The original MotorStorm featured fast and furious off-road racing, a vertigo-inducing sense of velocity, and completely over-the-top Burnout-style crashes. It also suffered from a dearth of vehicles and courses and deathly long load times. None of these flaws were evidence of a lack of imagination or technical skill on developer Evolution's part; they were just unfortunate side effects of trying to push the game out as a PS3 launch title. But now that Evolution's had some time to put the bun back in the oven, the finished product delivers on the original's promise. MotorStorm: Pacific Rift is the racer we hoped to get 18 months ago, and it was well worth the wait.

Pacific Rift's main event is Festival Mode, in which you race through courses divided into the four different "zones" of earth, fire, air, and water. Initially, only a couple of courses are unlocked in each. Placing in a race's top three spots earns you points, which unlock additional courses and events. There are 12 drivers in each race, and each race is limited to certain vehicle types.

Most races are the usual first-to-the-finish affairs, but there are also Speed challenges where you race through waypoints and Eliminator races, where last-place racers explode when the timer runs out. But since these were all present in the original, a few new race varieties would have been welcome.


Get On Your Bikes and Ride

Like the early days of the UFC, when judo black-belts would face off against sumos, MotorStorm: Pacific Rim is a monstrous mash of a variety of vehicle types, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. MotorStorm's seven original vehicle classes return and are joined by the new super-badass Monster Truck class, which doesn't have to slow down for any terrain (or other drivers), but does need to take it easy around corners.

Generally speaking, smaller, lighter vehicles are faster, more maneuverable, and able to jump further. Larger, heavier vehicles can plow through mud, water, and dense foliage without suffering momentum loss, and they can run down any smaller vehicles whose drivers lack the sense to get the hell out of the way.

Mastering the boost system is the key to success in Pacific Rift. You can ride the boost until its heat meter maxes out, at which point you're in danger of blowing up if you don't let up. That's unchanged from the original game, but new environmental features affect how long you can push it in Pacific Rift. Driving through water cools it down and lets you boost longer, but it also slows you down. Lava heats you up and limits your boosting potential, but sometimes cutting a corner dangerously close to a lava flow is worth it, especially if there's an oasis ahead to douse your flames.