Motorstorm has been a great source of frustration for me, and one of the main reason for this has been the AI, so I will start with that first.
Now, I have come to call the Motorstorm type A.I. a "hive mind." The main issue with it is that Evolution Studios didn't make it hard. They made it try to screw the player in any way at the expense of a particular AI not getting a better spot on the finish chart.
What I mean by that is that, for example, a big rig would rather push you and itself from a cliff, so that ANY AI would get the top 3.
Obviously, this is unrealistic, but if any word best describes Motorstorm, that would be the exact one.
Another special move of the AIs is what I came to call the "failgate." You accidentally ram someone at the back, and he hard presses the emergency break, effectively slowing you, you have to push the break yourself and move around him.
This was Motorstorm 1, now the fans of Motorstorm 1 would be happy to hear that absolutely nothing has changed. An AI crashes, you accidentally swipe his chassis and it is slowing you down. The a-hole won't respawn on the race track until you have been gimped back to the last spot, or until he can no longer screw with you(you have stopped, gone in reverse and moved beside him).
Motorstorm 1 had a serious flaw in that it had only about 6 or 7 maps if I recall correctly. They added some downloadable content, but that was paid and it smelled like a content patch, so I personally didn't get it.
Motorstorm 2 has vastly improved in that by having the staggering 16 maps. All very well varied, set in different parts of a tropical island.
All the maps are divided into 4 elemental zones, and although that seems a rather strange move, the maps are extremely theme based. Air maps have giant leaps, long falls. There is even a trophy to fall 180 feet or so without crashing.
Now, why I mentioned Star Wars: Racer. I did that mainly because on the first go at a map, you pretty much need to be force sensitive to be able to make it through without crashing in what I call "Anakin Skywalker Pod Racer" syndrome.
But of course, that isn't a minor thing, all that is required is to learn all the routes in a map.
There is nothing really bad to say about it. All the vehicles are unique in a special(DUUURRR SPECIAL) way. Each handles differently, and overall there is one for every type of gamer. Bikes for the twitchy Jedi Knights, racing trucks for the well-rounded average gamer, rally car for those that fancy high speeds and the out-of-control feeling, and the Big Rigs and Monster Trucks for the "HULK SMASH" players.
Single player wise though, Evolution has gone again down the road of scheisse by limiting the selection of vehicles for each ticket (campaign map), and it kind of sucks when you are in an ATV and half the AIs are in racing trucks and out to screw you over.
Other than that, Evolution has built upon Motorstorm 1 by adding several modes like Elimination(which I haven't played, but I assume is the one where the last person at the end of each track gets kicked out) and check point challenges for single player.
I haven't played Multiplayer much, just did one race, so I will comment on Motorstorm a bit.
It had a major issue with hackers. It was just silly, some dude would stay last for 2/3 laps, then right when the player at the pole position is about to finish, the hacker teleports in front and gets the first place.
I just hope that there would be zero tolerance for hackers this time around
Here is one of Motorstorm 2's biggest flaws. Motorstorm 1 had a large collection of fast tracks, that greatly added to the atmosphere and the adrenalin rush.
Motorstorm 2's sound track is completely bland. The music isn't noticeable, it blends with the background, and might as well have not even been there. It is weak in that point, and cannot be forgiven.
I would barely recommend buying it for the extremely varied single player mode, and rich racing track selection (16 complex and different-for-every-vehicle maps) that would provide a lot of fun moments if you are with friends and like seeing spectacular stunts and explosions, but again, the music tracks are just mediocre.
A.I.
Now, I have come to call the Motorstorm type A.I. a "hive mind." The main issue with it is that Evolution Studios didn't make it hard. They made it try to screw the player in any way at the expense of a particular AI not getting a better spot on the finish chart.
What I mean by that is that, for example, a big rig would rather push you and itself from a cliff, so that ANY AI would get the top 3.
Obviously, this is unrealistic, but if any word best describes Motorstorm, that would be the exact one.
Another special move of the AIs is what I came to call the "failgate." You accidentally ram someone at the back, and he hard presses the emergency break, effectively slowing you, you have to push the break yourself and move around him.
This was Motorstorm 1, now the fans of Motorstorm 1 would be happy to hear that absolutely nothing has changed. An AI crashes, you accidentally swipe his chassis and it is slowing you down. The a-hole won't respawn on the race track until you have been gimped back to the last spot, or until he can no longer screw with you(you have stopped, gone in reverse and moved beside him).
Maps
Motorstorm 1 had a serious flaw in that it had only about 6 or 7 maps if I recall correctly. They added some downloadable content, but that was paid and it smelled like a content patch, so I personally didn't get it.
Motorstorm 2 has vastly improved in that by having the staggering 16 maps. All very well varied, set in different parts of a tropical island.
All the maps are divided into 4 elemental zones, and although that seems a rather strange move, the maps are extremely theme based. Air maps have giant leaps, long falls. There is even a trophy to fall 180 feet or so without crashing.
Now, why I mentioned Star Wars: Racer. I did that mainly because on the first go at a map, you pretty much need to be force sensitive to be able to make it through without crashing in what I call "Anakin Skywalker Pod Racer" syndrome.
But of course, that isn't a minor thing, all that is required is to learn all the routes in a map.
Gameplay
There is nothing really bad to say about it. All the vehicles are unique in a special(DUUURRR SPECIAL) way. Each handles differently, and overall there is one for every type of gamer. Bikes for the twitchy Jedi Knights, racing trucks for the well-rounded average gamer, rally car for those that fancy high speeds and the out-of-control feeling, and the Big Rigs and Monster Trucks for the "HULK SMASH" players.
Single player wise though, Evolution has gone again down the road of scheisse by limiting the selection of vehicles for each ticket (campaign map), and it kind of sucks when you are in an ATV and half the AIs are in racing trucks and out to screw you over.
Other than that, Evolution has built upon Motorstorm 1 by adding several modes like Elimination(which I haven't played, but I assume is the one where the last person at the end of each track gets kicked out) and check point challenges for single player.
Multiplayer
I haven't played Multiplayer much, just did one race, so I will comment on Motorstorm a bit.
It had a major issue with hackers. It was just silly, some dude would stay last for 2/3 laps, then right when the player at the pole position is about to finish, the hacker teleports in front and gets the first place.
I just hope that there would be zero tolerance for hackers this time around
Music
Here is one of Motorstorm 2's biggest flaws. Motorstorm 1 had a large collection of fast tracks, that greatly added to the atmosphere and the adrenalin rush.
Motorstorm 2's sound track is completely bland. The music isn't noticeable, it blends with the background, and might as well have not even been there. It is weak in that point, and cannot be forgiven.
Overall
I would barely recommend buying it for the extremely varied single player mode, and rich racing track selection (16 complex and different-for-every-vehicle maps) that would provide a lot of fun moments if you are with friends and like seeing spectacular stunts and explosions, but again, the music tracks are just mediocre.
