For a gaming series principally concerned with moving bits of mud around, seeing buildings, subways, bridges and roads collapse, tumble and explode around us like an amped up, gritty Split/Second was something of a shock, even if the setting itself might not have been. Casually brushing aside recent leaks, the Evolution boys, quietly confident that this is the one, proceeded to demonstrate just what the apocalypse will look like from behind the wheel of a sports car.
So, yes, whilst bikes, buggies and bigger still exist, our time with the fourth Motorstorm was confined to strict limits: one track, one lap, one car. It didn’t really matter though, this was a glimpse at
the tech, the environment and the spectacle and Apocalypse has all three in spades. Noisy, brash and bold are adjectives already locked into the Motorstorm canon but
Apocalypse dials the whole thing up to 11.
And as the chopper overhead pulls away with the start lights, it’s pedal to the metal for the level’s initial
straight section, one already brimming with activity and danger, but a mere taster of what
lay ahead. It’s hard to articulate just how powerful the newly tweaked graphics engine is here: buildings crack and disintegrate ahead of you, transforming the track in real time and forcing quick reactions
from player and AI alike.
Evolution told us will feature both
4 player split screen and 16 player online, with multiple gamers on each PS3 able to connect over the web in the game’s massively expanded competitive modes. Likewise, gamers will be able to make use of a sentence-based scripting language
to create their own races and missions, which can be shared ranked and played with friends. Sound familiar?
Call of Duty fans will take delight in Apocalypse’s perks system, drivers being able to combine s
tat tweaks in the form of speed boosts, handling and combat improvements, and Evolution promise vast amounts of customisation from body shells and vinyls to parts and paints. Identikit motorbikes, then, are a thing of the past, even though most of them will just get covered in dust by the end of each race anyway.
Motorstorm ticket system, the fourth game offers up
three playable characters which will each carve their way through a story based career mode with persistent environmental damage sure to play a key part in
the overall affect.
@TheSixthAxis
Matt Southern Interview