Brutal Gamer

Motorstorm: Pacific Rift (PS3) Review

By Leigh - January 11, 2009 - 14:30 UTC

Motorstorm: Pacific Rift is the sequel to the Playstation 3’s launch title Motorstorm, developed by Evolution Studio and the series is an exclusive for the PS3. The original game was well known for being crazy as hell and a blast with friends, the original was also praised by critics receiving an 82 score on Metacritic. However the first game in the series major downfall was the lack of content which came with the game on the massive Blu-Ray disks, and the second one promises to not repeat, but the real question is, will it?

Read on to find the full review for Motorstorm: Pacific Rift.

Like any other game in the racing genre, it features a rather large tournament/career mode. Within this game mode you will also be able to unlock the vehicles for the multiplayer and you unacificlock them by progressing through the career winning the numerous different events and ranking up. During the career you will play on the 4 different zones; Fire, Water, Earth and air, all featuring there own unique tracks and playing styles needed to win the different events. Each one of the 4 zones have a huge quite a large amount of playtime hidden away within them, as you have to unlock them by earning the points I spoke about earlier. Although this does sound fantastic, let me just let you know that some of the races are insanely hard, the difficulty curve is extremely harsh on the player, going from easy to take-the-piss mode, without a moments notice.

Through-out the career mode you’ll be given the chance to do specific game modes; checkpoint, elimination and just your bog standard race but with a wreck limit (this game mode is pure torture for the crap driver, me). Out of the three, well… 4 if you count the races without the wreck limit, the checkpoint events are my least favourite by a mile. Because the game is so fast, all the time, whenever a checkpoint spawns, the chances are you’ll miss the next one because there so closely put together and you can’t make the turn in time. And no, this isn’t just me being terrible at the game, it seems to be a common problem with most people who play the game.

After the first Motorstorm’s rushed development to make the PS3’s launch, it did look good but it easily could of looked better compared to other titles of its time,, but this is one of the areas that Pacific Rift shines. All 4 areas look unique in there own style – fire zone; 1ava dripping down the side of the volcano’s, earth zone; mud being slung into the air and covering every little thing, water zone; spraying everywhere imaginable and finally the air zone; lots and lots of enormous jumps with some beautiful views.

When I booted up my first round of Pacific Rift the lighting is something you couldn’t help but love; the speed, the landscape, everything. Yes I am praising the game graphically, but there I do have a bone to pick with the games textures. When a race starts they seem so plain and boring while you’re not moving, other then that there isn’t really anything other to whinge about. Unlike the original Motorstorm, the vehicles now actually make a major difference in how well you will perform in all the different environments, such as; monster trucks can be extremely useful through deep water as they can plow straight through it. However the lighter vehicles get screwed over big time by the deep water and thick mud, but they’d able to go through places the other vehicles can’t.

The controls still need more improvement as they’re fairly lose and the vehicles seem to slide a lot more then they really should, yes, I understand that vehicles slide around on loose terrain but this can sometimes take the piss. . Although at least they’re an improvement over the first game, hopefully if there is a third game they’ll perfect them.

It’s very rare that any game will have a soundtrack worth ranting for a paragraph about, but this game definitely has one. The game is packed full of trance, drum ‘n’ bass and dance music, which fits the game perfectly considering how insanely fast paced it is. It features music from some of the best artists in there ‘scene’ ranging from Pendulum to Slipknot, so it will tickle anyone’s musical tastes. I was fairly lucky when I purchased this game, due to purchasing a brand spankin’ new 5.1 sound system, and this was the first game to grace my ears.And fuck me, did it sound glorious, cars engines revving all around you, explosions of vehicles over boosting, it’s a sin to play this game quietly.

It’s becoming rarer that games have split screen features, 4 player split screen especially. The last game I can remember playing in split screen properly was Halo 3 at a party with a few friends and it was a blast, and I forgot how much I love this feature. Yes, I understand that it’s a lot easier to just play it over Xbox Live or the Playstation Network, but it’s even better to be able to see your friends face as you maul his small motorbike with an enormous monster truck. Now that’s a sensational feeling. With every major title (usually) comes an online mode, it was in the original and it’s back again with a vengeance. The newest game in the series features a 12 player online race lobby, where you and your friends can talk shit for hours and massacre each others cars, yet still be having fun. With the online mode also comes with a few game modes for your racing pleasures, to try and add some more variation to the game.

So here we are once again, the verdict. I love it; love it, love it, love it. I’ve been craving a good crazy-ass, fast-paced racing game for a long time now and finally have found my calling. Motorstorm: Pacific Rift basically features everything that the original Motorstorm had in it, but then injected a rocket up where the sun doesn’t shine to make it even more frantic and well… fun. One of the things which I do adore about the game is the lovely constant change between your state of mind while playing it; one minute you are having the time of your life in 1^st place, taking in all the lovely vistas of the environment, but then a few minutes later you are screaming at your TV because you’ve just crashed and now in last place. It definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat for every single race.

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