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E3 2008: MotorStorm 2 Pacific Rift
July 15, 2008 | 3:59 PM PST
E3 Disclaimer: Kombo's E3 previews are designed to inform you of what each game at E3 plays like, and what we think of what's shown. These previews are not reviews, and we reserve final judgment of each game until it is finished and released. These previews offer an honest opinion of what a publisher chose to demo at E3. So, without further ado, read on.
What the Game's About
MotorStorm 2: Pacific Rift is the more tropical sequel to the canyon hopping PS3 launch title. For those who missed out on the (awesome) first title, MotorStorm is an arcade style racing franchise set in a post apocalyptic world. The rules are that there are no rules. You and your Junker of choice (everything from rally cars, dump trucks, motorcycles, dune buggies, 18-wheelers and so many more) take to the track against each other. Ram, wall-slam, pile-drive, ramp, punch, kick, and kill your way to victory…or just win legit. That's basically the premise in a nutshell—win the race and survive. MotorStorm 2 swaps the rocky mud-slinging desert environments of the first game for a lush tropical island made from the ground up for you to tear through and tear up. It's pure balls-to-the-wall arcade rally racing at its absolute best with nitro boosts and everything.
What's Hot
I was a big fan of the original MotorStorm. Like the original MotorStorm, the entire game is based around one archetype (tropical island), but once again the designers use it as a strength rather than a disadvantage. Every possible idea you could every possibly imagine has been crammed into the game's tracks, and this time there is a grand total of sixteen versus the original's measly eight and Evolution Studios have also added monster trucks to the fray. The rouges gallery of vehicles control like you would imagine in your head, not like they would in real life, so it feels just legit enough to set the illusion in your mind, but not so real that the frantic airborne arcade experience is weighted down by such nuisances as "realism." The nitro system has been tweaked. Borrowing from the book of Excite Truck, driving through water cools down your engine allowing you a strategic extra few seconds of nitro boost. Just don't try to float a river in a low rider unless you like to swim.
"Use the boost to get through!"
Once again, there are multiple routes through each track and while each is accessible to any vehicle, but certain vehicles are better suited to certain routes. There's a preferred race line for each vehicle/track combination, but it's your job to find it. Of course, taking an alternate route with the wrong car can gain you the lead if you manage to survive it. Unlike the rocky, unbending terrain of the first game, most vegetation and structures can be mowed down this time around, but only with a vehicle of the appropriate size. You can pretty much deal damage to most anything you would assume you can damage.
Custom soundtracks have been confirmed. The most welcome addition is the 2-4 split-screen multiplayer. The original MotorStorm lacked any sort of split-screen leaving local players totally screwed. Going home and getting online was pretty much your only option with a home party. One would only hope that Evolution Studios will retroactively patch the original game to support the feature after MotorStorm 2's release. The desert needs some split-screen love too.
What's Not
When we saw the game for the first time a few months ago, (in a very early form) MotorStorm 2 had terrible frame rate issues. That's still evident to a certain extent. The thing to remember is that framerate issues usually get ironed out in the last few months of testing, so the frame bdrops are understandable and will hopefully be fixed. The setting and color palette can get repetitive (again, like the original) thanks to the single track type (jungle), but that's forgivable since each MotorStorm game is based off of a theme and runs the idea for every dime it's worth and the jungle provides so many more venues to explore (volcanoes, rivers, mountains, etc). Besides, green is much easier on the eyes than shades of brown. It's also harder to see shortcuts/alternate routes due to some of the heavy roughage and thick, narrow jungles, and this build still had some pop-up issues with track-side shrubbery and grass (but not for any major landmarks), but the title screen did claim the game was only about 70% complete. You're going to die and die often. You don't get frustrated as quickly as you would in some games because of the immediate respawn (after the slow-mo replay), but enough repetitive deaths will cause you to fall impossibly behind in the race, leaving you with cursing and restarting as the only reasonable option. Thankfully, they've included the option to skip the death animations and speed up the humiliation process.
Outlook
Pacific Rift is a racing game, so obviously there is only so much room for innovation. And MotorStorm 2 doesn't really step very far away from the original design, but that's such a good thing in this case. Games like MotorStorm don't need to be bogged down with customizable options and simulation elements. All you need is new vehicles and a new environment and then MotorStorm transforms into a virtual destructible playground of gasoline and flying car parts. It also doesn't hurt that MotorStorm 2 visually outperforms its predecessor, which is saying something considering how gorgeous the original was. It's nothing revolutionary, but MotorStorm 2 is fun as hell, and sometimes fun (and random vehicular violence) is just all you need.
What the Game's About
MotorStorm 2: Pacific Rift is the more tropical sequel to the canyon hopping PS3 launch title. For those who missed out on the (awesome) first title, MotorStorm is an arcade style racing franchise set in a post apocalyptic world. The rules are that there are no rules. You and your Junker of choice (everything from rally cars, dump trucks, motorcycles, dune buggies, 18-wheelers and so many more) take to the track against each other. Ram, wall-slam, pile-drive, ramp, punch, kick, and kill your way to victory…or just win legit. That's basically the premise in a nutshell—win the race and survive. MotorStorm 2 swaps the rocky mud-slinging desert environments of the first game for a lush tropical island made from the ground up for you to tear through and tear up. It's pure balls-to-the-wall arcade rally racing at its absolute best with nitro boosts and everything.
What's Hot
I was a big fan of the original MotorStorm. Like the original MotorStorm, the entire game is based around one archetype (tropical island), but once again the designers use it as a strength rather than a disadvantage. Every possible idea you could every possibly imagine has been crammed into the game's tracks, and this time there is a grand total of sixteen versus the original's measly eight and Evolution Studios have also added monster trucks to the fray. The rouges gallery of vehicles control like you would imagine in your head, not like they would in real life, so it feels just legit enough to set the illusion in your mind, but not so real that the frantic airborne arcade experience is weighted down by such nuisances as "realism." The nitro system has been tweaked. Borrowing from the book of Excite Truck, driving through water cools down your engine allowing you a strategic extra few seconds of nitro boost. Just don't try to float a river in a low rider unless you like to swim.
"Use the boost to get through!"
Once again, there are multiple routes through each track and while each is accessible to any vehicle, but certain vehicles are better suited to certain routes. There's a preferred race line for each vehicle/track combination, but it's your job to find it. Of course, taking an alternate route with the wrong car can gain you the lead if you manage to survive it. Unlike the rocky, unbending terrain of the first game, most vegetation and structures can be mowed down this time around, but only with a vehicle of the appropriate size. You can pretty much deal damage to most anything you would assume you can damage.
Custom soundtracks have been confirmed. The most welcome addition is the 2-4 split-screen multiplayer. The original MotorStorm lacked any sort of split-screen leaving local players totally screwed. Going home and getting online was pretty much your only option with a home party. One would only hope that Evolution Studios will retroactively patch the original game to support the feature after MotorStorm 2's release. The desert needs some split-screen love too.
What's Not
When we saw the game for the first time a few months ago, (in a very early form) MotorStorm 2 had terrible frame rate issues. That's still evident to a certain extent. The thing to remember is that framerate issues usually get ironed out in the last few months of testing, so the frame bdrops are understandable and will hopefully be fixed. The setting and color palette can get repetitive (again, like the original) thanks to the single track type (jungle), but that's forgivable since each MotorStorm game is based off of a theme and runs the idea for every dime it's worth and the jungle provides so many more venues to explore (volcanoes, rivers, mountains, etc). Besides, green is much easier on the eyes than shades of brown. It's also harder to see shortcuts/alternate routes due to some of the heavy roughage and thick, narrow jungles, and this build still had some pop-up issues with track-side shrubbery and grass (but not for any major landmarks), but the title screen did claim the game was only about 70% complete. You're going to die and die often. You don't get frustrated as quickly as you would in some games because of the immediate respawn (after the slow-mo replay), but enough repetitive deaths will cause you to fall impossibly behind in the race, leaving you with cursing and restarting as the only reasonable option. Thankfully, they've included the option to skip the death animations and speed up the humiliation process.
Outlook
Pacific Rift is a racing game, so obviously there is only so much room for innovation. And MotorStorm 2 doesn't really step very far away from the original design, but that's such a good thing in this case. Games like MotorStorm don't need to be bogged down with customizable options and simulation elements. All you need is new vehicles and a new environment and then MotorStorm transforms into a virtual destructible playground of gasoline and flying car parts. It also doesn't hurt that MotorStorm 2 visually outperforms its predecessor, which is saying something considering how gorgeous the original was. It's nothing revolutionary, but MotorStorm 2 is fun as hell, and sometimes fun (and random vehicular violence) is just all you need.
February 8, 2010
