Yes! This is the game that we have been waiting for PSP!
The exclusive Sony game Motorstorm hits on PSP after long time! This time you are not racing in deserts or jungles but in the arctic! The game is more arcade off-road racing game, which makes the game easy to pick up and play. Even if you are not that so great in racing games, you will get adapted to it very quickly. It is not a simulator like Colin McRae Rally by Codemasters.
When you start the game you have 3 modes: Festival, Wreckreation and Multiplayer. In Festival it is more like a career mode. You start from Rank 1 which your rank increases as you earn points. You can also attend challenges to earn gold starts. Most of the races has vehicle restrictions which forces you to choose the allowed vehicles. This prevents you from using the same vehicle in every race. Sometimes restrictions makes your racing harder. There are more than 100 races to finish the festival mode. As you progress, races become much harder. Wreckreation mode is more likely to be a free mode. Any tracks, any number of laps etc. Multiplayer is kinda weak. Even if you play Ad-Hoc the game's FPS rate drops so quickly and causes loads of lags. Don't even try the online mode.
In the game, you can pick up vehicles from all classes: from motorbikes to trucks! Each vehicle has its own advantages and disadvantages. Each vehicle class has 3 different variation models. If you like bikes you can choose either dirt bike (quick and agile) or classic bikes (tougher and better traction). You can also modify them by changing its color, decals, sponsor stickers and body kits. Customizing adds some nice taste to the game.
There are nice and well designed tracks that each of them has different themes. Some tracks are mostly muddy or icy or snowy or even all of them. The tracks does not follow a linear path you can go in different paths that can be like a shortcut or jump off a ramp that makes racing even cooler. Some paths are so cold that your vehicles engine cools down faster. In Motorstorm, boost is infinite but if you overheat it, you will blow up! You will always try to pass through cold areas or cross the river.
The tracks are so big that sometimes you can't see the road ahead. It becomes blank. As you drive through you think that you are floating but actually no. The environment pops up after a while as you go through the empty road. This can be very annoying since you can't see the road ahead, because I always hit the barriers and crash down. So it is a major flaw in the game. I wish that there was an install option that would make loadings faster and draw the environments without loading in the middle of the race. If you are racing online and face this problem you might throw your PSP.
If you are talking about the fun in this, there is no worry. The sound effects and graphics are great for such small console. There are 10 vehicles in a single track. The cars get dirty as you drive. There is also the damage feature and physics engine and yes there is ragdoll! Sometimes the AI drivers can give you hard time especially the AIs who use truck. They will always want to bash you.
If you are a Motorstorm fan you should not miss this one. If you like off-road racing you must get it. You will not regret it.
The pros:
- Nice variety of vehicles and variations
- Customization
- Interactive and challenging tracks
- Damage feature
- Good physics engine
- Ragdoll
- Takes time to finish the Festival mode
The cons:
- Weak online gameplay
- Some bugs and glitches
- No install option
- After playing a long time, you might feel it is getting repetitive