Visual treat whose frustrations undermine the fun

User Rating: 6.5 | MotorStorm: Pacific Rift PS3
I wonder sometimes what objectives games writers set themselves. Motorstorm Pacific Rift is very close to being a stunning achievement but as the Gamespot review and some of the other reviews here indicate the player is hostage to chance to an unnecessary degree. I'm not a skillful player by any measure but far too often I was wiped out for the wrong reasons, many of them out of my control. I'm too old and don't have the time to be retrying a particular track 20 or 50 times to gain access to subsequent tracks (that I paid for!?). That turns fun, and I acknowledge there is real fun in the game, into frustration. Just a little more attention, especially to physics and AI, would have delivered a much better game. I hope the writers aim was not longevity through repetition as this is likely to have the reverse effect. This is a real shame as the visuals are wonderful and the overall game design excellent.