MOTORSTORM RC

A nice bit of remote play from Sony.

I must admit  when Motor Storm RC was first announced and the trailers started to appear online I was a little put off  to be honest, you could say I was skeptical. You see I’m a big Motor Storm fan and I still regularly play Pacific Rift on the PlayStation 3 and Arctic Edge on my Vita/PSP. RC stands for Remote Control so of course it’s a big giveaway that this game differs from the other Motor Storm titles, this is not a bad thing though by any means.

What’s that coming over the hill, is it a monster?

Rather than doing a fully fledged port of a previous game or another true sequel this one is a top down racer in the vain of Micro Machines but with all the classic Motor Storm action and hectic racing style you’ve become accustomed to. Among the main game modes the one that demands most attention is festival mode this is broken down into four sections, Monument Valley, Pacific Rift, Arctic Edge and Apocalypse, each one consisting of about 15 events and numerous tracks.

As you’ve probably guessed the four events are themed replicas of the fully blown PS3 Motor Storm games, all the tracks are set in a real world environment so to speak and are made up of things like plywood sheets, tin cans, wooden barriers and mounds of dirt or snow,  just as you would make a real course for any remote controlled car.

It snow joke, you should give this game a look.

Each event represents a different track and task comprising of ever increasing difficulty and vehicle sets. The vehicle list is made up of typical Motor Storm favorites too like Mud Plugger’s, Rally Cars, Buggy’s and Hot Hatches.

As you progress through each Motor Storm section the events consist of different challenges like your typical race against  the AI to time attack and such things like overtaking as may cars as possible in a set amount of time.

After each event your rewarded a medal of either 1st, 2nd or 3rd , depending on how well you stack up to the set time limit, these medals also add up to unlock later tracks and events through out the other Motor Storm sections.

This is what can happen if you follow the arrows.

With Motor Storm RC your always connected online, each event has it’s own leader board so you can always see who’s the fastest at any given time either in the world or just the people on your friends list, your friends top five times always appear in a list just under each event so you can see what they’ve achieved and how you stack up against them. As you race ghost cars are constantly loaded and updated with the overall leader, your best time and your friends top time so you always have a racing line to follow which helps considerably.

The only downside to RC is that it doesn’t have a competitive online multiplayer mode, this would of been the icing on the cake but the with the Vita’s portability and ghost times such modes aren’t missed too much, the PS3 version does however feature split screen local multiplayer.

Other modes that fill out the game are your typical time attach for any track, free play and a playground option where you just free drive around such places like basketball and skate board parks.

More medals than Mr. T.

Worth a special mention is the Pitwall, here you will see challenges that your friend have set like a hot laps or passing so many cars with in a given time and they have set a challenge for you to better them, it’s a really fun and addictive mode that always gives you that one more go feeling.

The draw of Motor Storm RC is that your always competing against someone, even when your just playing through the events and challenges. It’s also cross play meaning anybody with a PlayStation 3 gets both games for the same price, buy once, play twice as the saying goes. Your times, and records are all synced through the cloud too which is another neat feature and just stresses the competitive nature of the game. The game even features Facebook integration when posting challenges so you can even show off your skills to a wider audience.

It also comes as no surprise that the game supports DLC, well what game doesn’t nowadays? Various car models can be bought straight from the in game menu with such wacky types as Ice Cream Cones!, Domino’s Pizza, London Buses and Hot Dog themed vehicles. The two game packs are named Pro-Am and Carnival, theses two new sections consisting of another chunk of tracks and events will keep you event busier, Pro-Am is a themed indoor skateboard park while the Carnival is mainly set outdoors in what looks like deserted theme parks and warehouses. Again the price point is reasonable on the DLC and worth checking out if you fancy some more challenges.

Christmas Tree lighting already?

The games graphics are hardly going to light up the boards regarding quality but they do look rather nice and are of similar style on both PlayStation 3 and Vita, the Sound effects aren’t the best but the music tracks are fantastic, there in typical Motor Storm vain with tracks akin to Rock, Techno and Punk. The cars control just as you would expect a remote controlled car to handle, the physics feel spot on and you can really feel the different between surface terrain and how your vehicle handles. The easier cars are pretty simple to control but the faster vehicles like the Super car can be very twitchy and do require a bit of skill to master and set good times.

To summarize,

After playing the game for a considerable amount of time my fears that this would be a watered down version were laid to rest, in fact it’s probably one of the best in the series. Motor Storm RC is a pretty easy sell, it’s very addictive, has plenty of challenges and events, it also handles and looks good plus comes with the added benefit of cross play and cross sync. With a low entry price and dozens of hours of game play picking up Motor Storm RC is a no brainier and it’s one game that every Vita owner should own.

• Fun and addictive game play
• Always connected with your friends
• Cross buy

• No online multiplayer
• Simple looking graphics may deter you

Game Info