Motorstorm certainly wasn’t a groundbreaking game experience, but it was a noteworthy entry to the PS3's starting line-up of first-party titles. However, with the upcoming Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, things are looking up for Evolution Studios and their now revamped take on dynamic, off-road racing. Better multiplayer, more races and finally, a four-player split-screen option!



Now taking place off the coasts of lush jungle areas and visually appeasing mountain tops and beaches, Motorstorm: PR gets off to a good start by looking absolutely spectacular. But the real meat on Motorstorm: Pacific Rift’s bones comes in the form of the upgraded physics, newly implemented splitscreen features, and a revised online multiplayer feature: More players, more tracks, more cars and more mayhem equals more fun.

The game has an overhaul on the amount of tracks that will be available for players to explore and exploit. Instead of the standard 8 tracks that were featured in the original Motorstorm, there will now be a total of 16 tracks. Beaches, rundown factories, mountain passes and jungle areas all make-up for the varied and unique environments featured in the game. I’m definitely psyched about racing through the sugar factory.

Speaking of racing, this game does a super-fantastic job of conveying speed and mayhem. The game incorporates physics-based reactions from the vehicles and offers up multiple ways of interacting with the environments based on the vehicle that the player is using. Hence, using any of the 7 different vehicle classes will render different results during the races. This is especially evident with the new vehicle class, the monster truck; these hulking machines can literally create new paths on a track by crushing, busting through or running over various track obstacles and obstructions. Motostorm: Pacific Rift will also feature more “vehicular combat”. This basically means that players will have more options for preventing their racing rivals from getting to the finish line first. Ramming fellow opponents, using debris or creating hazards from environmental structures are also great tools that can be employed to use against the competition.

Like the previous Motorstorm, there will be a rocking soundtrack included with MS2. But the real plus-side to the musical options is with the (much overdue) custom soundtrack function, which will now allow users to import their music from the PS3's hard drive. And to think, it only took Sony one full console cycle to catch on to the custom soundtrack craze. Better late than never, I guess.

You can look for Motorstorm: Pacific Rift to hit store shelves on October 7th, exclusively for the PlayStation 3. Be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games for more news, info, trailers and previews on all your favorite games.

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