Motorstorm 2

Came across it in the shop a little sooner than I expected ... picked it up! :) Motion controls being in redeemed it for me, I wanted it for the split screen and new environments - the game was such a hit with non-gamers. First impressions after about 1 hour of play: stunning! I can't quite figure out the bikes yet (may have to do with motion control) but otherwise wow. This is one of the best looking games so far. The final version leaves Pure in the dust.

Also saw lots of 80GB bundles with this game in the store.
 
Arwin, have you tried online yet ? How are they ? Are the servers stable ?

[size=-2]ultragpu, you should let the early buyers rough out the initial server issues (if any !) *cough*Socom*cough*[/size]
 
I'll try the online soon, it's a Saturday night just after launch, so probably crowded, which will make a good test.

Did I mention how beautiful this game is? ;)

I can't understand how people didn't think this game looked too much better than the previous, but perhaps I look at things with a different eye - the amount of geometry alone, I wouldn't be surprised if it had doubled or in places even quadrupled or more. The lighting is even more impressive than before, and there are some shrubs with very long upstanding leaves that have some impressive interaction/animation. Physics have very clearly improved as well - I particularly like how you can dent a minivan from behind for instance mid race just by bumping it with a sturdy enough car.

And the variation is a godsend. Also really like that you can try races from the four different elements and progress more in some, less in others. Also interesting that there are some mission style things in there, like finish the race while crashing max 3 times, or finish it within a certain timelimit, etc.

EDIT: did 11 ranked online matches and a whole slew of offline. The only thing that seemed weak was the voice chat - when it was enabled and people were chatting it wasn't all that good quality. But that may have varying reasons. Another weak spot is the general issue that when you invite friends to your player's list to set up a kind of party/lobby, you can't see what they are currently playing. You can see this through XMB though which makes it a bit silly, but this means you'll look for other MS2 players using XMB first, and then invite them through the game.

Other than that though the experience was flawless and a lot of fun, with deliberate and successful attempts to take each other out etc. I only experienced lag a bit once when the first person had finished already out of 11 races, and I experienced a similar bit of lag once offline exactly once (out of 30+ races I think), so I'm not even sure what the cause is. Stats work too.

The game doesn't install by the way, but does seem to cache stuff to the HDD when loading the levels. Load times are pretty good, only for loading the track really and it takes maybe 20 seconds tops.

The garage view of your car in 3D (optional) has a few fun 'extra's', like revving the engine and 'testing' your car's suspension by leaning it about using the sixaxis.

Motion control play is perfect for me, I've been winning events easily and online I'm not left behind either.
 
In picture 2, the mud-water filled tracks are created by the vehicles. So track deformation is definitely still in, at least visually ... ;)

http://www.niwra.nl/tmp/MSPR_niwrA_2.jpg

http://www.niwra.nl/tmp/MSPR_niwrA_7.jpg

MSPR_niwrA_4.jpg
 
Looks absolutely fabulous!!!!!! Based on the screenshots ove the last couple of pages, it seems the reviews are not giving enough credit to Evolution in the GFX stakes, especially if the framerate is more stable than MS1.
 
:oops: These are in-game shots ? No wonder people are raving about it. Evolution improved MS1 visuals significantly during the last few weeks. It seems that they repeated the same feat in MS2.

The shadows have been improved throughout ? They seem very smooth in these screens compared to the demo I played. Shadows used to be flickery and blocky at the same time. Would be great if the devs fixed/improved them.
 
Yeah, I really can't tell that there's a difference between this and what happens when I press pause to take the screenshot ... You can see the LOD and such change when you're moving the camera, but it's just like this in the game.

However, personally, I think a lot of it looks much more impressive still while playing ... ;) The section that the first shot was taken from has all this smoke coming up from the see where the lava enters it and with the sky half-filled with ashes, half clear with evening sun, and the lava particles floating about, it's just ... jawdropping!

Best of all though it's a really good game too, very rewarding, satisfying. I love how you can play and choose from so many more events so much more easily.

The sunlight in this game is really awesome.

In game XMB music works great too ... this and Wipeout combined with the new HDD I put in (320GB) I now for the first time feel the need for custom soundtracks. :D Though I noticed that with all the single-CDs I bought of groups like KLF and Prodigy and a bunch of Faithless stuff, I am much better equipped to provide Wipeout with an awesome track than Motorstorm!
 
Oops, I overwrote a few images in my first batch with some new ones by accident. Anyway, a few more shots and then it's to bed with me.


I have to say, that the track called The Rift is just stunning. Best graphics I've seen in anything anywhere ever. It's a long track and has both rainforest, open muddy sand areas, tunnels, water pools, etc. Crazy. Shots don't do it justice.

http://www.niwra.nl/tmp/MSPR_niwrA_11.jpg
MSPR_niwrA_12.jpg

http://www.niwra.nl/tmp/MSPR_niwrA_15.jpg
http://www.niwra.nl/tmp/MSPR_niwrA_18.jpg
http://www.niwra.nl/tmp/MSPR_niwrA_20.jpg
MSPR_niwrA_21.jpg
 
Also, when giving my wife a run in time trial (where she really just wanted to enjoy the scenery) we selected morning light, which looks great too! So this game has 16 tracks with 4 different lighting options ... ! Awesome.

MSPR_niwrA_26.jpg


MSPR_niwrA_25.jpg


Overall, this game totally took me by surprise - it's just so good! :gush: And the sun is so bright and awesome on the TV that they really give you a feel of looking into the sun. On this LCD PC screen it's a little more dim, for sure. :D
 
Sweet visuals! And no track deformation...? :p Picks 4 and 5 and fabulous. How are you making the captures. Presumably in game photo mode, right?

Oh, and can you please trim down the number of pics and provide links? this isn't a photo gallery, after all! I'll leave you to select and keep the ones you think of most value, but I'd say no more then 4 or 5 with the rest left as links. Thanks.
 
Sweet visuals! And no track deformation...? :p Picks 4 and 5 and fabulous. How are you making the captures. Presumably in game photo mode, right?

Yeah, in-game photo mode. Gives you a fair bit of movement too, very nice. And again, I don't see a big or even any chance in rendering method going from game to pause to photo mode free movement. Someone with better eyes than mine will probably investigate and confirm or deny, but at any rate, if there is a difference, it can't be big, because I"m not THAT blind. ;)

Oh, and can you please trim down the number of pics and provide links? this isn't a photo gallery, after all! I'll leave you to select and keep the ones you think of most value, but I'd say no more then 4 or 5 with the rest left as links. Thanks.

Ok now? If not, feel free to go ahead and take some more out, or change however you like. I'm off to bed. ;)

Oh, @betan: motion controls are perfect so far! No complaints from my side, totally happy, and vibration and motion controls are well implemented in combination too. I haven't used anything but motion controls so far, and I think I've collected some 25 tickets so far from the various elements, half of them gold I think. I love the difficulty too, there are one or two races that are a bit tougher, bit in general everything so far has been great.
 
Jeebus, one of my PS3 friends is salivating over this game as well.

For track deformation, this one should have some:

MSPR_niwrA_12.jpg


These shots make me feel sad about Heavenly Sword 2 and Lair 2.
 
I just spent about 2 hours online with a buddy and some other random people. Crazy game, nothing like a monster truck landing on your buggy to ruin your day. Not one hint of lag and hosting has lots of options. I also love the R1/L1 to bump people as they pass you.
 
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