One phrase that you’ll hear cropping up often if you’ve been following the development of MotorStorm: Apocalypse at all is its classification as a “brutal off-road racer.” After just one race you’ll realise that they weren’t kidding, its more brutal than any other previous MotorStorm title I’ve played, and the level of unpredictability that has been included in this latest instalment add to this brutality, combining it with a sense of out-of-control racing that’s yet to be rivalled in the racing genre.

If you’ve ever played a MotorStorm game before, you’ll know that this is no ordinary racer. If you’re expecting a polite race around the track on a Sunday afternoon you’ve definitely come to the wrong place. Instead you’ll get an adrenaline pumping race, filled with thrills and spills as other racers try their utmost to ram you off the track. The racing is fast, the cars are faster and you better up your game if you want to stay alive, let alone win!

The first MotorStorm saw the ‘Stormers tearing up the desert in Monument Valley while in the second one we headed to the jungle on The Island. Each environment provided unique challenges, resulting in exciting and varied gameplay that kept you coming back for more races. Once you’d explored the single player campaign you could also look forward to the entertaining multiplayer options, racing online against other players, each intent on making you take a long drop off a short cliff.

I’m happy to report that the developers haven’t been content to rest on the laurels of a successful franchise. In addition to giving us a brand new setting (the ‘Stormers have moved to the city this time around), they’ve introduced the opportunity to take the four player split-screen racing online against 12 other racers, as well as 16 player online racing, to deliver a comprehensive racing challenge that’s guaranteed to give you plenty of hours of racing fun.

During a presentation by Evolution Studios’ Game Director Matt Southern at Big Dog’s Garage at the Classic Car Club during the recently held PlayStation Experience in London, El33tonline got a little insight into how the developer believes pushing the pyrotechnics as well as explosive effects and damage leave a tangible effect on gameplay. Southern believes Apocalypse is the fastest MotorStorm ever made, but that it still retains its classic MotorStorm DNA of multiple routes and multiple vehicles.

The earthquakes tearing up the city weren’t enough to create the ultimate urban, off-road and street racer, filled to the brim with explosive action and large-scale destruction, so the developer introduced the two factions to breathe life into the city, the looters and the private military contractors. Evolution Studios described how MotorStorm: Apocalypse is a homage to the action sequences of Hollywood movies, inspired by the blockbusters that this town produces.

As I mentioned above, the MotorStorm festival has moved to the city (loosely based upon the Bay Area of California), but this is no ordinary city – it’s been hit by a series of earthquakes that have caused widespread damage and destruction. Buildings are tumbling down around you, debris litter the roads and looters as well as private military contractors are all set on making it as difficult as possible for you to finish your race.

Even though there have been significant additions to the game, you can still expect a few of the things that have become synonymous with the MotorStorm series. The first is the number of vehicle classes – you’ll still be able to choose from a wide variety of classes (13 in total) including rally cars, big rigs, bikes, monster trucks and buggies. But because we’re in the city now, you can also look forward to five new classes suited to urban racing, including supercars, superbikes, muscle cars, choppers and compacts. As you would expect each vehicle handles very differently depending on the track type. For instance, if you’re driving a bike on the Skyline track you’d be wise to stick to the high ground to avoid being run off the road by a big rig.

As you’re driving through the city tremors and aftershocks may occur in real-time, causing a building to collapse just in front of you. This may force you to take a different route or it may open up a new shortcut, you’ll have to race it to discover which. You’ll never know what’s going to happen next so you’ll always need to be prepared as you race the 40 unique races in the game, experiencing explosive dynamic events as you progress on tracks that are never the same. MotorStorm is all the more brutal if you visit the track again because all the damage remains in place. For example, if a building collapsed it will remain that way but now even more events may be triggered as you’re racing.

You’ll also need to keep an eye out for the competitive AI, once again willing to stop at nothing to reduce you to scrap metal. Not to mention those rockets whizzing past your head from angry looters who may even choose to attach themselves to your vehicle at the most inopportune times. And let’s not forget those private military contractors flying around the skies, unleashing a torrent of fire power every now and again in an effort to drive you out of the city. Bottom line, you can expect a wild ride through city subways, over railway tracks, through tunnels and over unstable skyscrapers. Coupled with explosive action, large scale destruction and multiplayer options, you’ll get what Matt Southern aptly describes as ‘balls to the wall mayhem.”

So now that you know what to expect from the city, let’s talk a little about the handling of the game. The control system is very responsive and I found it very easy to control the different vehicle classes, even when I was racing the bikes which I normally avoid in racing games due to control problems. It’s a very fluid experience and intuitive too, even with the addition of in-air cooling which challenges you to earn more boost if you release the accelerator in the air.

As you race in the single player mode you’ll experience a unique story for three different characters, each offering a different difficulty level. In case you’re wondering, it’s the first time a MotorStorm game will feature a story, but Southern describes it as light and “tongue-in-cheek” so it won’t detract from the core racing emphasis of the game and it will be driven by the gamplay. The first character will be one who is new to MotorStorm - aptly dubbed the Rookie, he will feature easier tracks for players new to the series. The Survivor is next and will feature some crazy racing while the Veteran, fondly known as Big Dog, will provide more technical challenges to players who are very familiar with the series.

Then there will be the performance based customisation, you’ll be able to tweak your performance in three areas by using a perk system. First up we have combat (to assist your ability to ramp and defend), boost and handling changes (to get more grip and power-slides). The second is comprehensive visual customisation options for your vehicle. Players will be able to tweak vinyls, parts, liveries and paint jobs, which can be shared online, automatically work across all vehicle types, and even include your PSN ID. Thirdly there’s a betting option which follows a similar format to ‘The Weakest Link.’ You’ll be able to pick a rival in every race and if you beat them you’ll win chips which you can then cash in to spend on rewards or perks. The Game Creator Mode is also neat, allowing players to create new game experiences by designing their own game rules and victory conditions.

Evolution Studios also promises post release support for the game, which will be prioritized above challenges. However, they will be rolling out weekly challenges for multiple tiered skill levels as well as new race modes which will be included in the tickets. This will be free for now but new paid-for content will also be available in the future. There will also be new content for community rewards which may include unique liveries that will focus on the new vehicle classes.

It would be amiss of me not to mention the game is absolutely stunning when played in 3D. It really takes the explosive action, brutal racing and ongoing destruction to a whole new level that really needs to be seen to be believed. Picture this if you will for a moment: tornadoes are lashing the beach, the wind is whipping palm trees in your windscreen while rain splashes relentlessly down from above. And then a big rig forces you off the tar track down onto the beach where you’re almost driven into the surf. And now picture this in 3D and you would have taken a small step into the immersion that racing the Boardwalk track will be like when you race in 3D.

MotorStorm: Apocalypse will be available across Europe on the 16th of March, exclusively for the PlayStation 3, with the North American release date following on the 12th of April. It’s almost time to enjoy the party at the end of the world. Are you ready?

Flip through our previous coverage to gather more information and browse through more screenshots and trailers about the game if you’re not. You can also enjoy a few pictures taken at Big Dog’s Garage below if you like, and even enjoy two trailers after that, one where you’ll see the Superbike in action on the Skyline track and another that shows you how awesome MotorStorm: Apocalypse is.

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