The MotorStorm series is well-known for providing loads of challenge and threatening the well-being of DualShock 3s worldwide. Since its 2007 bow, legions of gamers have experienced the thrill of narrow victories and the agony of being shunted into a wall and out of the last qualifying position. After a sound PS3 sequel and a handheld spin-off, the series returns to PS3 with MotorStorm: Apocalypse, a title that carries on the tradition of its predecessors, albeit with new bells and whistles.
Since 2008's Pacific Rift, we've seen two hugely action-driven and cinematic racers in Blur and Split/Second. Their influence is pronounced in Apocalypse. The scenario throws you into a massive faux-San Francisco city in the midst of a major disaster. The urban turmoil is a fine diversion from the "Burning Man-as-race" and "tropical paradise-as-race" motifs of the first two PS3 games, and allows for more tension and peril.
MotorStorm games follow a few simple rules: They're unforgiving and relentless and favor judicious use of speed bursts and aggression to bypass your opponents. Additionally, the open tracks ensure that environmental elements are as perilous as the competing big rigs. The series' signature hook is probably the engine management. As you boost, your engine risks overheating, which you are always cognizant of as you shunt a rival driver to pass.
Although Apocalypse touts its story and rapidly collapsing environments as its biggest new additions, one new tweak to engine management transforms the series dramatically. Pacific Rift introduced water-cooling, which allowed you to drive into puddles and temporarily slow down or remove all engine heat. Apocalypse introduces airborne cooling. Essentially, when you hit ramps and snag big airtime, letting off both boost and accelerate will cool your engine in-air, which gives you a significant advantage in maintaining your speed once you land. Make no mistake; it's a genuine game-changer. I tried to go back to Pacific Rift to refresh my memory after several hours on Apocalypse, and found it near-unplayable without the airborne cooling feature.
The game effectively adapts the now-standard XP system into its online racing. You earn betting chips in every race that you participate in, and you can use those chips both to gamble on your chances of beating other racers and to unlock different perks, such as increased grip strength, faster engine cool downs, or faster respawns. It can also be used to purchase vehicle upgrades, a slickly implemented feature that will ensure that people continue to participate, though I wish it also let you earn XP in campaign or time trials. Between its slick multi-player, finely tuned boosting tweaks and a single-player story that gradually reaches the series' trademark difficulty, MotorStorm: Apocalypse fortifies the concepts the series is known for. It draws the right elements from other racing games while refining those that make it stand out. Despite some long loads, occasional hokey campaign moments, and sporadic frustrations within its busy environments, it's a fine sequel that's well worth playing.
