Video Game Review: Racing Game ‘MotorStorm: Apocalypse’ Satisfies Your Need For Chaos

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CHICAGO – What if you were running a drag race on the day the world ended? This is not your average set-up for a video game but “MotorStorm: Apocalypse” is not your average driving game. It’s not often that you look to your right as you drive across a breaking pier to see a tornado. It’s not often that you look to your left as you race through an earthquake-ridden suburb to see a building collapse into the road in front of you. This is a game where EVERYTHING is working against you — your overheating engine, your violent competitors, and even Mother Nature.

Video Game Rating: 4.0/5.0

To call “MotorStorm: Apocalypse” over-the-top would be the game review understatement of the year. As you race fifteen opponents either through the story, in freeplay, or multi-player, the world around you doesn’t just change, it goes absolutely insane. Volcanic fire bursts through the pavement. Roads buckle and twist you into the abyss. Buildings collapse. And even pedestrians throw Molotov Cocktails at you. It’s like “Fast Five” meets “2012.”

MotorStorm: Apocalypse
Photo credit: SCEA

And that’s actually a compliment. One looking for the subtlety of character in something like “L.A. Noire,” shouldn’t sign up for this race from Hell (and playing the two back-to-back as I’ve done can create a disorienting effect not unlike going from a foreign film to a blockbuster sequel). But not every game needs to be subtle. And, certainly, something with both the word “storm” and “apocalypse” in the title should be totally insane and I admired the continuous sense of mayhem in this uniquely enjoyable game.

MotorStorm: Apocalypse Photo credit: SCEA

Developed by Evolutions Studios, “MotorStorm: Apocalypse” features a story mode with three difficulty levels over a series of unique racing levels. There are two self-explanatory game types, which also holds true for multi-player — Racing and Eliminator. In one of many neat twists, the Racing matches are typically three (sometimes four) laps but each lap usually provides something new, such as a flaming oil tanker hurtling toward you or a course change due to an aftershock.

Naturally, with this much chaos, “MotorStorm: Apocalypse” can feel like it’s as much about crashing as it is driving. I find it highly unlikely that there’s a single player out there who has driven through even one race in “M: A” for the first time without crashing. Like a lot of racing games, success comes down to practice (or, if you want to be more cynical, memorization) and that can be a bit frustrating. There are times when the environment overwhelms the actual driving.

As for the crashing, it’s done in style with slo-mo and hurling bodies, but it can feel sometimes inconsistent. I was surprised at what caused crashes sometimes. I can hurl my car across buildings and through shooting flames, but that light pole took me down? And there were times where I swear I don’t know what caused the crash, as if my tire knicked a raised part of the pavement.

MotorStorm: Apocalypse Photo credit: SCEA

The key to driving in “MotorStorm: Apocalypse” is maintaining control of the temperature of your engine. You have unlimited boost that you’ll need to win the race but it can quickly overheat your car and you’ll burst into flames. Driving through water will cool you off, as will pulling off the boost or even taking a jump the right way (and easing off boost and accelerate).

Like any modern racing game, “MotorStorm: Apocalypse” features customization but it’s not the deepest set in the genre. There are 12 classes of vehicles which can be deeply customized as can drivers and perks to use in multi-player. The MP matches don’t seem very well-designed as I often found myself racing against players 50+ ranks above mine. That doesn’t seem like a fair fight.

Minor complaints like crash sensitivity and mismatched online games hold back “MotorStorm: Apocalypse” from perfection, but it’s still an incredibly enjoyable racing game, the first of 2011. Sony’s PSN is back up. Here’s a fun way to use it that you won’t soon forget.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com