[E3 2008] MotorStorm Pacific Rift
We trade brown for green to see how Evolution Studios' off-road sequel is shaping up.
Published: July 26, 2008
Plenty has already been said about the original MotorStorm, some of it negative (load times, brown, more load times, more brown, ridiculous AI, all things we covered in our review of the game), but the positives for the most part outweighed them (gorgeous graphics, a keen level design sensibility that allowed for multiple cars to take multiple paths through the same level, ensuring that no two races with two different vehicles would feel the same). In fact, whether you loved or hated the game (and it did seem the most vocal parties fell into one of those two camps), MotorStorm was an undeniably different kind of off-road racer, and served as the foundation for what could be an absolutely monster franchise.
Developer Evolution Studios knows this, and apparently knows it well. They heard all the comments, all the lame catchphrase-powered insults that even we got caught up in slinging like so much mud at times, and they've clearly made it something of a personal mantra to address every major complain people had with the first game.
"Hurrrrrr BROWN?" Replaced almost entirely by the new tropical setting of a pacific island (hence the new title: MotorStorm Pacific Rift), a climate overflowing with variety in colors, including grey mountainous chasms, crimson lava flows, green and white beachside sprints, and, yes, brown and green deep jungle slogs where the new vegetation system gives the advantage to the new monster trucks in terms of where they can go, but keeps the variety and opportunity afforded to the smaller guys like bikes and ATVs in maneuverability.
"Durrrrr LOAD TIMES?" Fixed, both in terms of pre-level vehicle selection online and off (the former preserves the patched version of the first MotorStorm's static images to select rides) and in load times for the levels themselves. It still takes a while to get it all up and running, but it's not nearly as bad as the first game, and of course restarts are all but instant -- which is good considering the game is still plenty difficult (especially if you haven't gotten used to the new way the levels are laid out, but we'll get to that in a second).
"Only eight tracks?" Take that number -- which we already established actually felt like more due to all the different paths cars could take -- and double it. Now realize that the way those tracks are set up has been completely revamped from the way they appeared in the first game. Now, instead of there being a specific path for specific vehicles, any vehicle can go anywhere. You'll still run into cases where, say, you take a path and there's mud there, which slows some vehicles to a crawl, but because those 16 new tracks are also loaded up with more destruction, it's entirely possible that a path previously blocked off for, say, a bike, it completely open after a monster truck tears through the barrier on the first lap. Lap by lap, the courses will change depending on the randomized factors of all the different vehicles running around them. It's not just that tracks in mud will change, now, entire sections of the track will open or close due to things being felled, mashed, run over or blasted through.
"What, no split-screen?" It's here, for up to four players no less, and Evolution is promising that the game will look just as good with four people on screen as it does with just one, which is saying something -- particularly if they can get the whole mess running at a locked 30fps like they intend.
There's plenty more, of course. Stuff like a new boost system that lets you cool down your meter if you drive through water or run the risk of it going up on its own when driving across lava. Online play now supports 16 players, a Photo Mode lets you save some of your sexiest replays, custom soundtracks will let you finally jettison all those Pendulum songs (shame on you) and finally have some variety, AI improvements have been made, and so on. In short, the game certainly looks like it's going to be an improvement to nearly everything we had in the first game.
We actually went hands-on with a single track, trying out the new monster trucks (huge, as you'd expect, and rather un wieldy with all that weight), a buggy (nimble, easy to drive, and definitely our favorite) and bikes (zippy, but still very prone to crashing a bit too often for our tastes). The game's visuals, easily one of the bigger selling points in the first game, aren't quite as impressive this time around, but then the game is still getting some polish, and if nothing else the vehicle detail and lighting that was so damned awe-inspiring the first time around is just as good here.
One thing's for sure, though: MotorStorm Pacific Rift is about as far from the original game while still preserving the feel of a racing festival and plenty of random happenings every time around the track that we can't wait to get our hands on a full preview build. Lucky for us, that should be happening with the next few weeks -- or at least we hope, given the game's Fall release date. As soon as we learn more, we'll pass the info along.
Developer Evolution Studios knows this, and apparently knows it well. They heard all the comments, all the lame catchphrase-powered insults that even we got caught up in slinging like so much mud at times, and they've clearly made it something of a personal mantra to address every major complain people had with the first game.
"Hurrrrrr BROWN?" Replaced almost entirely by the new tropical setting of a pacific island (hence the new title: MotorStorm Pacific Rift), a climate overflowing with variety in colors, including grey mountainous chasms, crimson lava flows, green and white beachside sprints, and, yes, brown and green deep jungle slogs where the new vegetation system gives the advantage to the new monster trucks in terms of where they can go, but keeps the variety and opportunity afforded to the smaller guys like bikes and ATVs in maneuverability.
"Durrrrr LOAD TIMES?" Fixed, both in terms of pre-level vehicle selection online and off (the former preserves the patched version of the first MotorStorm's static images to select rides) and in load times for the levels themselves. It still takes a while to get it all up and running, but it's not nearly as bad as the first game, and of course restarts are all but instant -- which is good considering the game is still plenty difficult (especially if you haven't gotten used to the new way the levels are laid out, but we'll get to that in a second).
"Only eight tracks?" Take that number -- which we already established actually felt like more due to all the different paths cars could take -- and double it. Now realize that the way those tracks are set up has been completely revamped from the way they appeared in the first game. Now, instead of there being a specific path for specific vehicles, any vehicle can go anywhere. You'll still run into cases where, say, you take a path and there's mud there, which slows some vehicles to a crawl, but because those 16 new tracks are also loaded up with more destruction, it's entirely possible that a path previously blocked off for, say, a bike, it completely open after a monster truck tears through the barrier on the first lap. Lap by lap, the courses will change depending on the randomized factors of all the different vehicles running around them. It's not just that tracks in mud will change, now, entire sections of the track will open or close due to things being felled, mashed, run over or blasted through.
"What, no split-screen?" It's here, for up to four players no less, and Evolution is promising that the game will look just as good with four people on screen as it does with just one, which is saying something -- particularly if they can get the whole mess running at a locked 30fps like they intend.
There's plenty more, of course. Stuff like a new boost system that lets you cool down your meter if you drive through water or run the risk of it going up on its own when driving across lava. Online play now supports 16 players, a Photo Mode lets you save some of your sexiest replays, custom soundtracks will let you finally jettison all those Pendulum songs (shame on you) and finally have some variety, AI improvements have been made, and so on. In short, the game certainly looks like it's going to be an improvement to nearly everything we had in the first game.
We actually went hands-on with a single track, trying out the new monster trucks (huge, as you'd expect, and rather un wieldy with all that weight), a buggy (nimble, easy to drive, and definitely our favorite) and bikes (zippy, but still very prone to crashing a bit too often for our tastes). The game's visuals, easily one of the bigger selling points in the first game, aren't quite as impressive this time around, but then the game is still getting some polish, and if nothing else the vehicle detail and lighting that was so damned awe-inspiring the first time around is just as good here.
One thing's for sure, though: MotorStorm Pacific Rift is about as far from the original game while still preserving the feel of a racing festival and plenty of random happenings every time around the track that we can't wait to get our hands on a full preview build. Lucky for us, that should be happening with the next few weeks -- or at least we hope, given the game's Fall release date. As soon as we learn more, we'll pass the info along.
