Oh Motorstorm: Pacific Rift. I wasn't aboard the PS3 ship when your younger brother was relevant. You were pushed aside during the Christmas rush - I wanted Mirror's Edge and Resistance 2, LittleBigPlanet and Dead Space; alas you were so close to getting bought - but never quite did. Until today.
Yes, for £19 of my English pounds I finally bought you Motorstorm: Pacific Rift. Got to ask myself why I bought Prince Of Persia instead of you last year.
Now I know this game reviewed well. It's a critical success. Blah blah. So it's not "under-rated" in that sense. But why the hell doesn't this game (or franchise, perhaps the original is good, not quite sure) get talked about at all. Here are some reasons it should be talked about:
- Graphics rival Killzone 2 in my opinion. Honestly, kid you not. I think this game looks amazing. I'd argue it's one of the best looking Playstation 3 games I've seen so far. Did I mention it looks amazing?
- Depth. I love the mechanics. For those not quite sure, you get boost, that heats up, hitting water cools the engine, however diriving to close to volcanic rock causes the engine to heat up. Etc. It's actually really quite complex, and makes it more than just racing. Little bit of puzzle in there, would you people who've played agree?
- Cars are well balanced. So I love the way every car has its strengths and advantages. Some cars work well in mud. Some aren't very powerful. Blah blah. Take the ol' Mario Kart light/medium/heavy formula and throw in about a hundred other different factors. Really cool.
- Multiple routes matter. Each track has multiple routes; the learning of which are actually important in Pacific Rift because different sections will have different effects on your car. For example - driving a car that performs well in mud, would benefit taking the "mud" route of the track. It's not all cut and dry, but there's a sense of exploration, aswell as puzzle and racing. Really well implemented.
- The online looks quite deep but I'm not far enough into that side of the game to talk about that really.
- Good music. Brilliantly mellodramatic intro sequence. Tons to do. The text has a real tongue-in-cheek charm to it.
Motorstorm does lack the speed of Burnout Paradise and can feel a bit clunky when you compare the two, but I never really realised what a good racer this is until today.
It's actually knocked me for six. I wanted to give it a go. I thought it would be alright. But I never expected it to be as good as it is.
Really recommend this if it's been flying under your radar for a while. It should be in every PS3 owners collection. Only real excuse for avoiding is if you hate racing games.
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