MotorStorm

Overview

MotorStorm is an off-road racing game developed by Evolution Studios Ltd and published by Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated for the PlayStation 3. Its initial release was on December 14th 2006 in Japan and during March of the following year in North America and Europe.

Note: The online servers for the game were shut down on January 1st, 2012.

Gameplay

The game revolves around the MotorStorm Festival, an extreme off-road racing event based on Monument Valley. In order to progress through the game the player must complete tickets which consist of up to four races for any given ticket. Completing races earns you points, which unlock more tickets and vehicles and the tickets themselves are split into a series of levels based on difficulty. Both first and last races of a particular ticket set take place on "The Grizzly" which is the longest course featured in the base game.

There are seven different vehicles classes in the game:

• Bikes
• ATVs
• Buggies
• Rally Cars
• Racing Trucks
• Mudpluggers
• Big Rigs

Each track in the game has multiples routes which are more suited to different classes of vehicles and the player must choose based on their vehicle the most suitable route that they should take. For example, if the player is using a lightweight vehicle its likely that the higher racing path which is typically narrow with a lot of jumps. On the flipside, if the players drives a heavyweight vehicle, they will most likely stick to the lower ground which is filled with thick mud and obstacles.

Every vehicle also comes equipped with a nitrous boost though players must be cautious because if the player uses it too frequently their engine will overheat and their vehicle explode.

Tracks

• Coyote Rage
• Dust Devil
• The Grizzly
• The Mudpool
• Rain God Mesa
• The Rock Hopper
• Sidewinder Gulch
• The Tenderizer

Additional tracks later added through downloadable content.

• Coyote Revenge (based on the previous Coyote Rage track)
• Devil's Crossing (build on the remains of Dust Devil - marketed as the largest circuit in the game)
• DiamondBack Speedway (specially made for online multiplayer destruction through two high-speed crossings)
• Eagle's Nest (first showcased during the Sony E3 2007 Press Conference)

Vehicles

Bikes

• Mohawk Indiana
• Mohawk Roadhog (DLC)
• Monarch Champ
• Wakasashi Razor (DLC)
• Wasabi Oshizushi (DLC)
• Wasabi Twinblade
• Wasabi Wildcast MX
• Wulff Enduro

ATVs

• Aztec Sabretooth
• Ibex Bushfire (DLC)
• Mirage Caliano
• Molotov Stuuka
• Wasabi Phoenix

• Wasabi Rascal
• Wombat Mudslide (DLC)

Buggies

• Beelzebuggy Carabid
• Humber Diablo (DLC)
• Jester BXR
• Jester Super BXR
• Lunar-Tec Rollcage (DLC)
• Voodoo Rattler
• Wombat Typhoon

Rally Cars

• Falfer Domino (DLC)
• Italia Gagliano
• Ozutsu Ronin
• Patriot '85 (Europe Only DLC)
• Patriot Renegade
• Patriot Surger
• Patriot V8 (DLC)
• Wulff Revo

Racing Trucks

• Castro Capitano (DLC)
• Castro Robusto
• Italia Vulcan
• Ozutsu Daimyo
• Springbok Kalahari
• Voodoo Iguana

Mudpluggers

• Atlas Varjack (DLC)
• Atlas Jackhammer
• Lunar-Tec Asylum
• McQueen Adventure (DLC)
• Mojave Slugger
• Monach Bulldog
• Patriot Bushwacker

Big Rigs

• Atlas Arizona (DLC)
• Atlas Gouvernor
• Castro Varadero
• Lunar-Tec Invader (DLC)
• Lunar-Tec Invader
• Molotov Drago
• Nord Viking
• Patriot Thunderchief

Soundtrack

• Curve - Hell Above Water
• Elite Force - Presha
• Every Time I Die - The New Black
• The Experiment - The Cost of Freedom
• Gluecifer - Automatic Thrill
• Hyper - Hot Rockin'
• Kings of Leon - Spiral Staircase
• Krafty Kuts feat. Tim Deluxe - Bass Phenomenon
• Lunatic Calm - Leave You Far Behind
• Monster Magnet - Powertrip
• Nirvana - Breed
• Pendulum - Slam
• Pitchshifter - Scene This
• Primal Scream - The 99th Floor
• Primal Scream - Dolls (Sweet Rock'n Roll)
• Queens of the Stone Age - Medication
• The Reverend Horton Heat - Big Red Rocket of Love
• Slipknot - Before I Forget
• Spiritualized - Electricity
• Trash Palace - Animal Magic
• Wolfmother - Woman

Update 3.1 added two new songs to the soundtrack:

• Elite Force - Devil's Crossing
• Jiffster feat. Bard - Beat the Devil

Release

MotorStorm was first released in as a launch title for the PlayStation 3. It is important to note that this version did not support online play, a feature that both North American and European versions had when they hit store shelves. Japanese players could finally play online when an update was released on June 20, 2007, along with a new version of the game called MotorStorm Complete. The game also became one of the best-selling games on the system, as 3.31 million copies had been sold as of December 2007.

Downloadable Content

Multiples downloadable content was made available for the game, which included new vehicules, paint jobs, and of course, new tracks. The first major DLC pack for MotorStorm was the Revenge Weekend pack, in which took place the Revenge Weekend, a small event that included nine new single-player races over the course of three tickets, celebrating the brand new track, Coyote Revenge. The pack also included new vehicules, like the Wombat Mudslide and the Atlas Arizona. Europe players also received the Patriot '85, a rally car based on the Delorean DMC-12. The vehicule never made it stateside.

The second major downloadable pack was the Devil's Weekend pack, which included new vehicules and the largest MotorStorm course ever; the Devil's Crossing. Build on the now-destroyed Dust Devil, the track included a portion in which light to medium-weight vehicules must race on multiples crossroads, where violent crashes can take places any time those vehicules come to this part of the circuit. Of course, the pack also included ten single-player races which took place over the Devil's Weekend event, the very last race being a one-on-one showdown against the Humbler Diablo, at night.

The last pack released for the game was MotorStorm Track Pack, which included two small courses made for the time trial and online multiplayer modes.

Updates

1.1 March 2007:

This added a buddy list feature which allowed players to play online with friends.

1.2 June 2007:

The fixed several technical issues, added several minor features to improve the online mode, and added a Time trial mode.

2.0:

Fixed more Online issues including headset issues.

3.0 November 2007, in The U.S. (October 2007 in Europe):

Fixed more Online Issues, and added Support for the DualShock 3.

3.1 December 2007:

Fixed several bugs. Allowed a 2D vehicle selector for online mode, (Instead of the default 3D selector which rendered each car, causing significant load times), and two new songs.

Trivia

Two single-player races in the game are named “ Giant Enemy Crab” and “ Massive Damage”, in reference to the E3 2006 Sony Press Conference.

The Dust Devil track has a banner which reads "Free The Runcorn 4". This is a reference to the four people who handled the builds for the game, which often took 12-13 hours. During this time these people were locked in the build room and were not allowed to leave until the build was completed and the discs burned ready for distribution to the test departments. The development company, Evolution Studios, is based in Runcorn.