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This review refers to the Japanese retail version of
Motorstorm, which was released on December 14th.
Motorstorm is a great looking off-road racing game that plays well too. Unfortunately, this solid racing and graphics engine is wrapped in a package so bare bones, it makes Lindsay Lohan appear obese and the game difficult to recommend.
If you’ve downloaded the demo from the PS3 online store, or played it at a kiosk at your local retailer, you have already experienced most of what the game has to offer, albeit with fewer vehicles and tracks. The full version game allows you to race 7 vehicle classes (Motorbike, Buggy, ATV, Rally Car, Racing Truck, Mud Plugger, and Big Rig) on 8 tracks. Each is rated in 8 performance characteristics and some of the types offer noticeable differences (in handling, speed, weight, etc.) while racing.
The Japanese version of
Motorstorm features a single game mode called Festival, which is limited to one player. The goal is to win race events represented by 21 tickets. Each of these tickets contains 1-4 races and the player will earn points by finishing in 3rd place or higher. These points unlock new vehicle models, and each has a few color/skin options. Vehicles are unlocked automatically when the required number of points is attained. It appears that unlocked vehicles provide aesthetic changes without performance enhancements, although I cannot confirm this as there are no on-screen indicators of a vehicle’s performance traits.
The game’s graphics (displayed in 480p or 720p) are definitely the highpoint here, capable of showcasing plenty of colorful and detailed vehicles racing simultaneously. The tracks have some rough spots, but overall look very good. However, I did find myself getting quite tired of the brown environments.
During the races, there are plenty of opportunities to get big air and crash your vehicles in all kinds of eye-pleasing ways. I enjoyed the game mechanic of trying to angle my vehicles in mid-air to land efficiently, although the game’s somewhat floaty physics are most noticeable while jumping. The sense of speed, while not at Burnout levels, is pretty good. The game seemed to move faster when I played in the first person view (one of two camera views), but I am not sure if that was just an optical illusion.
Holding down the X button will activate Boost, which will give the player a speed increase as long as the button is held down. Using Boost increases the vehicle’s heat (visible in an on-screen meter), which will eventually cause it to explode if not allowed to cool down. Every vehicle is capable of using Boost, although each vehicle class has a different level of Boost effectiveness. As an alternative to the standard analog stick for steering your vehicle, you can use the Six Axis' motion sensitive features. As you might imagine, there is really little reason to do so (unless you are missing fingers) as the analog stick is much more precise.
The tracks are large, laid out well, and offer multiple paths, some of which are at different heights. It is very common to see your opponents racing above or below you, which makes for some pleasant visuals. Different surfaces (mud, rock, dry dirt) provide different handling conditions, and night & day races help slightly to add the variety.
For the first few hours of the game, the opponent AI seemed realistic and aggressive, but did not seem “cheap” or predictable. Of course, progressing through the game will provide tougher opponents, and from what I hear, they get downright nasty. Speaking of nasty, when riding a motorbike or ATV, the player (or AI opponents) can knock other ATV or motorbike riders off their ride by using the Square button.
For the most part, I liked the racing in
Motorstorm, but the lack of options, activities, and variety in this game severely limited my enjoyment of the overall game. In stark contrast to Project Gotham, Forza Motorsport, Gran Turismo, Need for Speed, and many other racing games, there is nothing for the player to do outside of the single race type offered. There is no car customization, purchasing, upgrading or anything of the sort. There isn’t even a way to change the player’s name from "Player", so that's how it appears on the race results screen. Customizable soundtracks are also noticeably absent, and since the game has, with the exception of a few songs, a generic sounding hard-rock soundtrack, I found myself turning off the music completely after a few hours. Of course musical tastes vary, but nobody doesn't like customizable soundtracks. The entire soundtrack is listed at the end of this article.
With only one race type and the only mode being a single-player grind from one similar race to the next, I quickly became bored. I would have stopped playing sooner, but knowing that I would be writing this article was the only thing that kept me playing more. The American version of the game is supposed to add an online multiplayer component, but if no additional race variety is added, I don’t expect that to sufficiently enhance the overall package.
Motorstorm is an arcade racer in the truest sense of the word. I found the races fun in short bursts, but an overall shallow experience is exactly the type of game you would expect to find in an arcade. However, if you enjoyed the demo and aren’t expecting anything more than additional vehicle types and tracks, then you won’t be disappointed in
Motorstorm.
Hopefully, the American version of the game, which is scheduled for a March release, will add much more than just a simple online multiplayer mode as much more variety would be required for me to re-invest time and money into
Motorstorm. Later this week, I’ll be selling the Japanese version to a local used game store to recoup some of my lost yen.
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Game Modes
- Festival (1 player mode)
Vehicle Types
- Bike
- Buggy
- ATV
- Rally Car
- Racing Truck
- Mud Plugger
- Big Rig
Course List- Raingod Mesa
- The Mud Pool
- The Rock Hopper
- The Grizzly
- Dust Devil
- The Tenderizer
- Sidewinder Gulch
- Coyote Rage
Song List
- Queens of the Stone Age - Medication
- Curve - Hell Above Water
- Kings of Leon - Spiral Suitcase
- Nirvana - Breed
- Primal Scream - The 99th Floor
- Primal Scream - Dolls (Sweet Rock & Roll)
- Slipknot - Before I Forget
- Elite Force - Presha
- Gluecifer - Automatic Thrill
- Hyper - Hot Rockin'
- Elite Force featuring Lunatic Calm - Leave You Far Behind
- Monter Magnet - Powertrip
- Pendulum - Slam
- Pitchshifter - Scene This
- The Reverent Horton Heat - Big Red Rocket of Love
- Spiritualized - Electricity
- The Experiment - The Cost of Freedom
- Trash Palace - Animal Logic
- Wolfmother - Woman
- Krafty Kuts & Tim Deluxe - Bass Phenomenon
- Everytime I Die - The New Black
CheapyD's Motorstorm Review - Now updated
