MotorStorm

The stage is set – there are no traffic lights to stop you, no traffic to get in your way, no roads to define your path, nothing… nothing at all; it’s just you, your competition, the dust, and the craggy, arid landscape of Monument Valley. You rev your engine at the starting line, as it roars with anticipation, waiting eagerly for the adrenaline rush it’s about to give you. The countdown begins, the engines of all your fellow racers begin to growl in unison … 3….2….1… the race begins. The roars get louder, like a caged beast being set free. The dirt kicks up clouding your vision, increasing the anxiety to a level that you’ll grip your controller hard, while straining your eyes to see the track through the dirt.

And that my friends, is MotorStorm – the game captures the intensity and uncertainty of off-road racing perfectly, allowing you to experience the grungy, uncouth and rough style of off-road races firsthand. MotorStorm isn’t about speed or turning corners perfectly; it’s more about control and understanding; Understanding the terrain, understanding your vehicle, and understanding that crashing into a gigantic speeding truck while you’re on a measly bike isn’t really a good idea!

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Speaking of vehicles, in MotorStorm you gain access to seven types of unique ones, each of which controls very differently – there are a plethora of vehicle types available to you and this amounts to a good amount of variety, and ensures that you don’t get bored of the action. The vehicles are divided into two types, heavy and light; if you like your vehicles with a little meat on their backside, you’d like the way the Racing Trucks, Big Rigs and Rally Cars handle; whereas if you’re more into slim chic … err, I mean vehicles, Light vehicles like Buggies, Mudpluggers, ATVs and Dirt bikes should be right up your alley. The weight of the vehicle doesn’t just decide how well it corners, it defines what route you should take too; if you’re in a heavy machine, you should stick to low ground, where you have more room to swerve while turning, whereas in the lighter babies, you can afford to take the high route which is usually pumped with a shit-load of jumps that only lighter vehicles can handle.

So let’s recap what we’ve seen so far; light vehicles … check. Heavy vehicles … check. Dirt races in the middle of nowhere … check. I’m amazed why you aren’t wondering what all these vehicles are doing in the middle of a damn valley, in the middle of nowhere. If that question did come to your mind, congratulations … You aren’t as stupid as you look! If that didn’t occur to you, congratulations … you are as stupid as you look. Either way, eat my dirt! * ahhem * Let me stop this incoherent banter and get back to telling you what’s going on here - the deal is that these vehicles are in Monument Valley to compete in highly coveted off-road racing event called MotorStorm, hence the name of the game. You’re here for the same reason, and as you play (and win) more you gain access to more events via tickets. Each ticket gives you access to either 3 or 4 races, and the rank you achieve in each race gives you a certain amount of points. These points accumulate, and after you’ve collected a certain amount of them you gain access to the last few tickets in the game, which give you access to some pretty tough races. So basically, the more you win the more races you gain access to, which at its base, is the same mechanic most racing games use, so there’s nothing new in this area of the game.

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That doesn’t mean that MotorStorm doesn’t bring anything new to table; in fact the terrain mechanics that MotorStorm uses are by far the most outstanding feature of the game. As you’ve probably guessed by now, the tracks in the game are formed by mud and stone, which is firm and sturdy at places, and loose and muddy at others. Different vehicles handle differently on different terrain in each track, and the different racing lanes provided to you have different soil consistency each (that’s a lot of ‘differences’ in one sentence! I shall try and use a different word instead of ‘different’. Doh!) So you’ve got to figure out which vehicle is perfect for what kind of terrain. If you don’t do this, you’ll probably end up crashing your ride into a stone wall, or flying it of a cliff (AAAAaaaaaa… *voice fades out gradually*).

Speaking of falling off cliffs, you’ll be doing a lot of that in MotorStorm. No matter how good you are, there’ll be times when a heavier m****** f****** vehicle will nudge you ever so lightly while you’re turning a corner, sending you plummeting off a nearby cliff to your slow motion, temporary death. Within a few seconds you’ll respawn where you crashed, and in order to get back into the higher ranks you’ll have to jam the boost button down. That brings us to the boosting system, which is quite nice in the game. The boost you get regenerates automatically over time, unlike Burnout Revenge or Ridge Racer where you’ve got to earn your boost. That doesn’t mean that you should keep the boost button pressed indefinitely. If you do so, your engine will overheat and go boom, blowing your dumb self into smithereens, again - in slow motion. To warn you when you’re approaching the heat limit, you screen starts to vibrate. The effect is quite cool actually, and I ended up blowing up myself quite a few times just to see it.

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Blowing up your vehicle has its own rewards too – when you crash, the game moves into slow motion, allowing you an up close and personal view of the flames and shards from the explosion, forming a pretty gorgeous visual. This effect is a lot like Burnout Revenge, only in MotorStorm; it’s purely cosmetic and doesn’t affect the gameplay in any way. While we’re on the subject of cosmetics and looks, I might as well tell you about the presentation of the game, which, by the way, is spot on! The game looks hypnotic in every sense. The visuals aren’t the most crystal clear or sharp, but that’s not the way a game like MotorStorm should look anyway. Instead the game has an apt grungy and dirty (in a good way) look, which goes perfectly with the off-road racing theme, just like a pepperoni pizza goes with Tabasco! To add even more to the mood of the game, developer Evolution Studios has given the game a collection of superb rock sound tracks and awesome sound effects, which makes you shake in your seat and thump your leg.

Speaking of shaking, I can’t tell you how much I missed the PlayStation 2’s rumble. The damned SIXAXIS controls stink in MotorStorm. Maybe it’s just me, but controlling any vehicle using the motion sensor, especially a bike, is really difficult and a rather unpleasant experience. I’d rather play using the analog and sacrifice the SIXAXIS for a little rumble.

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All said and done, minus the SIXAXIS part of the game, MotorStorm is probably one of the best titles for PS3 as of now; so if you own a PS3, you wouldn’t wanna miss this game. The only downside is that, like Burnout Revenge, the game has very few tracks (eight to be precise). Even then, the game doesn’t get boring quickly, since there multiple racing lanes in each track, and a large number of vehicles. All in all, MotorStorm is not as good as Burnout Revenge, but it’s an awesome racing game.