Review: Motorstorm (Page 2 of 3)
Don't Drive So Close To Me
But if racing is the cake of MotorStorm, crashing is definitely the icing. The effect it has on the race aside, there are few things more rewarding than watching your vehicle blow up into hundreds of pieces. Better yet, you can pause during a crash and rotate/zoom the camera to view the carnage up close.
MotorStorm's controls and HUD are rather simplistic, but this was an obvious design decision, rather than an oversight. Cluttering up the screen with meters and maps would take away from the game's gorgeous graphics. You'll find no speedometer, no rear-view mirror, and no circular course map. All you get is race position and a boost meter that displays your auto's temperature, but really, that's all you need.
Most of the action is right here, in the middle of the pack!
Dirt On Your Windshield
Most of the action is right here, in the middle of the pack!
And yet, while MotorStorm is undeniably the best PS3 game yet, it has some frustrating shortcomings. First, the slim number of tracks is downright disappointing. The downloadable demo tricked us all into thinking the game would have loads of cars and tracks, but the final reality is that the final roster is somewhat lean. Second, because of the tight physics, flipping and veering into a tight jam is a usual occurrence, but righting yourself isn't. You can easily drop to last place from hitting one little rock. At times you're better off just booting yourself into flames to get a fresh start. And lastly, MotorStorm may seem very simplistic to the point of being boring to some gamers. I personally appreciated the simplicity but it may just be a matter of preference.
Regardless of how you feel, there's no denying that MotorStorm is a visual triumph. The game's realistic graphics offer a tantalizing glimpse of what the PS3 may be able capable of down the line. This is the only racing game I've ever enjoyed playing from the first-person view, simply because I get to see all the game's details up close.
Just one last note about the 12-player online races: Shockingly, there's very little drop in performance, but who knows what will happen when the servers are popping with people. However, there's no denying that having that option is better than not. The lobby system is no frills, but a MotorStorm ranking at least shows what you're up against.
I probably wouldn't buy a PS3 just for MotorStorm, but it is the first legitimate must-have title if you've already got one.
Chances are good that one of these cars will be exploding real soon.
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