MotorStorm (series)
Encyclopedia
MotorStorm is a racing game series published by Sony Computer Entertainment
and is developed by Evolution Studios
, and Bigbig Studios
. The titles are "off-road racing" games featuring different types of vehicles with their own strengths and weaknesses and tracks with different terrains which may either hinder the vehicles' handling, or improve it.
The central premise of the series is a gathering of off-road racing enthusiasts for an event entitled the "MotorStorm Festival". Participants in the MotorStorm Festival are not limited to their vehicle choice for any event and cutthroat racing is encouraged. Races allow for any combination of vehicles to be used together in a single event.
game was released in December 2006 in Japan, 6 March in North America and in Europe on 23 March. The first MotorStorm game includes vehicles, ranging from Bikes to Big Rigs, each with their own abilities and weaknesses. While Bikes are fast vehicles in the game, alongside with Rally Cars, they are prone to being punched out by other drivers with ATVs or other Bikes, and can be easily destroyed by any other vehicles other than ATVs or any other Bikes. Rally Cars are the fastest vehicle in its class, but can easily suffer through rough bumps and terrains, and thus can be easily damaged by any other heavy vehicles. Mud Pluggers are medium-heavy vehicles, and can tackle any terrain they find, but does not excel well in speed. Big Rigs are the heaviest vehicles in its class. While it favours any terrain, excluding rocky terrains, it's speed is very slow, and this can be a problem when racing against faster vehicles.
There are 8 tracks that can be raced in the Monument Valley
from the sand dunes to rocky canyons, with the additional four tracks that can be purchased through the PlayStation Store
, totalling up to 12 tracks. For example, the "Mudpool" consists a racetrack that is completely filled with mud, giving lighter vehicles a massive disadvantage, thus forcing them to use the ramps which does not contain mud, while Mud Pluggers and Big Rigs gains the advantage through the muddy terrains. "Dust Devil" consists a sandy desert, which can be suited for any vehicles, though hazards are present in the track, such as stacks of burnt out wrecks and including dangerous rocks.
Nitrous Boost
plays a large part in MotorStorm for the first time and is used to either catch up to opponents or pull away from them. Players must keep an eye on their boost meter, which shows how hot the car's engine is. The longer the boost is held, the hotter the engine becomes. If the boost is held when the engine reaches its critical temperature, it will explode, thus forcing the player to catch up with opponents again, who are further away from the player. Since explosions resulting from the boost typically rocket the player's vehicle forward, they can be used to edge out another racer across the finish line. This can be very useful when behind, although this does not work all of the time if the AI opponent gains the upper hand.
Since then, Motorstorm has achieved global sales of over 3 million copies.
.
There are 8 vehicle classes to drive, including the Monster truck
, for the first time. The Monster truck can handle any terrain, just like the Mud Plugger vehicles. The Monster truck is not only surprisingly fast, it is also considered to be deadly, since it can run over any vehicles on sight, including other Monster Trucks and Big Rigs. It is, however, still very vulnerable against Big Rigs, since Monster Trucks have the tendency to roll over.
The "cooldown" technique is a new addition to MotorStorm, by driving through ponds, rivers and beaches. While this helps cool down the vehicles' boost temperature quicker, light vehicles will have a problem with speed reducing due to driving around any wet areas around any terrain. Another new feature are lava pools (lava bombs in the Adrenaline pack), which heats up the car's temperature boost quicker if discharging boost. The vehicle can instantaneously explode of overboosting on heated surfaces. Lava bombs can pose as a dangerous threat, because slamming head on will cause the vehicle to explode, even when driving over through a small lava bomb. Another new feature in the series is the ability to "ram" opponents' vehicles, although this would only work for vehicles that are not Bikes or ATVs.
Speed events are firstly introduced in MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, where players must pass through checkpoints before the time runs out. Players can also select Drivers, firstly introduced, allowing users to no longer rely on vehicles, depending on driver's gender within each vehicles.
Photo Mode can be taken while racing, and can be exported to the PlayStation 3's HDD and can be used as wallpaper. Another new addition are known as the use of custom soundtracks that can be played via XMB.
MotorStorm: Arctic Edge (MotorStorm: Raging Ice in Japan) is the third MotorStorm racing game developed by Bigbig Studios
for PlayStation 2
and PlayStation Portable
. It was released in September 2009. To date it is the only MotorStorm title not to appear on the PlayStation 3.
The "cooldown" system from Pacific Rift (driving through water or deep snow in Arctic Edge to speed up the rate of boost cooling) remains. A new feature of Arctic Edge is the ability to outfit the vehicles with new body kits
, liveries, and exhaust systems (though none of the enhancements affect the performance of the vehicle). Sponsor decals can also be applied to the vehicle.
A new hazard that racers need to be aware of are avalanches
, which can be triggered by a vehicle's explosion or blowing the horn. A wave of snow will rush down the hillside in the avalanche areas and sweep away any vehicle trapped under it, regardless of the vehicles' strength rating. Ice bridges present another new obstacle unique to Arctic Edge. While small vehicles can get through ice bridges, heavier vehicles can cause it to break and disintegrate, making the shortcut unusable but also preventing other competitors from using it to gain an advantage.
s. Stragglers (also known as Dusklite), however, will attempt to hijack vehicles from opponents, including the player, and that they are armed with weapons that will attempt to shoot down opponents, along with the player. The game also adds five new vehicle classes, such as the Superbikes
, Supercar
s, Superminis
, muscle car
s and choppers
, whereas vehicles from the original MotorStorm series range from the MX Motocross bike to the Monster Truck, which has appeared in MotorStorm: Pacific Rift.
Like MotorStorm: Arctic Edge, players can outfit their vehicles with a wide array of parts, sponsor stickers, vinyls, etc. Some of the parts must be unlocked by progressing through certain tasks, such as wrecking other players, drifting, and gaining air distance. Players can also equip perks for online races, for the first time in the series.
The Festival Mode contains a story about each of the three racers of the two-day festival event, such as Mash, Tyler, and Big Dog. At the last story, involving Big Dog, he lures the Dusklite helicopter away from the carrier as it makes an escape, after failing to shoot it down with his flare gun
, and then sacrifices his life by taking down the Dusklite helicopter.
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
and is developed by Evolution Studios
Evolution Studios
Evolution Studios Ltd. is a British video game developer. The company was founded in 1999 by Martin Kenwright and Ian Hetherington , following the purchase of DID's publisher Ocean Software by Infogrames...
, and Bigbig Studios
Bigbig Studios
The company was founded in 2001 by a core team of four former Codemasters employees. The company was set up with the help of parent company Evolution Studios. Located in Leamington Spa in the UK. It gained popularity due to its first game Pursuit Force which became a bestseller.Bigbig Studios and...
. The titles are "off-road racing" games featuring different types of vehicles with their own strengths and weaknesses and tracks with different terrains which may either hinder the vehicles' handling, or improve it.
The central premise of the series is a gathering of off-road racing enthusiasts for an event entitled the "MotorStorm Festival". Participants in the MotorStorm Festival are not limited to their vehicle choice for any event and cutthroat racing is encouraged. Races allow for any combination of vehicles to be used together in a single event.
MotorStorm
The first MotorStormMotorStorm
MotorStorm is a 2006 racing video game developed by Evolution Studios and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the Sony PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system. First announced at E3 2005, the game was released in Japan on 14 December 2006 and the rest of the world in March 2007....
game was released in December 2006 in Japan, 6 March in North America and in Europe on 23 March. The first MotorStorm game includes vehicles, ranging from Bikes to Big Rigs, each with their own abilities and weaknesses. While Bikes are fast vehicles in the game, alongside with Rally Cars, they are prone to being punched out by other drivers with ATVs or other Bikes, and can be easily destroyed by any other vehicles other than ATVs or any other Bikes. Rally Cars are the fastest vehicle in its class, but can easily suffer through rough bumps and terrains, and thus can be easily damaged by any other heavy vehicles. Mud Pluggers are medium-heavy vehicles, and can tackle any terrain they find, but does not excel well in speed. Big Rigs are the heaviest vehicles in its class. While it favours any terrain, excluding rocky terrains, it's speed is very slow, and this can be a problem when racing against faster vehicles.
There are 8 tracks that can be raced in the Monument Valley
Monument Valley
Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching above the valley floor. It is located on the northern border of Arizona with southern Utah , near the Four Corners area...
from the sand dunes to rocky canyons, with the additional four tracks that can be purchased through the PlayStation Store
PlayStation Store
The PlayStation Store is an online virtual market available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The Store offers a range of downloadable content both for purchase and available free of charge. Available content includes full games,...
, totalling up to 12 tracks. For example, the "Mudpool" consists a racetrack that is completely filled with mud, giving lighter vehicles a massive disadvantage, thus forcing them to use the ramps which does not contain mud, while Mud Pluggers and Big Rigs gains the advantage through the muddy terrains. "Dust Devil" consists a sandy desert, which can be suited for any vehicles, though hazards are present in the track, such as stacks of burnt out wrecks and including dangerous rocks.
Nitrous Boost
Nitrous
Nitrous oxide is a chemical compound used as an oxidizing agent to increase an internal combustion engine's power output by allowing more fuel to be burned than would normally be the case.-Nitrous and NOS:...
plays a large part in MotorStorm for the first time and is used to either catch up to opponents or pull away from them. Players must keep an eye on their boost meter, which shows how hot the car's engine is. The longer the boost is held, the hotter the engine becomes. If the boost is held when the engine reaches its critical temperature, it will explode, thus forcing the player to catch up with opponents again, who are further away from the player. Since explosions resulting from the boost typically rocket the player's vehicle forward, they can be used to edge out another racer across the finish line. This can be very useful when behind, although this does not work all of the time if the AI opponent gains the upper hand.
Since then, Motorstorm has achieved global sales of over 3 million copies.
MotorStorm: Pacific Rift
The second MotorStorm game (also known as MotorStorm 2 in Japan) was released on 28 October 2008 in North America and 7 November 2008 in Europe. The game has sold over one million copies as of 9 December 2008. The game takes place in a lush, volcanic island, much like from the first game's Monument ValleyMonument Valley
Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching above the valley floor. It is located on the northern border of Arizona with southern Utah , near the Four Corners area...
.
There are 8 vehicle classes to drive, including the Monster truck
Monster truck
A monster truck is a pickup truck, typically styled after pickup trucks' bodies, modified or purposely built with extremely large wheels and suspension...
, for the first time. The Monster truck can handle any terrain, just like the Mud Plugger vehicles. The Monster truck is not only surprisingly fast, it is also considered to be deadly, since it can run over any vehicles on sight, including other Monster Trucks and Big Rigs. It is, however, still very vulnerable against Big Rigs, since Monster Trucks have the tendency to roll over.
The "cooldown" technique is a new addition to MotorStorm, by driving through ponds, rivers and beaches. While this helps cool down the vehicles' boost temperature quicker, light vehicles will have a problem with speed reducing due to driving around any wet areas around any terrain. Another new feature are lava pools (lava bombs in the Adrenaline pack), which heats up the car's temperature boost quicker if discharging boost. The vehicle can instantaneously explode of overboosting on heated surfaces. Lava bombs can pose as a dangerous threat, because slamming head on will cause the vehicle to explode, even when driving over through a small lava bomb. Another new feature in the series is the ability to "ram" opponents' vehicles, although this would only work for vehicles that are not Bikes or ATVs.
Speed events are firstly introduced in MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, where players must pass through checkpoints before the time runs out. Players can also select Drivers, firstly introduced, allowing users to no longer rely on vehicles, depending on driver's gender within each vehicles.
Photo Mode can be taken while racing, and can be exported to the PlayStation 3's HDD and can be used as wallpaper. Another new addition are known as the use of custom soundtracks that can be played via XMB.
MotorStorm: Arctic Edge
Bigbig Studios
The company was founded in 2001 by a core team of four former Codemasters employees. The company was set up with the help of parent company Evolution Studios. Located in Leamington Spa in the UK. It gained popularity due to its first game Pursuit Force which became a bestseller.Bigbig Studios and...
for PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
. It was released in September 2009. To date it is the only MotorStorm title not to appear on the PlayStation 3.
The "cooldown" system from Pacific Rift (driving through water or deep snow in Arctic Edge to speed up the rate of boost cooling) remains. A new feature of Arctic Edge is the ability to outfit the vehicles with new body kits
Body kit
A body kit or bodykit is a collection of exterior modifications to a car, typically composed of front and rear bumpers, side skirts, spoilers,paint jobs, and sometimes front and rear side guards and roof scoops. There are many companies that offer alternatives to the original factory appearance of...
, liveries, and exhaust systems (though none of the enhancements affect the performance of the vehicle). Sponsor decals can also be applied to the vehicle.
A new hazard that racers need to be aware of are avalanches
Avalanche
An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...
, which can be triggered by a vehicle's explosion or blowing the horn. A wave of snow will rush down the hillside in the avalanche areas and sweep away any vehicle trapped under it, regardless of the vehicles' strength rating. Ice bridges present another new obstacle unique to Arctic Edge. While small vehicles can get through ice bridges, heavier vehicles can cause it to break and disintegrate, making the shortcut unusable but also preventing other competitors from using it to gain an advantage.
MotorStorm: Apocalypse
MotorStorm: Apocalypse (MotorStorm 3 in Japan) is the fourth MotorStorm game, released on 16 March 2011 in Europe and on 3 May in North America, due to a delay following the 2011 Japan earthquake. On June 2011, the game's release in Japan was cancelled for unknown reasons. It is the third game of the series to appear on the PlayStation 3. Apocalypse is the first MotorStorm game set in an urban environment as opposed to natural settings, taking place in a decaying city suffering the aftermath of a natural disaster, known as The City. Competitors are challenged to race through these ruins while avoiding collapsed buildings, explosions, and tremors that will actively and visually redefine the routes mid-race. The opponents, along with the player, will need to be wary of the two warring "factions" as bystanders will present a hazard for the first time in the series. Survivors (or Crazies) are seen wandering around the city, scavenging items and starting fights against each other, even throwing rocks or molotov cocktailMolotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
s. Stragglers (also known as Dusklite), however, will attempt to hijack vehicles from opponents, including the player, and that they are armed with weapons that will attempt to shoot down opponents, along with the player. The game also adds five new vehicle classes, such as the Superbikes
Superbike racing
Superbike racing is a category of motorcycle racing that employs modified production motorcycles. Superbike World Championship is the international superbike championship, and national superbike championships are held in many countries as well, including the United Kingdom, the United States,...
, Supercar
Supercar
Supercar is a term used most often to describe an expensive high end car. It has been defined specifically as "a very expensive, fast or powerful car"...
s, Superminis
Hot hatch
Hot hatch was originally an informal automotive industry term, shortened from hot hatchback, initially coined by the British motoring press in 1984, for a high-performance derivative of a car body style consisting of a three- or five-door hatchback automobile.Vehicles of this class are based on...
, muscle car
Muscle car
Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high-performance automobiles. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines muscle cars as "any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving." Usually, a large V8 engine is fitted in a...
s and choppers
Chopper (motorcycle)
A chopper is a type of motorcycle that was either modified from an original motorcycle design or built from scratch to have a hand-crafted appearance. The main features of a chopper that make it stand out are its longer frame design accompanied by a stretch front end...
, whereas vehicles from the original MotorStorm series range from the MX Motocross bike to the Monster Truck, which has appeared in MotorStorm: Pacific Rift.
Like MotorStorm: Arctic Edge, players can outfit their vehicles with a wide array of parts, sponsor stickers, vinyls, etc. Some of the parts must be unlocked by progressing through certain tasks, such as wrecking other players, drifting, and gaining air distance. Players can also equip perks for online races, for the first time in the series.
The Festival Mode contains a story about each of the three racers of the two-day festival event, such as Mash, Tyler, and Big Dog. At the last story, involving Big Dog, he lures the Dusklite helicopter away from the carrier as it makes an escape, after failing to shoot it down with his flare gun
Flare gun
A flare gun is a firearm that launches flares. It is typically used for signalling, as distress signalling, at sea or from the ground to aircraft...
, and then sacrifices his life by taking down the Dusklite helicopter.