Gameplay:88

Although Motorstorm is more like an arcade game than an off-road simulator, it simply offers way too much realistic features and gameplay to be tagged an ordinary arcade racing game. The aggressiveness and chaotic trajectories the A.I. competitors show and take; the way the races unfold (A.I. riders crash pretty much as often as you do) worths every hour spent playing.

Real time deformation to the track and the vehicles; very spectacular gameplay ( tracks are filled with bumps, cliffs, jumps, ledges, mud pits and various obstacles); very real race experience from first person view completes the A.I. successful part of the game.

The lack of detailed information about the tracks and cars present in the game, or the absence of mid race info such as: map display, speed and so on... is pretty weird. Besides these minor shortcomings, there are more important ones that mildly affect the gameplay. Things like huge load times, lack of racing modes or tracks (only eight) are a few of them. The last drawback is solved partially by the ambiance feature, which can change drastically the appearance of tracks. The Sixaxis gyroscopic feature is pretty clumsy implemented ( 'if you wanna win that is' interpretation).

Graphics:86

Motorstorm supports a maximum resolution of 720p, which is under the capabilities of Playstation 3 console. The minuses are: some insufficient textures in the sky reproduction and some drops in the frame rate ( mostly when simultaneous crashes happen near you). Otherwise all shines and looks extremely well. The mud and dust spray produced by the car in front of you feels very real, (especially from first person view). Desert terrain is superbly captured, the wastelands are so varied and diversified, it makes you wonder how much time was spent just studying real environments. The crashes, the over-boost destruction, the mud sections of tracks, the way drivers/riders/vehicles dirty up, the menu movies are damn well made.

Multiplayer:87

Motorstorm highly populated online servers (especially in US) are a solid proof that interest & popularity among gamers is at high levels. Players are able to set up the online part, through options like: game name, track/vehicle selection, number of laps, ambiance, handicap, friends only, filters. While the ranking, is done by according points between 0-10 for every online race a player competes in . Nine different fame rankings result from this system: zero, grunt, rookie, up-and-coming, pro, veteran, hero, legend, god. The lack of splitscreen racing mode may annoy some folks without a internet connection.

Sound:80

The rocky soundtrack induces that required aggressive off-road driving style. Indie, grunge, new metal, alternative, pop rock, rock'n'roll, techno, thrash genres are all here. Also the sounds from each of the seven categories of racers are well individualized and pretty descriptive regarding the phases the off-road vehicles pass through while in racing.