MotorStorm was a sweaty, dirty game. Outside of Call of Duty 4 Sony's console-exclusive
off-road racer was the number one reason to stay online. It was a hard and unforgiving bastard too.
MotorStorm was also niggly, buggy and flakey. Load times would wind you up long before the occasional random collisions sent your car spinning through the air in tiny pieces, in lovingly realised cutscenes that made Burnout blush. They couldn't be skipped. You got angry.
There's room for improvement, which is good as it means MotorStorm 2 won't just be a replay of the first game on a new set of tracks. Far from it. MotorStorm 2 is the sequel equivalent of a Swedish massage, the developer's hands have spent the last 18 months thumbing out all the niggles and glitches that made MotorStorm a pain to play, then lathering up the results with a glamorous setting, new vehicles and a surprisingly deep destructible environment.
"We listen to gamers all the time, we trawl forums for opinions and we read every mail sent to us." Says Nigel Kershaw, Game Director at Evolution, before descibing the ideas process of approaching the sequel. "Our philosophy is to look at what people are saying in order to validate the ideas we've had as professional developers."
Let's start with that island. The new tropical world that makes the dirt and dust of MotorStorm's Monument Valley a distant memory and will offer some surprisingly original tactical treats for fans of arcade racing. Like most tropical paradises, MotorStorm 2's island is a South Pacific volcanic burp, a stretch of land thrown up eons ago by nature's gas.
The result is a landmass with a variety of terrains, the northern area features a mountain range that leads to the dormant volcano, you can expect gravel and loose rock here, as well as the promise of snow at the Volcano's peak. Going north, you visit a small community, south is a bay area and beach, before heading inland to the game's jungle and swamps.
Best though, are the open stretches of beach that should offer multiple ways to race, the soft sand and crashing waves tempting racers down different paths.
What this island offers, over the original MotorStorm is a variety of environments to race. Water will be key, as before your vehicle will overheat if you pump the nitro too much for too long, but splashing through deep water in the swamp or the crashing waves on the beach will cool the engine.
It will likely come as a price though, taking you off the faster racing line. But if implemented properly, using water to cool your overheated engine could result in a Burnout-style constant nitro, encouraging racers to explore dangerous waters in order to stay ahead of the pack.
"Water is a significant new technology and has a big impact on driving tactics - now that we're getting to know the PS3 better we can add features like this and not have any performance issues," explains Kershaw. "Boost is affected by the environment in a few 'cool' ways now."
Welcome to the jungle The jungle stages could be the most impressive. The central area of the map is likely to hide the most dynamic of the 16 tracks on offer, as they will feature fully destructible trees and foliage, if you have the right vehicle. The multi-route idea that made MotorStorm such a refreshing change is back in a big way, as Kershaw puts it, "this is the DNA of MotorStorm and you'll see even more of it in the sequel. The new island environment has been perfect for this type of gameplay".
If you're behind the wheel of the game's meatier monsters, its Big Rigs and SUVs then you'll be able to crash through fallen trees and vines, however the smaller buggies and bikes will need to find alternative routes to get around the hazardous foliage. Bikes can race up trees and jump through the tangled undergrowth, while buggies can use their lower chassis to skim under logs.
"As you can imagine, vehicles will all react to every new element that we've put into MotorStorm 2. Foliage is just one - different vehicles will cope with plowing thorough it in different ways," says Kershaw on the new tropical destruction.
Of course, every track on the island will feature spectacular hazards to navigate. Clouds of volcanic ash will hamper your vision on the mountain range, hiding tyre melting lava pools. Fast flowing rivers will force the lighter cars and bikes into less direct routes, while the heavier trucks can plough on through. And like before, anything trashed on your first lap will remain trashed on the second and third - creating a mess of broken buildings, toppled trees and broke boulders.
Expect far more interaction this time around. However, the inclusion of monster trucks alone will ensure that near enough anything in your vicinity can be trampled and trashed without much bother.
And these new trucks are heavy. Monstrously heavy. The new monster trucks are big-wheeled behemoths capable of running over anything that gets in their way, including rival racers. "MotorStorm is about brutality," enthuses Kershaw. "We've always called it 'brutal offroad racing', and the monster truck is now the true embodiment of that brutality. There is nothing to stop you crushing everyone else apart from some pretty impressive AI and worlds that offer advantages to all vehicle classes!"
Custom rigs and wigs Interestingly, Evolution is placing more emphasis on personality for this sequel. Custom monster trucks could be on the cards, as could more detailed driver animation and reactions. We're told that if a fallen driver is about to be smudged into the dirt, they'll respond in a number of ways - sprinting out the way, jumping up and over the oncoming vehicle or, indeed, staying put, caught in the glare of the oncoming shine of chrome.
As well as being promised faster load times, more players per race and a greater variety of terrain, I was also told by Evolution that in addition to all of that, MotorStorm 2 will feature four-player split screen. There are also plans to support Home and offer far a unique custom race mode for online play.
Topping of the new ideas and content is a tweaked graphics engine. MotorStorm 2 has the double-barrelled shot of a slick graphics engine and a beautiful island paradise to use it's power on. The jungle looks wet and leafy, tree trunks splinter with a satisfying crunch and the mud, sand and snow of the island's tracks spray with a heart-thumping realism. MotorStorm 2 has variety, colour and detail and no orangey brown mud, thank god.
Demolition derby The original MotorStorm had some novel ideas, but this sequel promises to extend the franchise significantly, both online and off. There's a wealth of features yet to be divulged, however our hopes of Jet Skis were dashed... "There are many of us here who fondly remember Wave Race, but this isn't that game!" Kershaw explains. "There aren't any Jet Skis, and nor are there any space hoppers!"
We'll be keeping a close eye on MotorStorm 2 throughout the summer. One thing's for sure, it's going to get messy.
Hey, this doesn't look too bad, the first one impressed me when I played a PS3 for the first time, so if I get a PS3 later this year I'll pick this one up.
"There are many of us here who fondly remember Wave Race, but this isn't that game!" Kershaw explains.
It's nice to hear them paying respect to a Nintendo franchise. I didn't play the N64 version but Wave Race: Blue Storm on the Gamecube was great.
I hope that they won't be given a quiet word, something about 'Phil Harrison' mentioned, and before we know it, they're working for Infogrammes instead.
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