Motorstorm 2 Pacific Rift - 9/10

The hype for this game has been huge lest be honest, it had a lot to live up to as the first game was and still is a great title. The first thing that strikes you when you load up the game is the intro, it was movie style quality that seamlessly entered into CGI while you were gawking at the “oh so sexy” mountains of a far away place. I normally skip intros but this had me gob smacked, even my wife who isn’t into games at all commented on it in favourable light as she walked past with no clothes on! Err….just kidding!

So I quickly entered the first race, and straight away it had the familiar feel to it, the controls are the same, the handling and feel of the vehicle was maybe a touch heavier (which is a positive but more on that later!)

Straight away I was blown away by the graphics in this game it’s a major improvement, for a start the richness of colour. Yes the environment they have chosen for this game is different and well done to them for that choice but that said it’s a major overhaul from motorstorm.

The way it moves is also impressive with very little clipping or lag with 16 cars on the track and rarely is that many in one spot anyways.

Straight away the game has some strategy though with the water element being a welcome addition to the game. Besides it cooling the engine it slows the game down. I find some racings games so frantic that your eyes almost cant keep up, this short slowdown just gives you time to catch your senses without interrupting the fun. It actually makes the game more fun to play too as your engine cools down off you go again burning up that boost, so I actually feel you spend more time in this game flat out than you did in the first game.

The vehicles haven’t changed much and frankly this isn’t a negative at all – too many sequels change everything, this is a case of yep it works good leave it, yes they have added a couple of big monster trucks and they are fun but its pretty much as you were. As I mentioned earlier they feel different this time, they actually feel heavy as they should, in the first game they seem to bounce and be floaty if you like. In this game they feel like they are actually on the surface of the ground, they haven’t gotten the physics right and while its not a simulation game you still want that physics to feel right, the steering feels right you cant just yank it left 90 degrees when you feel like it, hit something hard you do damage or you slow down, the game doesn’t feel like your own some imaginary piece of glass like some racing games feel like.

The difficulty level was interesting, I feel this game was much easier to win races at the start than the first game (sorry to compare the two so much but hey sequels ill do that to you!). To win at the start is a good thing, nothing like finishing 16th to make you think hmmm…..have I made the right choice here? You can feel like you’re progressing up the ladder..Im all for that.

OK onto the tracks...they have been split into 4 parts Earth Fire Water and Air, this is a welcome addition as each section is very different and you feel your'e getting a different experience with each theme of track...the water tracks are my favorite and are awe inspiring to look at..flying over a jump through a massive water fall is great fun, looks brilliant and is even better as it cools that smoking burning engine so it actually has an effect on the game. The tracks multiple routes are better designed this time and it doesnt feel as your going so blind this time as it did in the first game. 10/10 for track design! Ripping along beaches sections is also a hoot that must be seen to be beleived

The sound is been beefed up a bit the water makes it interesting and soundtracks are good too, again not a major overhaul from the first game.

The online experience was easy to get into, you have a choice of which regions you want to play in but there was no open world lobby where you can just play anyone, that’s something I’m a tad annoyed about as I feel that’s what online gaming is all about (reaching out to the world)..Sure have different regions as a choice but have world as a choice too (please!) as there wasn’t many people around I only played a couple of games and they were fun. One possibility I would like to see is a minimum of eight racers in each race, if there’s only 4 humans then the other 4 are cpu races (set at a level by the lobby host) this would make it more interesting. That said I think in a few weeks heaps of people will be playing this online as its great for that quick thrill for an hour or two.

Faults are hard to pick in this game as I feel it’s a great game as it is. If someone had to said to me 3 years ago we would be playing this I would have said nah mate you’re nuts! Well nuts I’m not - this is a good leap forward and you feel your part of something quite futuristic.

Cynics will argue we want something different! I argue and maintain improve on what you have got - master it and I think they have created a beauty in this game.

Get into it people you’ll have a lot of fun and to me that’s what video gaming should all be about having fun - can someone mention that to makers of Gran Turismo please!

Enjoy this - I did and will continue to enjoy this game!

Submitted by sven 14/11/2008 396 13

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More Info:

MotorStorm: Pacific Rift

Other Reviews:

• sven Review 9/10 by sven

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• MotorStorm: Pacific Rift Full Trophy List 08 Oct 2008 10

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