Motorstorm: Apocalypse Review

Posted on 09. Mar, 2011 by Freak_c in Games, News, Reviews

Its the end of the world, seems like the perfect time to go racing. A city is being torn apart from an earthquake and this is just the right setting for the Motorstorm series, sprinkle it with some 3D, new art direction, re-mixed multiplayer and some serious ‘holy shit’ moments and you may just have the best Motorstorm to date.

Evolution studios have really put a lot of hard work into the game, bringing some new twists to the series while still wielding the classic, brutal, dirty racing that fans love and expect from the series. The new ingredients to the series are very welcome, especially the new multiplayer elements and vehicles.

Epic Tracks

This time round when you enter the festival you don’t have to worry about tickets, or events. Now you follow the story of three racers, Mash the rookie, Tyler for the pro racers and then Big Dog for the veterans. You can only start out as Mash where Big Dog ‘shows you the ropes’ of racing in Motorstorm. During each race there is a cut-scene presented in motion comic form similar to those of inFamous. These show you the story for each driver before and during each day of the festival. They also hint at what’s to come for the upcoming race.

The racers start out calm as the event is taking place in a city just before the biggest earthquake tears it down for good, so why not race? When you get near the end of each characters story the races are taking place during the earthquake which causes some epic races and moments as the track literally tears up around you.

This is the perfect way to get a holy shit moment and believe me there will be many. It also changes the way the races and your racing is, well… raced. As many of you may know this is Motorstorm and in each race there are multiple paths to choose from and choosing the correct path was usually the way to victory, well not anymore, during the next lap that very path may have been destroyed or blocked by a collapsed building, a truck or up-torn road. This forces you to take a new route and one which you may not be so comfortable with. Which may result in you either dropping a position and having to fight back for it or leaves you crashing… a whole bunch. You also cannot choose the type of vehicle you are given before the race, instead you get a pre-determined one during the festival (quick race allows you to select other vehicles).

Epic Racing

The city isn’t deserted and there are some crazies running around the track and some soldier from the company who is trying to evacuate the city by any means necessary. This means that you will be under fire sometimes which can increase your boost temp. There will be many factors that increase the temp of your boost but plenty of water around to cool it down quickly. There’s also the new air cool, while you are in the air simply let off the gas to help cool your boost quicker, time it just right and you could boost constantly during the entire race.

The racing is intense, epic, brutal and just plain awesome, true Motorstorm style. And now with the ever evolving tracks, which I must add there are a huge selection to choose from, all which have something for whatever vehicle class. There are some new editions in the vehicle classes and all the previous classes are there to. The new ones include a Chopper bike, Super minis and Supercars. The minis and the chopper are my new favourites. Each class of vehicle handles as you would expect and better on their preferred terrain, mud pluggers and trucks handle better in the mud while bikes are great in air. Each vehicle can be fully customised by you, from paint jobs to stickers, to many of the parts. You can then use your creation online to show them off.

As mentioned before the multiplayer has received a slight makeover wash with improvements. But the really great thing about the multiplayer is that everything from the races of the festival also happens during online. So that means that certain tracks and races are during the earthquake which disrupts the track, now add in 15 other racers and you can just imagine the mayhem that is to unfold. There are three main race modes to try out online, ‘Perks & betting’, ‘Eliminator & Chase’ and ‘Race’ modes. ‘Race’ is, well… normal racing, Eliminator & Chase’ races are where you have to do anything to stay out of last place else you get eliminated and ‘Perks and Betting’ is the new (and best) mode.

Epic Explosions

This is where you can choose your perks (yes like Call of Duty) and then place bets on the race with chips, which you earn during races. Perks are great as you can choose a layout that consists of three different perks, and these range from things like, explode and deal damage to other cars when you reset your car, stay in critical boost for a little longer, better grip etc. During any mode online (even private rooms) you are awarded chips or XP points for performing certain challenges during a race. These are drifting, air time, wrecking a player and others. These chips are added to your collection and help you level up quicker, especially in the ‘Perks & Bets’ mode. There are 40 ranks to go through, which will take some time as I have played about eighteen or so races and I am only on level 4. You will be glad to know that there is still the four player split screen if you want to jam with your buddies at a braai, but online is where its at.

Graphical side, the game is stunning and a lot more vibrant and colourful. The art style also has this comic book feel to it and it simply works perfectly. Lighting, damage, effects and plenty of chaos during races will keep the eye very pleased and the guys lucky enough to play this in 3D, well I believe it may be the best 3D game to date (sorry Killzone 3). The sounds are great and the voice acting found in the motion comic cut-scenes is delivered superbly. I must mention that the soundtrack is top notch! This may be due to the fact that Elite Force has added there magic tech funk touch to it, I just wish there was, like a jukebox area where I could listen to it. I will buy this soundtrack.

Conclusion
What more can I say? This to me is the best Motorstorm to date. Everything works so well together, the vehicles, the tracks and the way they change around you during the race, the new multiplayer, all of it is simply epic. You won’t find a better action packed racing game out there. Get this game!