MotorStorm
Looking for the first post-Resistance killer app? Yep, this is it.
Published: December 13, 2006
The PlayStation 3 has had a crappy launch. It's not that it's been any worse software-wise than, well, any of the other PlayStation launches -- or for that matter most console launches. They are, by nature, filled with rushed games and only a few standout titles, but thanks to a pre-launch wave of harsh anti-Sony sentiment among mainstream and enthusiast press alike, the PS3 became the poster child for sensationalist stories. A good portion of it was not entirely unfounded, mind you; Sony did just as much with a poor turn of phrase than they did with any company-wide move, but still, the PS3 has had an unfair amount of poor opinion thrown on it for a system that rightly demonstrates the best potential for leading the next generation of console hardware.
Luckily, Sony has a not-so-secret weapon, and it's something they've always had: software. Sony's first-party development efforts have been among the most quirky, hardware-pushing, varied and powerful experiences on any hardware. It's the one thing that people like to forget when dismissing the PlayStation brand; that games and franchises like Shadow of the Colossus or PaRappa the Rapper or WipEout or Gran Turismo are only possible from Sony.
Well, here's another: MotorStorm. If you've been following the PS3, you've probably seen the game in at least screenshots and likely in videos from Tokyo Game Show -- images that were admittedly pretty, but in motion were probably a little on the slow side. Good news: we've played the very first vehicles in the game, and they're already noticeably faster than the slightly infamous clunkers from the trade shows or even the ones you can play around with right now if you download the demo that was released on day one of the system's launch.
Set in picturesque Monument Valley, Utah, the title is as much a nod to the racing (which we'll get to in a second) as the setting; a massive petrol-fueled rave that gets off just as much on throngs of undulating bodies whooping it up to laser light shows as they do the idea of about a half-dozen different types of vehicles all slamming into each other while slogging through tracks only nature (or, uh, a handful of artists at developer Evolution Studios posing as nature) could build. It's a celebration of the desert, half Burning Man and half monster truck rally and it's all of it awesome.
We still haven't played through the multi-player portion, and if the "uhhhhs" that issued forth from the game's producer when asked about the number of online players is any indication (at least eight as of right now, all with voice chat was stated eventually), it's probably still being tweaked, but we did get ample time with the single-player portion. With everyone high on nitrous fumes and reverb-heavy rock music, it's fitting that the game's menus basically present everything from the vantage of a home video; footage of ravers are intercut with racers, giving the impression that it's races during the day (and, yes, at dawn, dusk and night too), and par-tay central once the sun goes down.
It works well, because you get the feeling that this is something like a muddier RaceWars, a get-together of enthusiasts with lax rules on what vehicles can enter some races and naught but the elements to determine the courses. Nearly every track we raced on (peppered with such fun names as "The Mud Pool" and "The Grizzly") offered very obvious and varied lines to race on. Some of them were shortcuts tucked into valleys between two cliff faces, others were simply parallel (but twisty) tracks that ran alongside one another -- in short they were about as far from the cut-and-dry butte track of the Mesa Sun God track in the demo as you could get.
Luckily, Sony has a not-so-secret weapon, and it's something they've always had: software. Sony's first-party development efforts have been among the most quirky, hardware-pushing, varied and powerful experiences on any hardware. It's the one thing that people like to forget when dismissing the PlayStation brand; that games and franchises like Shadow of the Colossus or PaRappa the Rapper or WipEout or Gran Turismo are only possible from Sony.
Well, here's another: MotorStorm. If you've been following the PS3, you've probably seen the game in at least screenshots and likely in videos from Tokyo Game Show -- images that were admittedly pretty, but in motion were probably a little on the slow side. Good news: we've played the very first vehicles in the game, and they're already noticeably faster than the slightly infamous clunkers from the trade shows or even the ones you can play around with right now if you download the demo that was released on day one of the system's launch.
Set in picturesque Monument Valley, Utah, the title is as much a nod to the racing (which we'll get to in a second) as the setting; a massive petrol-fueled rave that gets off just as much on throngs of undulating bodies whooping it up to laser light shows as they do the idea of about a half-dozen different types of vehicles all slamming into each other while slogging through tracks only nature (or, uh, a handful of artists at developer Evolution Studios posing as nature) could build. It's a celebration of the desert, half Burning Man and half monster truck rally and it's all of it awesome.
We still haven't played through the multi-player portion, and if the "uhhhhs" that issued forth from the game's producer when asked about the number of online players is any indication (at least eight as of right now, all with voice chat was stated eventually), it's probably still being tweaked, but we did get ample time with the single-player portion. With everyone high on nitrous fumes and reverb-heavy rock music, it's fitting that the game's menus basically present everything from the vantage of a home video; footage of ravers are intercut with racers, giving the impression that it's races during the day (and, yes, at dawn, dusk and night too), and par-tay central once the sun goes down.
It works well, because you get the feeling that this is something like a muddier RaceWars, a get-together of enthusiasts with lax rules on what vehicles can enter some races and naught but the elements to determine the courses. Nearly every track we raced on (peppered with such fun names as "The Mud Pool" and "The Grizzly") offered very obvious and varied lines to race on. Some of them were shortcuts tucked into valleys between two cliff faces, others were simply parallel (but twisty) tracks that ran alongside one another -- in short they were about as far from the cut-and-dry butte track of the Mesa Sun God track in the demo as you could get.
