MikeYawney
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JS
Mother Nature is truly a force to be reckoned with. And a recent trip to San Francisco made that observation perfectly clear. As I touched down at the airport, the city had just experienced one of the nastiest storms of the season. An unusual amount of rainfall caused flash floods south of the city while to the north nearly 3 feet of snow fell in higher elevations, turning roads into skating rinks. Trees had toppled, streams swelled forcing the evacuation of neighbourhoods. Yes, Mother Nature made it clear she was in charge. It was somehow fitting the storm had hit San Francisco just as I had arrived while I was there to get a sneak peek at the Playstation 3 exclusive Motorstorm: Apocalypse, a racing game where weather plays a key role.
"Weather is actually a new thing for Motorstorm. It does change the physics around a lot." said Evolution Studio's Simon O'Brien, Art Director for Motorstorm Apocapypse. "The cars and the bikes...they become more prone to sliding and spinning out."
The wind and rain are just a small part of what else you will face as you get behind the wheel of your vehicle. The Motorstorm racing festival takes place in a city in the midst of a major natural disaster. A massive earthquake causes asphalt to buckle and buildings toppled destroying entire neighbourhoods. Lightning strikes terrorize the coast line and the angry sea tosses boats as if they were toys. As many residents flee, gangs take over the streets to loot and pillage what is left. A private military is also setting up camp to protect vacant property and those still living amongst the rubble. The premise seems a bit far-fetched, but Evolution Studios was hell-bent on situating the latest game in an urban environment and a regular city just wouldn't do.
"When we tried it in a city it just didn't work for Motorstorm. The grid based layout of the city just didn't work it was just to clean and clinical so we needed something to kinda traverse that cityscape and make it a bit more Motorstorm and chaotic." said O'Brien, "An earthquake rips the city apart. Now you can go from racing in the financial district down into the sewers back up onto the storm drains and through an office block kicking office chairs whatever. So it kinda gives you a lot more options more artistic license to develop these tracks and make them feel more Motorstorm."
The first thing I noticed was just how easy the game was to pick up. The controls are essentially identical to those of the original Motorsport, one of the Playstation 3 launch titles back in 2007. Having played the original I instinctively knew the controls within the first lap. Steering is still a bit loose and takes a bit of getting used to.
Like any racing game the key is to be the first to cross the finish line first. In Motorstorm you must also avoid getting rammed off the road by your opponents and avoid the environmental hazards. To help get the upperhand you can enable boost which gives you a burst of speed. Use it too much you will overheat and essentially blow your vehicle up. Driving through water or catching air helps cool down your vehicle as it did in the last Motorsport game. A myriad of tracks await players. I had the chance to rip around on a number of courses including:
Skyline - A race set atop skyscrapers. The earthquake has destroyed many buildings causing them to collapse onto each other. The wreckage is filled with large concrete slabs which act as ramps, launching your vehicle even higher into the air. Some of the jumps will take you across large gaps between buildings, often sending you crashing through pane glass windows.
Terminus - This course takes place at the base of the skyscrapers. The streets have been ripped up by the tremors, opening large chasms which you must avoid. This course will take you through not only the downtown, but a large park where gangs will try to throw you off course by launching Molotov Cocktails at you.
Boardwalk - Think Coney Island meets the movie 2012. Hurricane force winds will try and blow you off the docks as ocean debris is thrown on shore. Lightning also poses a problem. At one point lightning strikes a ferris wheel, knocking it off its anchors, sending it rolling across your path.
Upper Bohemia - a Haight Ashbury style neighbourhood. This area of the city literally changes with each lap you take. Tremors rip up the streets, creating new routes right before your eyes. Both gangs and the private army play a role on this track as each take pot shots at you.
One of the unique characteristics of Motorstorm: Apocalypse is how the courses change as you make your way across them. Sometimes the changes are subtle. A wave may tear up part of a dock as you approach it or debris may blow across the track. But sometimes the change is more drastic. Entire sections of track can be altered by Mother Nature. O'Brien calls them "Big Events" and he admits it's one of the game's crowning achievements which took many staff members to pull off.
"We've basically taken it from having a few animators on board to having a full team of events animators and effects artists trying to match movie style Day After Tomorrow type size of events or 2012." Said O'Brien. "I think that's what I'm most pleased with."
The effect certainly is effective, keeping you on your toes, at least for the first few play throughs. After playing the same track a few times however I did notice the same "Big Events" happened each time on the same track. It wasn't always at the exact same time, but it was always in the same area. It will be interesting to see if that changes in the final retail version.
What was also interesting was just how nice the game looked in 3D. While I'm not the biggest proponent of 3D gaming, I must admit it seemed to work for this title. Fierce winds blew rain drops against the camera lens, and mud was flung onto the screen. The effect was quite cool. Racing in 3D did however take some time to adjust to and after a while I did feel like I needed a break from the glasses I was forced to wear to get the full effect.
While Evolution Studios was pretty open to discussing just about anything, O'Brien did not want to share too many details on the storyline. Yes, for the first time a story will be introduced to the series through motion comic sequences during load screens.
"One of the things we felt was lacking was some sort of glue to stitch everything together. We felt it was too much just to say it was a racer, there wasnt that much investment from the player about who that character was or what the festival really was so we wanted to underline that." said O'Brien.
The story will be told from three different racers over the course of the 48 hour festival. Each racer will experience different courses and experience the natural disaster at different locations in the city. One racer may see a twister forming on the horizon, while another will race right through it.
In my 90 or so minutes I spent with the game I also got he chance to try out some multiplayer. Pitted against developers in LA I was able to play with 15 others. The games ran smoothly with no real hiccups. During each race were had the opportunity to earn "chips" as we made their way around the track. Drifting, and causing your opponents to crash will earn you chips which can be used to place wagers on the race's outcome. The chips you earn can then be used to increase your rank.
Overall Motorstorm: Apocalypse feels solid and was quite fun to play. Fans of the Motorstorm franchise definitely have something to look forward to. They won't have to wait long. The apocalypse hits April 12th. Thankfully I will enjoy the storm from the comfort of my living room rather than on a plane to San Francisco.
