Review: MotorStorm: Pacific Rift
Posted by Adam MacDonald on November 18, 2008
The original MotorStorm was a brilliant game, make no mistake. However, in my March 2007 review of it, I pointed out that it was too short and was infuriating at times. Thankfully, it’s clear from the word go that Evolution Studios have taken these things into consideration in the development of Pacific Rift.
While the first game was set in ‘Monument Valley’, allowing the (admittedly slightly repetitive) mud-based courses that looked so good on HD TVs, PR is set on ‘The Island’, which allows for much greater scope for tracks. But believe me when I tell you, they look even better than before. To name a few terrains, there’s lava, fauna, stone, mud and water. Water is an interesting one, actually. You see, it slows you down, but at the same time cools your boost bar.
Oh yeah, the boost bar. That was something which worked great in the original game, so Evo have kept it the same here. The breakneck speed is the same, too. As is the heart pounding action. And some things have even been improved.
The differences between the vehicle classes were astonishingly noticeable and realistic back in March 07, and here, it’s even better. It’s hard to explain, but after a while you’ll instinctively stay away from trees in a bike, yet plough through them in a truck. It works perfectly. The same cannot be said , however, of the new race modes. Normal racing is back, as you’d expect, but is joined by Elimination events, which do exactly what they say on the tin, i.e. that the person in last place when the timer reaches 0 is eliminated, and is also by checkpoint speed events. These are not so good, however, as you don’t see the next checkpoint until you’ve gone through the upcoming one, resulting in you having to stop and turn slowly, or crash into some trees.
Judgement
Despite these few niggles, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift is a spectacular game which improves on every aspect of its predecessor and is a must-buy for every single PS3 owner. 91.
