An unstoppable force of fun, meets and immovable object of destru
There will always be arguments between arcade racer fans and sim purists. Like it all not, the fun loving arcade fans will always have an issue with those who enjoy 100 laps around an oval track. This might never chance, but there are amazing games in both genres. Motorstorm Apocalypse is certainly one for the arcade racers.
Motorstorm Apocalypse is set within the destroyed city ruins of a world being torn apart, by the end of days if you will. This makes for amazing racing terrain, as every hardcore "xtreme" (sorry, couldn't resist) racer on the planet makes sure they are in the lineup , to be the best on the planet. The vehicles driven come in all shapes and sizes and depending on the level, will get bogged down in the mud (like a sports car racing offroad), or zip through the city limits (like a varied types of motorcycles available). In each race, most of the vehicles are quite viable to use, however they all have strengths and weaknesses. Trying each of them out on all of the tracks, is fun of itself. Getting to know each track is even better.
The campaign is comprised of 3 storylines; The Rookie, The Pro and the Veteran. They are played in succession, with The Rookie naturally being the easiest and the Veteran proving quite the challenge. You are actually locked to using specific vehicles in each section of campaigns, which means you have to earn experience across all vehicles. It's never a chore to replay a race, when each race is so interesting. One minute it's an all out drag along the coast, complete with an offshore tornado. Next, it's through the burbs, with fault lines appearing everywhere and whole building blocks being levelled right in front of you. It's breathtaking to be apart of and even though tracks are revisted over each of the storylines, the changes are enough for them to remain challenging.
Controlling the racers feels far easier than the previous two Motorstorm titles on PS3. The whole experience feels much more forgiving. Vehichles respond as they ought to and there isn't as much skipping and skidding, which was more prevalent in the previous games. It's far easier to pick up and play and is in the category of "easy to pick up, hard to master".
Once the campaign has been all said and done, moving onto the online multiplayer is a joy. Using a very similar system to COD (with both track voting and perka available), it begs for repeat visits and feels like the community will remain for many months to come. Newcomes will feel in the race as much as those who have dedicated whole lives.
Whilst there might be so many arcade racers released each year, Motorstorm apocalypse enures it stands out from the debree.
