MotorStorm: Pacific Rift Review (PS3)

forget Dirty Dancing…this is Dirty Driving!

When the shiny chunk of console joy that is the P3 was released, there were only 2 games that people purchased with this new console. The first being the console exclusive shooter Resistance: Fall of Man, and the second was the off road arcade racer called MotorStorm. Now of these two games, the one that seemed to showcase the new hardware the most was MotorStorm. Fast, furious and fun, with looks to die for, this was arcade off road racing at it’s best.

If you enjoyed the original, and love your driving games fast and dirty, then this is the game for you.

That was until now. MotorStorm Pacific Rift, takes everything from the original title, and ramps the volume all the way to 11. Now instead of just racing around a mountainous dessert landscape, we are treated to the driving joys of a full, island paradise. This time the races are split into 4 specific gameplay areas. These being 4 separate elemental challenges. Earth, Air, Fire and finally Water Zones.

The Earth zone is basically the equivalent of the original game, with lots of mud and canyons. Air zone has lots of cliff tops and jumps. Fire is based around a massive volcano and the water zone has beach and waterfalls. Personally the fire and the water levels offer the most serious change in the level design and expand a lot more from the original dull brown palette. The gameplay is pretty much the same, but hey, if it aint broke! As well as the stunning views and thrills that the single player game holds, it sounds like Sony have listened to the complaints of the fanboys, and have now included a split screen multiplayer option, which was so sorely missed in the original.

For all you Trophy hunters out there, you will be glad to know that MotorStorm Pacific Rift does support trophies, and has some cracking ones at that. You gain a bronze one just for playing the game for over an hour, and another for trashing your vehicle 250 times. Customisation is more prevalent this time round, and the number of riders clothing, and vehicle styles and types has been upped as well. This time the inclusion of the Monster Truck is a masterstroke, as it is awesome fun to play, and almost indestructible.

As every other game of its ilk, learning the tracks is paramount to opening all the available levels and race types, of which there are many more than the original game. Online multiplayer is pretty much intact from the original, but does seem easier to get into a ranked match now.

If you enjoyed the original, and love your driving games fast and dirty, then this is the game for you. The different settings & multiple routes make this a joy to play, either alone, or with friends.