MotorStorm was the first PS3 game I tried when I’d returned home from the pre-launch midnight event at the local GameStation. It was, for many, the only game worth playing for months and offered a glimpse into what the PlayStation 3 could be capable of a couple of years down the line, with incredible graphics, dynamic computer AI and a decent online mode. So, give or take a few months, here we are, two years later and having spent a good while with the final version of the sequel, MotorStorm Pacific Rift. Does it live up to expectations? Does it take racing to a whole new level? Will anyone buy it in ‘LittleBigPlanet Week’?
No, no and, er, no. Right from the off, with the rather more muted introduction movie and the rather sparse menu options (although at least Time Trial is there from day one) something doesn’t quite feel right. It’s almost as if MotorStorm 1 pushed the developers and the PS3 so hard that any attempt to better it in any way just wouldn’t work, so they’ve stuck to their guns and hoped people wouldn’t notice. Sure, there’s many more tracks and a few extra vehicles, but it seems like the changes Evolution has made have been for the worse.
Firstly, it’s almost impossible to navigate the tracks. This might be because we’re unfamiliar with them, but we don’t remember having that problem the first time round - whether it’s the lower camera or the muddier graphics we’re not sure, but it’s hard to see where you’re going and quite often you’ll assume you’re going the right way only to get thrown back onto the real track half a mile back. The textures all seem to melt into each other, too, and the huge amount of motion blur might make you feel like you’re going faster, but when all you seem to do is crash into rocks it’s not really worth it.
The handling seems to have taken a turn for the worse, too: the smaller craft seem quite happy to suddenly veer off to the right, or flip over when stationary - something we tried to reproduce and tie down to something we were doing wrong, but couldn’t. We appreciate that driving through mud is tough and the sliding around is actually quite impressive (the track deformation is still there) but for the little ATVs to capsize for no reason is a little bizarre. These things together meant that our first few races all ended in 16th place; those Trophies might take some time to collect.
It’s not all bad, though, the music’s great again, and the split-screen multiplayer is most welcome. We couldn’t test the online modes because there was no-one else online (it’s lonely being us) but we can happily report that the load times are much improved, especially on the vehicle select screens which are wisely now all in 2D and far better to navigate. Naturally, we’ll stick with the game and plug through it, and hopefully have done enough to bring you a review before Friday and maybe our first impressions will have changed for the better…
November 4th, 2008 at 9:54 am
I have to agree with everything you said just from playing the demo.
I thought it was motorstorm one but with a few minor tweaks (ei the handeling being completly sh*t and the crashes being nowhere near as fun as in the first game.)
I got the first one at launch and was looking forward to this being a good fun sequel but there’s no way I’m gonna buy this.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:02 am
nofi…. hannes_truce…. You’ve put it in a nut shell!
Quote nofi: “something doesn’t quite feel right” - true!
Quote h_t: “the handeling being completly sh*t” - true!
I too played the demo on the day it became available. I believe it was on my system about 5, maybe 7 days before being deleted!
If my Grandma gets it me for Christmas, then OK - but my list starts with SOCOM, LBP, Killzone2, COD5, Fallout3 (I haven’t got it yet… aarrrgh), and possibly the Supersonic Smashing Race Car thingy from the PSN.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Our playtest was only after a couple of hours, we’ll put more into it over the next couple of days and hopefully it’ll pick up.
Diver68 Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 10:35 am
….? What…. Come on think about it…..
A demo is like - a golden calling card.
The ONE chance to sell your product.
If it doesn’t awaken the consumers interests then you’ve possibly lost a customer, damaged your image and set-off an unpleasant rumor!
So - this demo should show all the greatest things in a reduced amount - Right?
Well then - why make a demo to show only the sh*tty things?
The bits I saw left me unsatisfied.
The demo… well that’s long forgotten and deleted.
nofi Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 10:38 am
This isn’t the demo I’ve got, it’s the full game. I’m hoping that with further playing I’ll get more out of it.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Totally agree. I was very disapointed by the demo, somehow I was expecting alot more but it just looks like the original, 2 years old. Still the split screen mode is still great fun. As you put it nofi, LBP or Motorstorm 2?
Jas-n Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Both
November 4th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Nah, it won’t get any better. It’s just Motorstorm, but without the wow factor of the original. It may as well have been DLC. This isn’t even on my radar any more.
GamerRiley Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 10:16 am
That’s just what I thought Michael, DLC.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Hmmmmmmmmm, I absolutely loved the demo.
True there are some dodgy textures which look horrible, but in other areas this is the best looking game I’ve ever played. The sense of speed is great and I thought the handling was awesome. As a pure arcade racer i don’t think this is pretty peerless.
Even on just the demo there were so many WOW moments for me. Day 1 purchase.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:41 am
these are the first motorstorm 2 impressions ive read - and they’re surprisingly negative.
if u wanted a sh*tload of hits someone should submit this to digg or summat.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:47 am
I put loads of hours into the original MotorStorm, playing it for months and months.
The atmosphere created by the game, an illegal race, with great music made me play that game more than any other, probably for the first year of owning a PS3.
For a launch title the graphics were amazing, and more than any other title in the early days showed what the PS3 was capable of.
It was the first title which looked like it wouldn’t be possible on another console.
And I loved it, the single player mode had a gentle learning curve, easing you in and with a couple of easy top 3 finishes I was hooked. Then came the DLC with extra modes, and a whole new race ticket. Brilliant stuff and a real 9/10 and to be honest the only thing missing was split screen fun.
I was lucky enough to get in to the early demo/beta thingy, and the download seemed agonisingly slow as I couldn’t wait for the same adrenaline rush again that was offered by the original.
Finally it was downloaded, and I was in.
I was disappointed, I only played it a few times.
Perhaps because it was a demo and based on an older build of the game, but something didn’t feel right. Only once in the race I didn’t come 16th (!) and I’d absolutely got the original nailed. I had a few questions like why did it feel so different? Where had all the fun gone?
On paper all the ingredients are there, more environments to race in, faster load times and split screen action.
I can only think that because there is now a range of games and MotorStorm is no longer the ONLY thing to play that my attentions are drawn elsewhere.
But these first impressions along with my experiences of the demo may now cause me to rent this game rather than buy it, and as a huge MotorStorm fan this makes me sad.
November 4th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Well if you liked the first one i’m still pretty sure you’d like the sequel - niggles aside, there isn’t anything like this around is there?
colossalblue Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Pure.
hannes_truce Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
and pure is better than what i’ve played of motostorm 2…
November 4th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Pure is nothing like Motorstorm. It’s closer to SSX than anything else, more of an extreme sports game than a racer.
Anyway. As for difficulty…I’ve only played the demo, but after trying out the disappointing Monster Truck and switching back to the trucks/bikes I was placing in the top 3 regularly. It takes a while to get used to, but I honestly think Motorstorm is the best pure arcade racer outside of Burnout.
November 4th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Not familiar with the first part, I downloaded the demo when it got released on PSN, only to be disappointed after 1 ROUND of racing.. The track is shit, the physics feel weird and the handling of vehicles is nothing to write home about either..
It’s sad that Pure doesn’t have offline splitscreen multiplayer, because the demo was awesome (in my opinion) and it would definitely be a cool 4 player game to play with friends.. The tracks, graphics and controls are all really great. Stupid move on their part (the developer).
dezej Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Ps. How do I change my user picture?
colossalblue Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
go to gravatar.com and sign in with the email address you use for this site, add a picture and hey presto it will appear here. After a little delay.
dezej Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Cheers
cc_star Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Can a link be put on the ‘account plug-in’ section on the homepage?
November 4th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
O dear, i wasn’t that impressed with the demo, but i was hoping the full finished game would be alot better, i’ve had the game pre-ordered for a while, and was really looking forward to it, this has stoped me in my tracks, although i will still get the game and give it a chance, it deserves that much on how good the first one was.
November 4th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Does anyone else get the impression games are now being released with known flaws just because the ease of patching covers a multitude of sins. For me, patching should be to improve things following feedback from the masses or to fix bugs that 99% of people playing haven’t even come across.
It seems like peoples expectations are being gradually lowered so we accept a few bugs on the promise of a patch soon after release.
Personally I felt the demo of M2 (that doesn’t really work as an abbreviation) lacked the fun factor of the original. The crashes are definately less spectacular and that makes them annoying, something the original didn’t suffer from. I had to go back and play M1 after the demo just to make sure it wasn’t the rose coloured specs. It wasn’t.
colossalblue Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
I’d have gone for MS2 or maybe even MS2:PR for an abbreviation but we all get what you mean!
I think the patching issue is laziness/a rush to sale for developers. It also means that if a game doesn’t sell well and it’s buggy it won’t be patched (properly) because it’s not worth doing. This generation of gaming is going the way of PC gaming in that respect.
November 5th, 2008 at 12:02 am
The textures were shit.
The colours were damp and for a paradise island, nothing was very nice and lush.
I’ve heard the graphics have been improved though since.
Is this true?