Can you remember where you were during E3 2005 when you saw Sony’s demo reel of the PS3? So many “target demos” were shown that it was hard to keep straight what game was what. One of those highlighted titles was soon to be known as MotorStorm. The video depicted a crazy scene in the desert where mud junkies were racing and crashing all over the place. The Sony community was thrilled, now all they needed to do was make a game that played like it looked.

That’s where Evolution Studios comes into play. They have a history of making “off road” games with their World Rally Championship series. Sony, more or less, gave them carte blanche to craft the next franchise to sit with the racing classics like Twisted Metal, WipEout, and Gran Turismo. The hype reached a feaver pitch when journalists and gamers alike got their hands on the playable demo which featured amazing visuals and fantastically fun gameplay. That duo alone was just enough to have eager PlayStation 3 gamers salivate.

Head To The MotorStorm Festival
The entire game is centered on one geographic location - a desert badlands full of rocks, plateaus, mud, and mesas. Adrenaline junkies flock to this spot to relish in dangerous racing and music. Think of it as Woodstock for gear heads. During the festival, you have control over a number of different classes of vehicles. ATV, Dirt Bike, 4X4, Semi, Rally, Mud Plugger, and Buggy cars and trucks are selectable for different styles of racing. You take your ruggedly built machine and race it on all kinds of muddy tracks. While the general location is similar, the courses are actually diverse while still staying true to the central festival theme. It might seem on the surface that the festival idea was just a way to loosely hold the game together, to the contrary, it helps immerse you in the MotorStorm universe.

Look Out For That Giant Boulder
Navigating your way around the unforgiving terrain in MotorStorm can be handled in two ways. The first is the most traditional method of controlling, the good old analog sticks. The other method for controlling the game is via the SIXAXIS controller. At any time during a race, you can toggle on the motion controls. The motion controls are very sensitive. Too much turning your wrists will send you jack-knifing left or right. If you have played Excite Truck, the principle is the same, only in MotorStorm you have the option to not use the SIXAXIS motion.

Depending on the mode of transportation, each car or truck class handles differently. The bikes and ATVs are fast and nimble but will explode if they hit a pebble. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the semi cabs. They turn as well as a rotating door filled with buffalo but they can plow through any obstacles in the field that would cause others to slow down. Subtle differences like that make each class stick out. Unfortunately, some vehicles aren’t as fun to drive as others. ATVs and Bikes tend to explode all the time and the Semi trucks go too slow. A lot of the problem steams from the paths the vehicles take. Each course has twisty and uneven surfaces that are more fun to drive on compared to the straightforward mud pit. As you imagine, smaller vehicles can handle the twisted paths while bigger ones can’t.