Motorstorm: Arctic Edge Review page 2

30 Sep 2009 at 09:40:41 by James Chalmers
Systems used to review this title: (PSP)

One of my favourite features outside of the gameplay is a fully licensed soundtrack to accompany the game, all music fans are catered for with a slew of tracks and artists ranging from The Prodigy and Pendulum to the likes of Bullet For My Valentine and Motorhead. Going into the options allows you to turn off any track which you're not too fond of, meaning rockers who don't really like the drum and bass songs can just listen to the rock tracks and visa-versa. Expect to hear crisp tunes coming out of your handheld's speakers while the different vehicles all have different sounds to make them feel different.

It's not just the sounds that make the vast garage of vehicles feel different, they handle differently too. The game comes loaded with every type of vehicle you can imagine and pits them against each other. Expect to see motorbikes and snowmobiles taking on the likes of big rig trucks and snow-plowers and while some may be quicker than others it doesn't mean they handle better. With bigger trucks sacrificing speed for toughness and handling meaning they can manoeuvre around some of the tricker corners and routes while others just speed head on into a wall. But hey if you're going to be crashing into the wall at full speed I've got to encourage you to do it in style with your customised ride.

Yep that's right for the first time in the Motorstorm series the game allows you to customise your cars. Whether you just want to change the colours of your wheels, suspension and framework or change the full look of the car with different sponsor stickers and changing the cargo of your ride there is a lot included to make your own unique ride. However a lot of the items need to be unlocked as you progress through Festival mode which ,in my opinion, is good because it means persistent players are rewarded for their hard work and in turn can make their own funkier rides. Any vehicle can be customised with each having their own special sections that you can change. With motorbikes you can change the exhaust system and framework while with the big rig trucks you can change the front grill, cargo, and more. There is a lot to unlock and it doesn't just stop with the vehicle customisation items.

There are numerous items and secrets that can be unlocked as you progress throughout the festival mode. Media videos, including the opening sequence, credits and more can be opened as you rank up. But the most impressive feat is a trophy-like badge system which includes 50 badges that unlock when a specific criteria is completed. These can leave you playing the game for hours on end trying to complete them all with certain badges rewarding you for finding hidden treasures from other Sony exclusive titles such as Killzone and LittleBigPlanet. But after you've completed festival mode, got all the badges and unlocked everything there is to offer, why not head over and play the game online?

The inclusion of an online multiplayer mode is an immediate reason to buy the game if you want some racing fun against others. Up to eight players can race through online or ad-hoc mode with the options to choose which vehicles and what tracks to race on. When playing it online I didn't find any crashing or lagging issues and, while sometimes the servers can be a bit empty during peak times, you wont have to wait long before you battling for the racing championship.

Motorstorm: Arctic Edge is one of those titles which will grow on you over time. My initial worry that the game was too easy was soon put to rest as you entered the latter stages of the festival mode. It's made the leap between PS3 and PSP with ease and does the Motorstorm franchise proud. For racing fans this very well could be a fix to tie you over until Gran Turismo PSP comes out in a couple of weeks.

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