MotorStorm (computerandvideogames.com)
- computerandvideogames.com -
This isn't meant to be a comedy game, but MotorStorm is chock-full of genuine belly-aching moments thanks to the very nature of its racing. This is no serious, by-the-book racing sim, but a crazy, shit-hitting-the-fan affair which delivers a truckload of standout moments. Even here at Future Towers it's being spoken of as an alternative to PES 6 at lunchtimes, albeit quietly. For netting a 30-yard screamer, read hitting the nitrous and launching yourself off a ramp and over about six competitors to take first place. Honestly, it can be a bloody funny game.
We were allowed to hurtle around two tracks recently; one was a perilous circuit around the cusp of a huge rocky outcrop, the other was set in a safer-feeling plain. While both offered shortcuts, this wasn't quite as expansive a feature as we were hoping for, although a few barriers were smashed through to open up new routes. Hopefully there'll be more on offer in the game's other courses.
It's not just the layout of the track which alters as a race progresses, but the surface of it as well. What with it being the desert and all, the dusty surface is prone to being churned up something chronic to create massive, bone-juddering ridges and ruts. Using a battered, rubbish truck or a robust 4x4 means that these pose no problem, and you've the bonus of leaving a right old mess in your wake for your rivals. Scrambler bikes and buggies, while light and agile, are extra vulnerable to these adverse track conditions - buggies especially, their loose suspension causing them to bounce around like Jordan's funbags on a spacehopper.
The destructive nature of MotorStorm is brilliantly realised, putting even the likes of the FlatOut and Burnout games to shame. You've got your overblown explosions, and they're very impressive and everything (often occurring if you leave your finger on the nitrous trigger too long), but the real impact is had with, well, impacts. Crashes and smashes have varying physical effects on your vehicle, leaving you with a few dents and scrapes, or perhaps a missing wing, or maybe even no bodywork and a horribly bent chassis - the amalgamations are numerous. And the thrill of dragging your smoking wreck around the course is huge, in a twisted sort of way.
GETTING WRECKED
This detailed destruction, and the believable physics at play as your car lurches around bends, makes up for the slightly pedestrian feel of the game at the moment. When the nitrous isn't being drained MotorStorm feels a little on the slow side, but then that's probably down to the fact that you're pushing up to a couple of tons of metal through six inches of sand.
The tilt control function felt very twitchy indeed, even on its lowest sensitivity, but will probably get fixed before release. All in all, MotorStorm was a huge amount of fun, even in such a limited form, and bodes very well for the final game
This isn't meant to be a comedy game, but MotorStorm is chock-full of genuine belly-aching moments thanks to the very nature of its racing. This is no serious, by-the-book racing sim, but a crazy, shit-hitting-the-fan affair which delivers a truckload of standout moments. Even here at Future Towers it's being spoken of as an alternative to PES 6 at lunchtimes, albeit quietly. For netting a 30-yard screamer, read hitting the nitrous and launching yourself off a ramp and over about six competitors to take first place. Honestly, it can be a bloody funny game.
We were allowed to hurtle around two tracks recently; one was a perilous circuit around the cusp of a huge rocky outcrop, the other was set in a safer-feeling plain. While both offered shortcuts, this wasn't quite as expansive a feature as we were hoping for, although a few barriers were smashed through to open up new routes. Hopefully there'll be more on offer in the game's other courses.
It's not just the layout of the track which alters as a race progresses, but the surface of it as well. What with it being the desert and all, the dusty surface is prone to being churned up something chronic to create massive, bone-juddering ridges and ruts. Using a battered, rubbish truck or a robust 4x4 means that these pose no problem, and you've the bonus of leaving a right old mess in your wake for your rivals. Scrambler bikes and buggies, while light and agile, are extra vulnerable to these adverse track conditions - buggies especially, their loose suspension causing them to bounce around like Jordan's funbags on a spacehopper.
The destructive nature of MotorStorm is brilliantly realised, putting even the likes of the FlatOut and Burnout games to shame. You've got your overblown explosions, and they're very impressive and everything (often occurring if you leave your finger on the nitrous trigger too long), but the real impact is had with, well, impacts. Crashes and smashes have varying physical effects on your vehicle, leaving you with a few dents and scrapes, or perhaps a missing wing, or maybe even no bodywork and a horribly bent chassis - the amalgamations are numerous. And the thrill of dragging your smoking wreck around the course is huge, in a twisted sort of way.
GETTING WRECKED
This detailed destruction, and the believable physics at play as your car lurches around bends, makes up for the slightly pedestrian feel of the game at the moment. When the nitrous isn't being drained MotorStorm feels a little on the slow side, but then that's probably down to the fact that you're pushing up to a couple of tons of metal through six inches of sand.
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