PS3: MotorStorm

Motorstorm is THE launch title for the PS3, but is it any good? You don’t get 50 different cars/vehicles, you don’t have 30-odd racetracks to choose from, so what has it got going for it that should make you buy it? Simply loads of fun; and you can’t get better than that from a game.

Gameplay
Ok so you've only got eight muddy, rock strewn, dusty tracks … “wait a minute!” I hear you say; “how can you have muddy, rocky, dusty tracks all at the same time?”. Well you can if the tracks are wide open with lots of different routes to take, so while there may only be eight tracks it can feel like a lot more than that. Plenty of scope to explore and beat your last record on each.

Vehicle-wise again you’ve really only got seven types: Bikes, ATVs, buggies, rally cars, trucks, mudpluggers and big rigs. Sure you get multiple versions of each but they all handle and look rather similar, though I have noticed the odd difference but it’s not really significant. Most are fun to play but you’ll find a favourite or two among them and one or two that annoy you. I’m not a fan of having to use the big rigs but I love the bikes and the ATVs.

The main part of any game though is the actual racing and this doesn’t let you down. It’s fast, it’s furious and there’s a accident waiting to happen every four seconds … and it probably will, even if not to you. As I’ve mentioned there’s plenty of routes to choose from on each track, some better than others depending on the vehicle your allowed to use. The bigger vehicles are better sticking to low routes while the lighter nimbler ones can soar like birds off ramps, into canyon walls if your not careful, around the upper rocky routes.

Difficulty-wise it’s got a good learning curve. The first few races are easy and it really only starts getting tricky when you get to the level three races, (there’s four levels) where the computer starts cranking up the difficulty and slamming you into a wall any chance it gets.

There are some downsides and they are pretty obvious. There’s no two player mode other than online. You can’t just play one track at random, well you can but you’ve got to select the track from previous tickets you’ve completed (that’s not overly hard and you’ll easily unlock most of them). It does mean it’s a pain if you want to race a bike on a certain track, you’ve got to find the track which allows you to have a bike. It would have been much simpler to allow you to pick a track and pick a vehicle but you can’t. There’s a lack of race options for single player, all you get is a race; there’s no eliminators, challenges, one on ones, speed trials … it’s just race-race-race. Personally I don’t mind this but it can get a little staid at times.

Graphics
These are quite simply stunning from start to finish. The first time your vision gets blurred from mud thrown up by that big rig in front of you will make your jaw drop. Seeing yourself on the big screen as you fly through the air, your biker or truck slowly being covered in mud, the trails left in the mud from your last lap not to mention the explosions—and there will be plenty of them. Lighting and shadows work well, the same track where you could see a rock sticking out you’ll find it nearly invisible at a different time of day. It simply works, though as always while graphics sell you to begin with they just become another bonus as the games goes on. Still, you will find yourself stopping and staring at times.

Sound
Pumping dance/industrial/rock tunes blast out and if you’ve a surround sound system it’s worth cranking it up so you know exactly where the other racers are and where they are coming from as they creep up on you.

Multiplayer
Cracking. It’s great fun nudging your opponents into the wall, off that bridge, punching them off their bike. Though it would be better if you could have done this in the house over a few beers with a split screen.

Finally
It’s a cracker. Loud, colourful, the jokes will have you smirking and the toys are great fun … even if the party hat is not quite as good as it could have been. Buy it.