Motorstorm 2

I think deepbrown may be right that going at those speeds on that terrain, yu wouldn't expect great steering, but I wasn't my cup of tea at all. The bike was favoured as being responsive always. It might be something you learn, but it wasn't something I adapted to intuitively. Motion controls are disabled completely AFAIK unless you change control layout, so it won't be that.
 
So I finally got a chance to play this game yesterday on my day off (Vets day). As a fan of the first one I was really excited to plop down and put some time into this awesome racer.

I started off by playing the first ticket in the Earth league and my very first impression after of the graphics was--this is it? To me it somehow looked worse than the first one. Not by much mind you, but there seemed to be a step backwards here. Perhaps more time with the game and seeing additional tracks will change my opinion though. It has to get better than this. Hell, maybe the fact that I crashed 4 times on the first lap hindered my ability to perceive the lush visual fidelity well enough.

But by the time I hit lap two I felt adjusted and like I had learned a route. I decide to take the woodboard bridge instead of the slowing water lane. My buggy's left tire slips off the bridge--*BOOOOM*! I explode. I continue on and my buggy is bouncing all over the place--the handling on this thing sucks. Maybe I would have a better time with the ATV, I think. I continue on with the Buggy to give it it's fair chance. Speak of the devil--in front of me comes one of those ATV! I slide past him on the left to pass and the bastard cuts me off. I'm the heavier of the two so no worries, right? NAY! My dumbass plastic buggy actually pops up over him as he cuts into me and the front of my buggy actually sits there on his head for a good 5 Mississippi. I'm bobbling around as I try to free myself and my buggy sort of shifts around and then the corner comes. I pull myself free as the ATV zips to the right and all my momentum pushes me straight into a gigantic rock. I've not completed two laps and I'm reaching the point of frustration where I need to walk away--but I've got one more crash in me, maybe two.

I catch up to the pack by boosting and hit 10th place. I then pull to the left and push forward working my way to 7th place--and then 5th. The finish line is coming up and Im actually kicing some as....*BOOOOOM*! A speeding vehicle smashed into me from behind throwing me into a tree. I didnt explode though despite the massive hit, I just sort of spin into a nook between a tree and a large rock. I dont get a restart/reset option and my car is sort of floating there.

I was done and went off to my PC to play something less frustrating--Fallout 3.


A few hours later I return feeling ready to go--but this time I decide to use the ATV. I start racing and it's worse. It controls like a bar of soap on an oil slick. I'm sliding all around the place, but I say "screw it--maybe this is more my vehicle than buggy I just need to get use to it". The ATVs are built for the lower routes, the mud slicks, and it's just hell and not fun. I'm sliding left and right, braking, gassing, and slamming into the walls while everyone is passing me by. By lap 2 I've now crashed 3 times. A tad better than my record with the buggy. By the end of lap 2 I've been slammed into rock walls, trees, other cars, bridges and even into a wooden sign. WHAT?! WTF happened to the destructible terrain? I smash one more time into the railing on one the brides--and I'm done. I shut off the PS3 and walk back to Fallout 3.


A few hours later I return one final time. I really enjoy playing the first MS--there has just got to be something wrong with me here! I dig in with a different track and car (truck) and everything is a little better until the actual Titanic smashes into me from behind. My little truck goes flying at a ridiculous speed off a cliff as Leonardo Decaprio makes a drawing of my death (ROSE!!!!). I start back up and 5 seconds into joining the race I get hit again by another truck. I respawn and am thumbing the boost riding it hard as it licks the red portion of the temp meter. I'm passing cars--determined--taking some turns tightly and one turn in particular I hit a pebble the size of a crouton that stops my truck. I respawm as 37 cars pass me by. Hey, no problem I'll catch up again--but wait--I would if the crash didn’t happen on this hill. I drive up the hill at 5MPH and reach the top and the race is practically over. I stand up, turn the PS3 off, and head back to Fallout 3.

I don’t know what it is about this racer but it seems like EVERYTHING IS STOPPING ME FROM HAVING FUN.

(Thanks for letting me rant and I apologize for the misspellings and grammar--I'm frustrated and don’t feel like going back for corrections)
 
*Grin* it's rather funny to read all this.

Personally, I had enough trouble initially getting used to the game just using the what I think is by far the easiest vehicle in the game, which is the Race Truck (fourth from the left I think). The ATV is by far the most difficult one, the Buggy isn't easy either - fast but very fragile and very light. If you know the tracks its OK, but ... .

In Wreckreation there's a Time Trial mode where you can be more leisurely about getting used to the controls by the way. I always give this to new users. Not saying that you're one of course, but it helps ...

This game has a lot of depth - the vehicles, the terrain, the track designs, the physics, all together make for a very deep experience and the learning curve is definitely there. But you'll get into it ... don't give up! Try different tracks (you can start in any of the elements) and stick to the Racing Truck initially. That car works great with Motion Controls also by the way, so it's also the best car to test that with initially.

As for the graphics, again just give it time - or select morning or evening light in Time Trial mode. ;) Motorstorm 1 looked by far the best in evening light, and for 2 the daytime lighting is also the least exciting.

And as a reminder to Shifty also, yes the vehicles have both a brake and a handbrake. For some of them, that's really helpful. I've made it halfway through the game without the handbrake, but in tracks with tight turns it makes winning a lot easier here and there.
 
I think that warcrow probably just sucks :p

Jokes aside this is the first time I heard of someone being so frustrated with the controls. If the gameplay was so problematic then this would have gotten worse reviews and much more people would have been complaining. But it seems that the game is considered to be very fun.

I dont think it is that hard. I could finish first in the demo with all three vehicles in just two laps
 
It's not that hard, I'm rank four so far and still having a blast. You have to control your speed during turns, don't hold down boost just because you have it. Some stuff is destructible for game play purposes, most isn't.
 
warcrow said:
Mod edit : removed excessive quoting ;)
(Thanks for letting me rant and I apologize for the misspellings and grammar--I'm frustrated and don’t feel like going back for corrections)
Click to expand...

Sounds like you're doing a lot wrong crow. At the end of the day - the physics in MS2 are far superior to MS1.

Where you got the idea that either the buggy or atv is good on mud - well I don't know. They are both menat for the dry upper routes, where the bike goes. Avoid the mud. And if you are on the mud, lay off the boost to turn a corner, spin the vehicle with the handbrake (circle) and then hit down on the boost to set off in the direction. You can't turn while boosting, and you can't turn without using the handbrake. That is unless you're in a bigrig.

Get used to the vehicles and follow vehicles of the same type to see what routes to use.

And Shifty - each vehicle will control as its meant to. A smaller vehicle is meant to difficult on the mud, because you should be looking for the higher/drier route. Etc. etc. Handbrake and boost. Don't boost while turning, boost after turning. I'm Rank 8 now.

Btw. Look at the traction of the vehivle - low traction and it's not going to stick to either mud or dry routes...you're going to have to try a lot harder. And I've never used the normal break. I use three buttons. Accelerate, handbrake, and boost.
 
having blasted my through a good portion of the single player mode, i went back and had a quick race round The Grizzly on MS1. Once again not enough credit is been given to Evo regarding the improvements made in MS2 (gfx wise). Geometery has increased hugely!!! I can`t believe just how sparse the Grizzly is compared to any track on MS2!!!! The only thing i dont think improved is vehicle detail which for me looks pretty much the same. Getting really tough no! doing rank 6 races which sometimes require a few restarts!!! Still having the most fun on any game this year.
 
I thought I'd play a bit more yesterday and ended up playing for hours ... it just keeps on being good. They really did a good job with the single player campaign. I also tried a bit of time trialling and although I'm not quite ready to sink a lot of time into it, it's pretty well thought out with the option of placing in several ghosts, comparing your times with the different vehicles, etc. I think I'll start using it more for races that give me trouble in the future. I got into rank 5 and I must say that I'm still loving the tracks. Current favorite is probably the Mudslinger track, for just looking so darn awesome.

Going by the time I put into both games, I have to say that Motorstorm 2 would be my first choice. Burnout Paradise is pretty awesome, but in the end it's mostly the crashes and collecting stuff - the open world approach I think has led to the tracks for the actual racing becoming a mere shade of the awesome trackdesign in Motorstorm, which is a real shame. Motorstorm's graphics are a different class also probably because of the same reason.

Motorstorm 2 keeps being a surprise to me - it's so much better in so many areas than anything else. I ranked this game a 9 before, but I think I'm going to upgrade it to a 10.

On the other hand, if you find yourself getting into it, then maybe its better to start with Burnout and get Motorstorm 2 later. I don't know. But if I had to choose and pick only one, definitely MS2.
 
Hmmm.....thanx for the feedback, the trailers are so damn tempting !

and, yes, Burnout is more about exploration than racing (sadly, it used to be an adrenalin rush ).

Lets see what I do with my money !!!! :p
 
The more I play this the better it gets! I'm starting to see the differences between this and the original, both graphically and game play wise. It's just ace for casual racing, my biggest nark is the lurning curve for the tracks as they are so much more convoluted and extensive than before.
 
The rendering pipeline (Uncharted's was so interesting with the different passes combining) and all the other technical details, like how much geometry is in the tracks, how much is actually drawn, what kind of motion blur effects, if MotorStorm 2 is the first to use the Havok 4.5 update or if that made it into Motorstorm 1, how many objects they can handle for a collision, if they have any capacity to spare for youtube integration, what they're planning for upgrades, if they will do Home integration and if so what, and what Sony is planning in terms of PR for this game, which deserves more sales love.

That's to start with, I'm sure I could come up with more easily. ;)
 
deepbrown said:
If you wanted to ask Evolution anything...what would you ask? :)
Click to expand...

How much better can the next one be, is there still a big potential for improvement, ie PS3 can do more, engine can do more, they can do more? And what about a Winter Festival :D Would be fun with some skidoos etc
 
Dude, that sounds like an AMAZING idea. Honestly though, I would hope the next MotorStorm title has desert, beach, jungle, lava, and snow. Hell, honestly I'd love to see a "fantasy" track that went through all those environments in one track, now THAT would be something amazing.
 
tha_con said:
Dude, that sounds like an AMAZING idea. Honestly though, I would hope the next MotorStorm title has desert, beach, jungle, lava, and snow. Hell, honestly I'd love to see a "fantasy" track that went through all those environments in one track, now THAT would be something amazing.
Click to expand...

Wasn't that in Sega's game?
 
Arwin said:
The rendering pipeline (Uncharted's was so interesting with the different passes combining) and all the other technical details, like how much geometry is in the tracks, how much is actually drawn, what kind of motion blur effects, if MotorStorm 2 is the first to use the Havok 4.5 update or if that made it into Motorstorm 1, how many objects they can handle for a collision, if they have any capacity to spare for youtube integration, what they're planning for upgrades, if they will do Home integration and if so what, and what Sony is planning in terms of PR for this game, which deserves more sales love.

That's to start with, I'm sure I could come up with more easily. ;)
Click to expand...

Damn...I didn't think of most of that. I'll write that down then. Thanks.
 
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