brenden vilhelmina: Review: Motorstorm RC (Vita) | Video Game News, Reviews, Game ...

An Experiment in Great Ideas

It?s a testament to the strength of the PlayStation Vita?s launch lineup that Motorstorm RC arrives as a digital download through the PlayStation Network. As the latest entry in a popular and largely successful PlayStation 3 racing franchise, Motorstorm RC could quite easily have found itself as a full-priced retail release. It has the brand awareness, the studio pedigree and the content to more than justify a place alongside the likes of Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Wipeout 2048 on store shelves.

But Motorstorm RC is more than just a content-packed racing game. This is an experimental vision of Sony?s future for cross-platform support and functionality between PlayStation 3 and Vita. This is a release that shows Sony is as serious about taking on the value proposition of iOS as it is about delivering console-like experiences on the go. For a cost of just ?4.79 ? or absolutely free for a limited time in the US ? Motorstorm RC lets players download and play the game on both PlayStation 3 and Vita, with seamless interaction between the two versions. Is Motorstorm RC simply an experiment, or a more well-assembled collection of excellent ideas?

Storming in Miniature

Gameplay-wise, Evolution has opted to remove itself from the previous Motorstorm formula and instead revisit a rather ignored offshoot of the racing genre. The typical Motorstorm model has been replaced here by an isometric view, with its hulking big rigs and buggies now taking the form of miniature remote control cars, evoking memories of the likes of Mashed, Micro Machines and Super Off Road. Thanks to the Vita?s dual analogue sticks, you can even control the vehicles like you would a real remote control car, using both the left and right stick to change direction and accelerate or reverse. Thankfully, though, the controls are totally customisable for those such as myself who found this difficult to get to grips with in practice.

While the camera and scale of the action has clearly changed significantly, the racing itself is largely cut from the same cloth as the previous four Motorstorm games. Vehicles range from the sluggish but empowering monster trucks, to all-purpose buggies and rally cars, right through to the fast but difficult to handle super cars. Each vehicle class is built to offer its own strengths and weaknesses across different terrain, and it won?t take long to work out which of the eight variations is best suited to the course type under your tires, particularly when the single-player events start to ramp up in difficulty later in the game, and the pre-defined vehicle and track selections are specially designed to test your ability in the face of adversity.

The courses themselves are built from the foundations of Motorstorm history, with sixteen tracks split between four different environment types. There?s the mountainous dust and dirt of the original Motorstorm, the water hazards and mud of ?Pacific Rift?, the ice and snow of ?Arctic Edge? and the crumbled tarmac and collapsed obstacles of ?Apocalypse?. The tracks themselves are generally rather small, with lap times coming in anywhere between 15 and 25 seconds, but each course variant is unique in both design and feel, offering a wide variety of racing conditions to overcome. For fans of the series, the opportunity to race through the lush greenery of Pacific Rift?or the crisp tundras of Arctic Edge on a miniature scale is a real thrill, and some of the attention to detail in track design here is simply beautiful.

You Just Got Destroyed

The single-player game is comprised of a rather simple but effective event system, with each of the four environment types broken up into a series of race, time trial, overtake and drift events, with three medals available to earn in each depending on your performance. With 144 medals to obtain, there?s plenty to sink your teeth into, and the difficulty will become increasingly challenging towards the end of each set of events.

Beyond the single-player campaign, however, the real meat of Motorstorm RC is in its excellent social integration. While connected to the internet over WiFi or 3G, Motorstorm RC will keep constant track of your friends? lap times and high scores. You?ll receive notifications when a buddy beats your score, usually with a demoralising message such as ?Mr. Blobby destroyed your score on X?, and pressing the X button whenever such a message appears will instantly take you to the same track in order to attempt to beat their latest record. The Pitwall feature on the main menu also allows you to keep a constant check of your friends? updated times, and after beating an event in the single-player game you?ll even be offered the option to send a direct challenge to your friends via Facebook. Some of this might sound like standard social network fluff ? and I must confess it?s not the sort of thing that personally tends to float my boat either ? but the way lap times and high scores are seamlessly integrated into the whole experience is really impressive, to the point where one-upmanship becomes a compulsion. It adds a layer of extra competitive edge, rather than becoming invasive or distracting.

Given such strong emphasis on the social aspects of Motorstorm RC, it?s a shame that the game is rather lacking in true multiplayer modes. The Vita version is absent of any multiplayer at all beyond attempting to beat your friends? high scores, and although the PlayStation 3 version includes a four-player split screen mode, this lacks some of the personal competitiveness or charm of the likes of Micro Machines or Mashed. With up to three of your buddies on the same track, there?s a constant itch to level the playing field with a well-placed missile or novelty-sized mallet strike. Their inclusion would look out-of-place in terms of Motorstorm?s weapon-less history, so I appreciate why they?re absent, but the desire to use them in a competitive environment remains the same regardless. Unfortunately, the four-player split screen feels a little soulless and perhaps even bland without. The lack of true?competitive?multiplayer feels like something of a missed opportunity, particularly in terms of potentially joining Wipeout 2048 in offering cross-platform multiplayer between the PlayStation 3 and Vita versions.

The Final Verdict

As a portable game, Motorstorm RC hits the right spot in almost every way. The transition from loud and brash off-road racer to remote control arcade score attacking is done with precision and without compromise to the core Motorstorm mechanics, and given the lack of similar games this generation, it?s a game which feels fresh and exciting for the effort. The racing itself is fast and frantic, and the game is built around an intuitive, socially driven UI which keeps the competition flowing for as long as your friends list continues to actively play the game. It doesn?t quite match the personality of a Micro Machines, and the lack of multiplayer keeps the game just short of greatness, but Motorstorm RC is nevertheless a smart and well-designed addition to the PlayStation Network.

As an experiment in offering value, Motorstorm RC is an unquestionable success, well worth playing whichever of the two consoles you play on. This may or may not be the best Vita game currently available, depending on your preference, but at just ?4.79 for two versions of a game packed with content and good ideas, it?s by far one of the easiest to recommend.

BNBGAMING Recommended Award