Written by: HearItWow on May 14, 2011.

With a name like MotorStorm: Apocalypse, it must be an arcade racer.

In the world of racing games, there are two camps: Sim Racers, who demand photorealistic versions of their virtual wheels and customization options that require a mechanic’s manual to tune, and Arcade Racers, who want to go as fast as possible and smash things up on the way. With a name like MotorStorm: Apocalypse, it should be very clear who the game is meant for. The tuner crowd can skip this title, but the slam-bang action fans are going to eat it up.

Set in the midst of a mostly abandoned city crumbling beneath an onslaught of earthquakes and tsunamis, MotorStorm: Apocalypse makes some vital improvements in its third outing on the PlayStation 3, making this the best game of the series.

The Story
In the hunt for the next great racing challenge, the MotorStorm Carrier, an aircraft carrier that is home to much of the game’s cutscenes, has docked alongside a coastal city that is reeling from a series of earthquakes. Inevitable comparisons to the recent troubles in Japan aside, this is fertile ground for the crash-prone smash-and-dash racing that defines the series.

Despite the danger, not everyone has evacuated the city. Gun- and Molotov-Cocktail-toting “Crazies” roam the streets in packs, attacking the racers and generally getting in the way. A security company has declared all-out war on the Crazies for reasons unknown, adding some helicopter-based machine gun and missile fire to the mix. Only MotorStorm would pit racers against an earthquake and an urban war at the same time, and it makes for plenty of exciting moments.

We get to meet the characters through a series of motion comics, blessedly skippable by pressing the X button. None of what happens with these characters adds to the story, but the comics provide a bit of a diversion between the racing challenges, and an excuse to go grab a snack while you wait for the next course to load.

This has never happened in Gran Turismo.

Controls
The first of the major improvements lies in the control scheme, which has abandoned the seldom-useful  two-stick mechanic in favor of one that’s kinder to your hands. R2 accelerates, the left stick steers, L2 is full brakes, L1 is the handbrake and X is the boost button. Apocalypse moves the left and right Ram controls to the Circle and Square buttons, which only work as long as your Boost button is pressed. In later levels of the game, this aggression becomes a necessity, as AI opponents become more bloodthirsty.

There are other buttons here, but you’re not going to have the time to use them. Those who enjoy hand cramps will be happy to know that the Classic control scheme is still selectable from the Options menu.

Graphics
Anyone hoping for the lush detail of MotorStorm: Pacific Rift is going to be disappointed. Overall, the graphics and lighting have taken a step backwards, raising the question of whether those motion-comic cutscenes exist to make the gameplay look beautiful by comparison.

The prettiness downgrade is likely a necessary concession, and one you’re not likely to notice while you’re playing, as you’ll be too busy dodging your fellow racers, the Crazies, the security forces, crumbling buildings, roads that rip themselves apart during earthquakes, explosions, fires, tsunami waves, a renegade Ferris Wheel and a tornado. In other words, there’s so much happening around you that you’re not going to notice, and there’s little doubt that the cars, people and surfaces took a bit of a graphical hit to keep everything running smooth in multiplayer.

Where it counts, the graphics get the job done for the most part. There is no textural or object pop-in, and the vanishing point (that spot in the distance that great racers use to plan their moves) is always in focus.

In two notable areas, however, the graphics do come up short. Lighting, particularly in tunnels and during nighttime races, is simply too dark, forcing players to rely on memory to find their way rather than a clear view of the course. The lack of variation in textures also presents some problems, as it can be difficult to see the path ahead in places until you’re on top of it. Cranking up the brightness on your TV helps, at the usual expense of washing out the colors.

The Boardwalk tornado battle is about to become your favorite arcade racer level. Ever.

Gameplay
As of this writing, the PlayStation Network is offline, so only the single-player Festival races are playable. There’s still enough here to understand the mechanics and assess the tracks, which both offer massive improvements over Pacific Rift.

To answer the question that on most MotorStormer’s minds, yes, the AI has been tamed. It still rubberbands and presents a real challenge to those who want first-place finishes, but you won’t find AI opponents dropping out of the sky to cheat you out of a win at the finish line.

Starting your MotorStorm Festival career as a Rookie, you’ll need to finish in fifth place or higher to advance through the game. Once you hit the Pro and Veteran levels, you’ll need to finish in third place or higher. Grabbing first place unlocks Hardcore mode on a particular track.

In keeping with MotorStorm tradition, you are issued one of 13 types of vehicles at the start of each race, ranging from nimble but vulnerable motorcycles and the kart-like Super Mini to slow-responding road hogs like the Monster Truck and Big Rig.

Each track offers a number of pathways to the end, and matching your vehicle to the most effective path is the key to success. Super Minis, motorcycles and ATVs will get bogged down in water or mud, but they fly through tight spaces and corner with ease. Larger vehicles can’t handle tight turns and jumps, but they tear through water and mud at top speed.

About halfway through the Rookie campaign, the importance of mastering Boost becomes clear. Not only will it get you away from impending doom, like a building that’s about to topple over, but it’s also necessary to keep up with the leaders and to power across certain jumps. On some tracks, pushing boost to its absolute limit, just before it detonates your vehicle, is the key to winning.

With a single exception, the tracks themselves are a massive improvement over Pacific Rift, offering plenty of wide-open spaces to charge ahead or battle other racers, mixed in with the occasional sharp turn, choke-point opening or major jump. The maze of chicanes that tormented players in Pacific Rift’s Sugar Rush courses is nowhere to be found.

Gone, too, are Pacific Rift’s showers, which could be used to cool the Boost system to prevent it from detonating. Fortunately, broken pipes, ponds and ocean flats provide a coolant fix, and letting go of both the Boost button and the accelerator lets the Boost system cool while the vehicle is in midair.

Who needs a repaved Brickyard?

In certain races, the track will undergo tremendous changes as the player races through each circuit. Earthquakes, waves and NPC interference will sometimes render a shortcut unusable, or turn what was a wide stretch of open road into a narrow corridor requiring abrupt lane changes. In what many will come to cherish as the game’s signature race, a Big Rig is piloted along the coast as a tornado tears at a seaside amusement park, forcing the player to alter course through each successive lap. At night. In the pounding rain. It’s white-knuckle driving at its finest.

The exception to the fun is the Skyline course, an urban variation of Pacific Rift’s problematic Rain God Spires aerial course, in which all of MotorStorm’s flaws collide to deliver unpleasant reminders of past installments.  The concept of the course, which runs over the rooftops of crumbling buildings, is inspired, but the execution fails miserably. Begin with a course that is overly convoluted, with no clear indication of which path is most efficient (it seems that none of them are), force the player to boost constantly through blind hairpin turns on wet surfaces that cause every vehicle to skid, then crank up the rubberband AI to Pacific Rift’s level of cheapness.
It may be a simple case of not finding the right path, but after more than 30 trips through this course, I’ve yet to finish within 10 seconds of first place, and simply qualifying, even on Rookie level, was a chore.

Happily, this is the only course in the game that suffers from the MotorStorm AI affliction. Every other course can be mastered with patience, and second- and third-place finishes are often so close that it’s tempting to hit the Race Again button and squeeze out the win.

Dreamcast owners may recall a title called Speed Devils, which was the pinnacle of arcade racing on the system. Among its brilliant courses was one set in Hollywood, with a circuit that collapsed and changed during an earthquake. It was a brilliant bit of fun and something very different for its time. MotorStorm: Apocalypse takes the best elements of that challenge and expands them to a full game, delivering a raucous thrill of an arcade racing ride that will leave you exhilarated at the end of nearly every course. While it’s not perfect, it’s the best MotorStorm yet, and a must-have for those who prefer high-speed thrills to tweaking cars in a garage.

HomeFront (PS3)
GamePlay
Presentation
Replay Value

Overall
Final Score: 8 out of 10 Stars.

Synopsis

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has announced the return of brutal off-road racing to PlayStation®3 (PS3TM) with MotorStorm® Apocalypse. After ripping up Monument Valley, obliterating everything in its path on The Island and surviving the chilling temperatures of the Arctic, the multimillion selling franchise is back – and this time it hits The City…abandoned after being hit by a tremor. If you thought you knew street racing, think again – prepare for multi-vehicle action across the tops of unstable skyscrapers, through ravaged buildings, into darkened subways and over twisting bridges while jaw-dropping quakes tear the city apart in real time. Join us for the ultimate party … at the end of the world.

It’s no longer just about winning. It’s about a fight for survival. The abandoned metropolis is the perfect playground for a genre-thrashing, all-new MotorStorm action racing festival. Pick your vehicle from one of 13 classes, including supercars, muscle cars, superbikes, and even choppers, then choose one of 40 unique races while looters and military contractors fight for what is left of the city. No track is ever the same as you endure hundreds of explosive real-time dynamic events in the most unpredictable and spectacular races of your life.

In single player mode, experience a unique story of three characters – each of whom offers a different difficulty level – as they experience the insane urban festival from unique perspectives, and finally get to learn more about the crazy crew behind each MotorStorm festival. If you want to show off your reckless driving skills, you can race against 4 of your friends in split-screen or race against 16 players online; or combine the two. The Game Mode Creator lets you create, share and play totally new game experiences from scratch, and you can customise your vehicle in game or download new vehicles, parts and graphics from PlayStation®Store via PlayStation®Network and share designs with friends around the world. There are so many combinations that each player could own a unique vehicle to suit their racing style.

Get ready for 2011, for the most insane and adrenaline-fuelled racing experience of your life. Can you survive the apocalypse? Find out more at eu.playstation.com
For more information, please contact your local PR manager.