Despite little content Motorstorm delivers great graphics and fun
Motorstorm is a hard game to review. On one hand it's full of great graphics, and fun gameplay. On the other it lacks features that many of us have come to expect in our racing games. Despite this I still can find a lot to have fun with.
Motorstorm is first and foremost an action game. It has some simulation elements, but for the most part its a what-if game. What if you could take a huge semi truck race it against a small motorbike in huge mud filled environments? Motorstorm answers this in what is probably the best aspect of the game. The combination of bikes, ATVs, buggy's, trucks, rally cars, and semi's really adds a layer of strategy and depth that no other racing game has. The tracks are littered with multiple paths. Different vehicles run better on different paths. It's up to you to choose the best vehicle for each path. The controls are tight and the wrecks are great.
To help with all this chaos Motorstorm has sublime graphics. While at first glance they may not seem too amazing after a run around the tracks you really get the sense of the tech behind the game. You can see cars all the way off into the distance. The grooves in the dirt and mud created by a dozen vehicles racing around is impressive, and the destruction of your vehicle is probably the best seen on any console currently. The game runs at a very steady 30fps and hardly if ever slows down. The only hickups occur on the main menu. For some reason the background video likes to skip a lot. I suppose it could be my copy.
Sound is good enough. I prefer to turn off the music so I can hear the crash effects and cars coming up behind me. After awhile of playing however you will start to go crazy after hearing that same turbo boost sound turning off and on.
Where Motorstorm truly shines is online. Playing against really people and trash talking your foes is what a game like this requires. It's amazing that all of this crazy action is completely lag free. Sadly the online features are lacking which brings us to the problems with Motorstorm.
Offline you have one mode. It's a race mode called "Festival Mode." It consists of multiple races in which you are given a vehicle and track and have to race the AI to unlock more races and vehicles. It's repetitive and gets old pretty quick. The problem is that every race is the same. It's all a typical finishing first race. You can't even play a mode where you choose your own vehicle, tack, number of laps, A.I opponent number etc. The lack of 2-player splitscreen is sad, but not a huge letdown when compared to the lack of singleplayer modes and features. The saving grace of online play even is lacking some basic features. The online lobby is terrible and the ranking system is as bare boned as they get, and some small features like being able to see what car your opponents have chosen is missing.
Despite all of this Motorstorm is very fun. The graphics are amazing, gameplay is top-notch, and the online play makes it all worthwhile. If you have a PS3 this is one of those games that should be on your shelf.
PROS
+ Amazing graphics and tech
+ Great fun gameplay
+ Great design on tracks
+ Online play is lag free and fun
CONS
- Complete lack of single/multiplayer modes and features
- Vehicle stats?
- Vehicles take forever to load
- Online Lobby is lacking
- Where is that damn inside the car view!!!
