ll smash your vehicle into the side of a granite wall. Add the AI that gets competitive (sometimes TOO competitive) and all hell breaks loose. If you are old enough to remember how frantic some combat racing games, like Road Rash or Combat Cars, MotorStorm keeps that very spirit alive and well. You have a boost gauge which grants you boost power trough out the race. Use it too much and your engine blows up in your face. Strategic boosting is key to winning races.

As you race more of the single player mode, some of the key problems with the game start to show up. First offending problem is the limited options all around. The single player only has the festival mode where you race on the game’s terms. You can’t choose your track or choose your own vehicle. If you want to unlock more races, you need to beat through the courses provided. When you beat the first few rounds of courses, the AI really gets nasty and starts to play dirtier than the ground you are driving on. There aren’t any Time Attack or Practice modes to speak of so your offline single player experience can feel limited. Also limited are the multiplayer modes. There is not an option for splitscreen racing on your PS3. However, if you get online, that is when the ball game changes.

Getting online is very simple. It also opens up the opportunity to pick and choose your options for a race. Up to twelve PlayStation network users can race at a time to make the online multiplayer races just as insane (if not more). There are player stats that are collected during the game so you can see how well your opponents race by looking at percents. Voice chat support makes it possible to verbally sling mud to the competition as well. Unless you are without broadband internet, there is no excuse not to play online matches.

Must Own Mud Adventure
I had the best time playing MotorStorm. It’s not too often that after a review process, you’ll want to keep playing the game. MotorStorm still has appeal to me. Even with the limitations this is the first true killer app for the PS3. MotorStorm will now be an ever important franchise in the armory of Sony. Every aspect of the game works so well on so many levels that we can only hope it’ll get support through some downloadable content. I can keep singing MotorStorms praises but this is one game you have to experience for yourself, otherwise you’ll be missing out on one of the finest crafted extreme racing games out there. No joke, with MotorStorm, you are playing beyond.