by BR88KLYN
Motorstorm Pacific Rift introduces a new location, a strikingly beautiful but dangerous island that grabs you immediately and doesn’t let go. In addition to the new atmosphere, Pacific Rift features all 7 vehicles from the original Motorstorm. You are looking at Bikes, ATVs, Buggies, Rally Cars, Racing Trucks, Mud Pluggers and Big Rigs as well as a new class, Monster trucks. Monster Trucks are the bully of the bunch. Whether you are an all out speedster or a havoc-wreaking, wrecking ball of a driver, MotorStorm Pacific Rift has a vehicle for you.
Graphics. Motorstorm Pacific Rift delivers with the power of the PS3, and the attention to detail is astounding from the dense foliage to the obstacle covered beaches and flowing lava. The environments benefit from the location change adding a great color palette that comes alive with every plant, tree and obstacle that is Pacific Rift. When you find yourself slowing down just to look at the environments in the middle of a race marveling at the lava and smoke or the detail of the abandoned sugar factory, you realize that you will be doing this on almost every track because of the graphical splendor. The vehicle models are still some of the best in any racing game I have ever seen and the wear and tear of brake neck racing depicted as your ATV or mudplugger degrades is a thrill to watch and at times you will destroy your vehicle just to see the spectacle. Fully destructible obstacles and dense vegetation adds to the full immersion as each turn can contain swift flowing rivers and searing lava pools all set around mountain sides, beaches, jungle foliage, caves, and my personal favorite, an abandoned sugar factory.
Controls. The improvements don’t just end with locations, new vehicles, and new tracks, but extends to the controls and game features. Motorstorm Pacific Rift adds vehicle combat that feels like an afterthought and never rises above novelty. Pressing L1 or R2 will cause your vehicle to ram either left or right with varying degrees of effectiveness. The responsiveness is spot on and the bunny hop and duck control add to the experience of riding a bike. If you are a fan of knocking competitors off their bike ala Road Rash then rejoice as you can still make them eat dirt in Motorstorm Pacific Rift. Control is never a problem in Motorstorm Pacific Rift even when you find your vehicle out of control.
Sound. The sound effects in Motorstorm Pacific Rift are loud and obnoxious. Engines growl, and the audio form boosting to the thuds of your crashes are expressive, and awesome. The soundtrack is a collection of rock hits from Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, and other bands. Not too shabby to say the least.
Gameplay. The move to a new location takes this franchise in a fresh direction that adds new strategy and tactics. Motorstorm Pacific Rift gives you 16 intricate tracks will test your skill level and reaction time as each track is intertwined with multiple paths to accommodate all vehicle types. Some of the most exciting moments I have experienced arise from taking a path that may not be suited for your buggy or monster truck. Water now dramatically changes racing in Motorstorm Pacific Rift, as water can be the difference between winning and losing. Water will now cool down your boost gauge and keep you from overheating when boost is maxed out but if the water is to deep you will have a tough time gaining traction and may even float. The best new feature is Photo mode, just press start during a race and enter photo mode to preserve your most devastating crash or satisfying win. The image can be saved to the gallery and viewed at anytime or even sent to friends. I hope this feature is expanded to include video capture of a full race in future sequels of the series.
The area that needed improvement from the original Motorstorm was definitely the multiplayer. The original lacked split-screen co-op, a standard for almost all online enabled racing games. This omission has now been addressed in Motorstorm Pacific Rift by not only adding split-screen, but four player split-screen. The only gripe I have about the split-screen is the learning curve involved when racing with four players. Online multiplayer is a joy to play with games ranging from ranked, casual and custom game types. The multi-player replicates the single player experience even with 12 players in a game resulting in a robust and satisfying online experience.
Overall. Where the multiplayer succeeds is ultimately where the single player experience fails. The dynamic frenzied mayhem of multi-player fails to translate to the single player experience in the later portion of the game due to the rubber band A.I. from the original Motorstorm bringing the Motorstorm Pacific Rift party to a grinding halt like an uninvited guest. You know the one I refer to, the guy who shows up with one of your friends and not only drops a deuce but breaks the toilet, so don’t be that guy. Someone should have told the developers don’t be that game. The wonderfully intense and desperate races with dynamic A.I. that does everything from over steering to misjudging a jump or landing and providing one of the best racing experience that pushes this game into racer of the year territory in the first half of the single player degrades into an increasingly frustrating game when you reach the upper ranks of the single player game. It is abundantly clear that the only reason for the return of the rubber band A.I. was to artificially lengthen the game. Even though the developers of Motorstorm Pacific Rift get so many things right, this glaring misstep keeps this game from being great. Motorstorm Pacific Rift can best be defined as coming for the show but not staying for the encore.
