The first Motorstorm wowed fans with its heady formula of brutal, unpredictable off-road racing, festival vibes and stunning Monument Valley desert scenery. Now, Motorstorm Pacific Rift takes you to a solitary tropical paradise in the Pacific Ocean, ready for a whole new take on no-holds-barred racing action through thick swamps, dense jungle, towering peaks and steaming volcanoes.
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Not just pretty backdrops to the action, these environments take center stage in challenging players with everything in Mother Nature’s arsenal. Thick mud, tangled undergrowth, swift flowing rivers, choking volcanic clouds and searing lava pools all test the drivers to their limits and beyond. Expect a rich festival of off road racing, along with a host of game modes and rewards. It’s brutal, dangerous, relentless, and unpredictable and more than a game – Motorstorm Pacific Rift is a way of life.
Even More Vehicle Classes and TracksPacific Rift ships with eight car classes: the seven from the original game (Bikes, ATVs, Buggies, Rally Cars, Racing trucks, Mud Pluggers and Big Rigs) all reproduced in new forms, as well as the new Monster Truck class. Big, but not as big or powerful as a Big Rig, Monster Trucks are surprisingly fast for their size and are able to roll over most other classes of vehicle and virtually any vegetation they encounter. The game’s list of playable tracks has also been doubled to 16 and are categorized along the lines of the elements and the different environmental zones are found on the island. These zones are:
- The Air Zone – Tracks high up in the mountain and featuring lots of big jumps.
- The Fire Zone – Track oozing with new land and pools of lava that come from the island’s resident volcano.
- The Water Zone – Here players will find courses laid out along the the beaches and other water sources of the island.
- The Earth Zone – The typical rough, rocky mud-filled off-road courses similar to the tracks found in the original game.
Multiplayer Modes
In addition to the wild, anything goes singleplayer festival mode players of the originalMotorstorm game will remember and relish, Motorstorm Pacific Rift also provides addictive multiplayer modes for both online and local play. These include the same rampaging, music injected, 12-player online support as the first game, as well as multiplayer options for local action up to four players. Play in local multiplayer modes are further enhanced by new four-player split screen functionality that when used in conjunction with the game’s 720p HD video output ensures clarity no matter how fast racers are moving or how much mud they are throwing up.
- The Island – A brand new radically different location for the festival.
- Unpredictable Events – Never the same race twice. Events will take place to change the race on a lap to lap basis.
- Split Screen Play – Play with up to 3 buddies on the same screen.
- The Monster Truck – An all new vehicle class added to the core vehicle selection for a total of 8 different vehicle classes.
- Immersive Online Experience – A radical re-look at the whole Motorstorm online experience, focusing on ease of use and breadth of gameplay all while tearing it up in races up to 12 players.
- Improved Actions – A new level of control; punch, duck and ram using a new control layout.
- Free-play – Race how you want by creating your own race tickets.
- Photo Mode – Snap your greatest victory or your most visceral crashes and share them with the world.
- New Rating System – It’s not all about winning; it’s also about how you perform.
Bells and Whistles: Tunes and XMB Functionality
As was the case with the original Motorstorm, the driving experience in Pacific Rift can not be separated from the music that accompanies it. The game comes with a thumping 40 song soundtrack and players will also have the ability to pipe in their own playlists saved to their PS3 the ability to access others saved on your PS3′s Hard drive. In addition for players who want to relive their moments tearing across the island, the game also features PlayStation 3 XrossMediaBar (XMB) functionality and Photo Mode. XMB lets plays create movies of their races and access them from the PS3′s main menu, while Photo Mode allows you to take snapshots while within a race.
User Reviews
5 Stars Beats the first by a mile!
First off, this game adresses ALL of the shortcomings of the first one. Better graphics, FAST load times(slow loading was my biggest complaint in the first game) and a huge improvement in online portion of the game. Tracks are stunning and jumps are just insane. Keep in mind, that the track design is different this time around – you will encounter 90 degree turns and will actually have to use the breaks, unlike in the last one.
Oh, and… trophies! For those who care. 
5 Stars Stonkathon
This game is amazing, it is much better than the first one with loads more to do. The multiplayer is fantastic which was something I felt was missing from the first game. The graphics are beautiful; the scenery on the tracks is so smooth and seemless. The new cars are great especially the monster truck. The soundtrack is much better than the first with a wider variety of music. My personal favourite is a track called “Slasher” by a band I’ve not of heard of before called The Planets. Seriously, this game is wonderful.
*****5 Star
5 Stars EXCELLENT! much better than the first
If you tend to buy the first MotorStorm to get yourself familiar with the game than drop this idea. As good as the original MotorStorm is, it’s no comparison to its sequel. MotorStorm: Pacific Rift is a great racing game, but more than just a racing game. The game was improved with even more alternative routes when racing. The graphic is excellent, and the interactions with objects such as smashing into a branch are more accurate. MotorStorm: Pacific Rift is also more realistic such as water cooling off your boost, and smaller vehicles not able to go to certain routes such as deep water.
MotorStorm: Pacific Rift has about 80 races, or more. All categorized into four distinct parts of the island: Earth Zone (basic land fields), Air Zone (expect lots of jump lifts), Fire Zone (lava lands), and Water Zone (beach etc). You will find about twenty-four races in each of the four zones. Some are basic races, some timed races, and some eliminator races where racers are being eliminated while racing (you don’t want to be in the back).
You will also obtain points, and gain PS3 trophies for your performances in the game. Unlike its predecessor you are able to play in split screen with your peers if you have additional controllers. One of the many extras in MotorStorm: Pacific Rift is your ability to take pictures of your race (pause, and snap). The good thing about this feature is that you’ll be able to snap a picture on any angle since you’ll be able to move, zoom in and out, before snapping your pictures that will all be saved in your gallery. MotorStorm: Pacific Rift also has an improved online gaming where you can text/voice/video chat, and invite your PS3 friends who also own the game.
Cons: unfortunately absent in both the first, and Pacific Rift, there are no replays of your race. Hopefully this will be present if they make a third, but this shouldn’t be a reason not to buy this game.
5 Stars Offroad racing at its best
When the first motorstorm came out it carved its own racing type. It was one of the pioneers in physics based racing. With every track having lots of branching path, every branch suitable for a different class of vehicles.
Here they have taken it to the next level. Races are much bigger. Apart from mud you also have other obstacles for individual vehicles classes. Small vehicles will get stuck in plants and other terrestrial hazards. This time it is lot more than physics. Some people are complaining that vehicles slide more than the first one, it is intentional as it forces you to use hand brakes for a faster drift turn. Overall sense of speed has drastically gone up.
This game is still Motorstorm at heart. They have added tonnes and tonnes of extras to the game to make it feel very fresh. Things like lava tracks, water jets for faster cooling, high air jumps all add extra strategy. It is not just driving fast. You have to try out all the alternative paths and choose right one based on boost and cooling requirements.
Lot of minor changes like explosions could take the guys next to you. So you can do kamikaze in cliff edges. Or if you are small vehicle you can lap behind a big one to clear off the vegetation and pull off at the last second. More and more I play, I keep finding lot more interesting tweaks.
AI is also vastly improved. If you truly race well you will win. There isn’t much of rubber necking. I also think the physics respond much better compared to the first one. Jumps and slides feel lot more natural. Graphics seem to be better than the demo. I think they have tweaked the xdr lighting. Every thing looks very polished. I havent seen any crashes or hangs.
There is twice as many race tracks as the original one. There is also an extra eliminator mode. Speed events are my favorite, it is like slalom race. Where the flags appear only after you cross the current one. So it requires lot more agility than just boosting the way through. It is like the old ATV games.
After play thing for an hour or so, when I tried MS1 it was a night and day difference. The new game also loads much much faster than the old one. The vehicle selection screen is lot more slicker and avoids the double loading screen. I love the fact they have added split screen. There is nothing more fun than pushing your buddy off the cliff. Using L1/R1 as action buttons makes the game much more fun.
Hope they keep us busy with more DLCs.
5 Stars ZeRiMaRd’s Opinion
Well, the original MotorStorm was my first PS3 game that l got and being that l liked that game for its online portion, naturally l picked up MotorStorm Pacific Rift. l must say that MS PR’s story mode “Festival” is a huge improvement from the original MS. There are 4 Zones, Earth, Air, Water, Fire. The tracks are beautiful, challenging and diverse with 16 total. I love the way the developers included Eliminator into the Festival tracks. Now as for Online, l personally feel that the new online setup of Pacific Rift is “different”. By this l mean, there are no lobbies you can freely join right away, the server decides for you. Having Ranked Races, Casual Races, and Custom Races is somewhat disappointing. Anyway, online races is fun but annoying in terms of wanting to race with your stats going up because everyone is in Custom Races! Go to Ranked Races! The online setup for MotorStorm 1 was WAY better. Overall, if your a MotorStormer like myself you owe it to yourself to pick this up!
