MotorStorm Pacific Rift Review

By and large, the original MotorStorm was warmly received by critics when it was released as a PlayStation 3 launch title in Europe. Reviews generally hugged an 8 out of 10 rating for a game that was scored highly as much for its potential as anything else. You see, there were multiple flaws in the game that may not have been quite so easily overlooked if MotorStorm hadn't been the best of a bad bunch of launch titles for the PS3. Instead, visual features such as the terrain deformation that accumulated from one lap to another were the highlights of the PS3's initial range of titles, making MotorStorm's shortcomings a little more forgivable.

These shortcomings included a fairly drab single-player campaign, no split-screen multiplayer in a game that was crying out for it, online multiplayer that was unreliable at first (later to be rectified), and a complete lack of additional content (even a time trial mode, although one was later added with DLC) to keep gamers interested when the career option became dull. It was a bare bones racer and while those bones were certainly sturdy, the lack of meat that gamers could chew off them meant that MotorStorm became tedious quicker than it was engrossing.

Meat On The Bones

The fundamental challenge for MotorStorm: Pacific Rift was to add to the sturdy framework of the first game with lavish new modes and race types as well as a career mode that took advantage of this variation. Here, unfortunately, the game has failed once again. There are a few new ideas in there other than those that were in the original, with the prime examples including Eliminator and Speed events that can be unlocked by posting a fast race time or keeping to a crash limit in some of the regular races, which adds a fairly rudimentary carrot on a stick for gamers to chase.

Eliminator races were actually in the first game, with Evolution Studios adding online Eliminators in a post-release update, making Speed events the most original offering in Pacific Rift. These take the basic time trial concept and run with it, directing players through a specific route with the use of 30-odd tight checkpoint gates dotted around a lap. While we're always a fan of classic arcade style checkpoints here at TVG, it still doesn't solve MotorStorm's most pressing issue. The Speed events are an old and crinkly concept in racing games and they simply don't give Pacific Rift the panache it needs to rise beyond a basic driving experience.

As with the first game, it's the vehicles and circuits that offer the most variation in Pacific Rift's gameplay. Evolution Studios' decision to swap the dusty, desert canyons of the first game for the geologically manic terrains of Hawaii in Pacific Rift has been a wise one, albeit a choice that has come with some trade-offs. Although there are a wider range of terrains for gamers to negotiate and master between the four elemental tours in the single-player campaign (Earth, Air, Water, and Fire), this also means that Evolution's pioneering terrain deformation technology from the first game is less prevalent in Pacific Rift. The feature comes into play on circuits with muddy or sandy sections, which Pacific Rift certainly makes ample use of across various beach and jungle areas but there's also a hell of a lot of smouldering, rocky circuitry in the game as well (what with all the volcanic activity going on).

Obviously, these rocky terrains don't carve away under vehicles' tyres, which makes the track deformation tech fairly redundant in these areas, although Evolution has added in some new elements of strategy to make up for this. For example, while driving over pools of magma your vehicle will understandably catch fire, which has the effect of sending your boost limit into the heavens if you release some nitro into the engine. Counter balancing this are areas of low lying water or purpose built MotorStorm showers that cool down your engine, although puddles will also slow your vehicle down considerably (particularly smaller cars and bikes). It's a neat piece of gameplay balancing that at least manages to add a slice of freshness to this sequel.

As far as vehicles are concerned, the same seven classes from the first game have returned with the addition of eighth class, the monster trucks. As usual, each class offers up varying amounts of manoeuvrability, grip, speed, and sturdiness. Put another way, if you chose a Monster Truck then it'll dig into the mud agreeably and savage any other vehicles that so much as look at it, although there are trade-offs in the form of near pedestrian acceleration and the handling of a glacier. On the other extreme of the scale, bikes are nimbler than Darcey Bussell and accelerate faster than a whippet but they are prone to precarious slides across the mud.

Once again, Evolution has tailored the tracks to this range of classes, offering short cuts and alternative routes that benefit certain vehicles more than others. Track sections with deep puddles favour the big rigs, mudpluggers, and monster trucks, while Evolution has also carved out areas dense with trees or rickety buildings, making them perfect for bikes and ATVs. Generally speaking, a choice of two routes will be presented, with each one benefitting a side of the vehicle scale. Rally cars, buggies, and racing trucks are the agreeable middle ground, with no huge advantages but no sizeable drawbacks either.

New Surroundings, Same Old Appeal

If anything, the new surroundings in Pacific Rift add more significance to your vehicle choice because a more varied environment has allowed Evolution to design tracks that can pander to vehicle flaws and strengths more explicitly. Make no mistake; despite our criticisms in the lack of different race events that lead to a flat single-player game, MotorStorm has not lost any of its charm from the first game. It's still as addictive as the original and if anything, Evolution's changes to the formula have been beneficial in this sequel. We do have a few minor quibbles in this area, such as the game being overly fussy with vehicle and object collisions. You'll often get frustrated that your racing truck has crumpled at the foot of an insignificant post or that your rider has been vaulted from their bike for nudging the back of a buggy, but these moments of despair fail to cloud what is otherwise an enjoyable racer.

The entertainment continues over PSN with rock solid servers that make for races with either very little or no lag at all. A rank-up system has been employed with gold, silver, and bronze levels of experience and specific tiers within each level ensuring that ranking-up takes a fair degree of effort. Other than that there are the usual online race options, allowing hosts to specify everything from the amount of laps to the car classes permitted for each race and with up to twelve player slots being available, a fairly crowded grid can be achieved. A similar Time Attack with online leaderboards that came to the first game with DLC is included, while multiplayer split-screen is also on the bill this time around.

Pacific Rift adds visual appeal to the first game's graphics with additions such as endearing water effects and sharper vehicle models. The ripples that circle away from wheels as they plough through puddles are pretty impressive (if the spray is a little flakey), while the effect of water splashing up onto your screen is reminiscent of Crysis. Vehicles start off a race shinier and more angelic than in MotorStorm 1, while the race itself will add layers of dirt, scorched bodywork, or dust with ample realism depending on the type of circuit you're racing on. As was the case with its predecessor, Pacific Rift's crashes are more impressive than anything else you'll see outside of Burnout Paradise, although we do have a few reservations about the slightly unconvincing descents into lava that we experienced on some wayward jumps. Accompanying Pacific Rift is a fittingly hardcore soundtrack considering the subject material of near suicidal racing. Machine Head's 'Davidian' and a somewhat obscure techno reworking of Nirvana's 'Swap Meet' are the highlights.