Motorstorm Apocalypse

[HeyMykie]

Time to load up my Euro PSN account :D

[df0]

Downloading as fast as I can. I am even pausing my Dragon Age 2 play time just to download this!

[HeyMykie]

Downloading as fast as I can. I am even pausing my Dragon Age 2 play time just to download this!

IM DOING THE SAME THING!!!!!

[Okotta]

It looks great, but the controls feel very loose and the handbrake doesn't seem to do much while playing as the super car. Also, it's not very nice to have a button press popping up since it screws up your driving. I've crashed twice because I pressed triangle to watch something cool

[The Sarge]

Also, it's not very nice to have a button press popping up since it screws up your driving. I've crashed twice because I pressed triangle to watch something cool

Agreed. It was handled pretty well in SS with a smaller prompt at the top of the screen so you weren't distracted by it. Another small problem I had with the demo was the it wasn't entirely clear which parts of the track were out of bounds, areas which appeared to be shortcuts were in fact dead ends.

That's probably more to do with me, but it's something that caught me out more than a few times.

Anyway, these aren't major problems but I imagine it's something that might start to annoy after a while.

[The Sarge]

Seems I spoke too soon about the rubberband AI, I had a clear lead, made no mistakes and was using boost as much possible and a buggy was still able to catch up and overtake with ease.

[Okotta]

Played it some more and I don't think I like it. I feel like I have to pay way too much attention to stuff around me instead of paying attention to the other drivers. It just feels a bit too confusing and chaotic to me.

[Velse]

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-03-09-sony-closes-projects-at-uk-studios

Comedians. Just like last year.

[DC Lemon]

Seems I spoke too soon about the rubberband AI, I had a clear lead, made no mistakes and was using boost as much possible and a buggy was still able to catch up and overtake with ease.

I started off flawlessly, did plenty of boosting and noticed I wasn't even in the top ten. Then a couple of crashes later I was suddenly in the top three. It seems to pay to be careless.

[Rushy]

Deadendthrills has released their collection of photos from the games photo mode - Deadendthrills

[Velse]

I'm surprised people aren't making more of a fuss over the fact that they're making a bunch of people redundant the day after all these stunning reviews come out.

[The Mighty Ash]

Does the article say this studio specifically? I can't see it as I'm not a member.

[Dude Ranch]

I'm surprised people aren't making more of a fuss over the fact that they're making a bunch of people redundant the day after all these stunning reviews come out.

Yeah, we need an account for your link.

[The Sarge]

Here's some more info...

Studios affected include Eyepet and SingStar dev Studio London, Wipeout developer Studio Liverpool and Evolution Studios, who are set to release Motorstorm Apocalypse in the UK this week.

“It has been decided that production on a small number of projects within London Studio, Studio Liverpool, and Evolution Studios will be streamlined or closed due to a portfolio review and project prioritisation,” Sony said in a statement.

“This decision was made following an internal review of all games and it was deemed that with the incredibly strong list of exclusive first party titles coming up both this year and in the near future, resource should be reallocated to enhance those projects closer to completion.”

It added further: “The affected first party studios have been and will continue to be vital assets within the WWS family, and have a history of producing genre defining games such as MotorStorm, WipEout, SingStar and EyePet. This decision will have no impact on the role that our first party studios will play in the future of all PlayStation platforms.”

SCEE wouldn’t comment further on the matter.

[Yewone]

Definitely the wrong night to be away with work

[The Sarge]

I started off flawlessly, did plenty of boosting and noticed I wasn't even in the top ten. Then a couple of crashes later I was suddenly in the top three. It seems to pay to be careless.

It really is annoying, the AI all but ruined PR for me and I was hoping that would be the first thing they'd fix/improve in this.

Anyway, something else that annoyed me a little was the slo-mo with zoomed out camera angle when you're coming to the finish line alongside another vehicle. It resulted in me crashing into the collapsed bridge and losing the race. Not impressed at all.

[Fatsam]

love the demo

It took me a couple of races to get used to it, but after I'd become more acquainted with the handling, where stuff was going to blow up and how the track would change, I crashed less frequently and started to enjoy the spectacle of all the destruction going on around me a lot more. It became the thrill ride I was expecting. This is going to be amazing in multiplayer.

I like the dramatic music in this as well. Similar to Split/Second's soundtrack, functioning to build the tension and excitement rather than irritate my ears like every tune on Pacific Rift did.

I don't have an issue with the AI myself. It got irritating on the final few super hard levels on Pacific Rift and I hope this is addressed in Apocalypse, but other than that, I see rubber banding as a good thing. If employed intelligently, it can make for much more enjoyable and exciting racing games. Personally, I think it did in Pacific Rift, aside from those final few mental hard challenges.

Not sure about that slow motion thing at the finish though. I've not crashed, but it does make me feel like I'm not in full control over those crucial last few yards.

[Dimahoo]

What other projects were evolution working on anyway? They've never worked on more then one project have they?

Or was this just some prep work for something new?

[Ferine]

I'm surprised people aren't making more of a fuss over the fact that they're making a bunch of people redundant the day after all these stunning reviews come out.

Well, as far as we know no one's been made redundant. Not to say they won't be, but it's a bit premature to get up in arms over a decision we haven't heard yet.

[MDY]

Well, as far as we know no one's been made redundant. Not to say they won't be, but it's a bit premature to get up in arms over a decision we haven't heard yet.

Eurogamer's version says

Sony has cancelled a number of games in development at its UK first-party developers and made an undisclosed number of people redundant.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-03-09-sony-cancels-games-across-uk-studios

[trickytree]

Hmm... not sure judging by the demo. Making the game much faster has reduced the sense of weight that the first two games did so well - the car feels like it's made of paper. It feels too arcadey this time, quite Ridge Racer-like. The bike handling is very twitchy, almost digital. I also had problems making out where to go on the course, although that's always been an issue in Motorstorm.

Quite like the graphics, the extra resolution from the pseudo-1080p helps but there are some dodgy 'overly busy' road textures which are a bit ugly and distracting.

Maybe it's just the demo track, but it doesn't really get close to the epic dramatic feel of Split/Second.

[Okotta]

Hmm... not sure judging by the demo. Making the game much faster has reduced the sense of weight that the first two games did so well - the car feels like it's made of paper.

Agree with this. I noticed the weight thing too. Went and compared it with Pacific Rift and PR felt better.

I still don't see that the handbrake button actually does anything in the Apocalypse demo. When I press it quickly the camera does sort of a turn - hard to explain - but the vehicle doesn't actually do what I'd expect it to do when I use a handbrake in an arcade racer. Can someone else maybe try it and explain it better than I do?

Also, I still don't feel like I'm racing against other opponents. I feel like I have to watch everything around me or else I'll crash. Oh, and the other cars look pretty small! When using the bike it looked almost as big as every other car on the track. When playing the other MS games I remember feeling dwarfed when using the bike since every other car was bigger than the bike. That feeling has gone too with the demo.

[Yoshimax]

Hmm... not sure judging by the demo. Making the game much faster has reduced the sense of weight that the first two games did so well - the car feels like it's made of paper. It feels too arcadey this time, quite Ridge Racer-like. The bike handling is very twitchy, almost digital. I also had problems making out where to go on the course, although that's always been an issue in Motorstorm.

Quite like the graphics, the extra resolution from the pseudo-1080p helps but there are some dodgy 'overly busy' road textures which are a bit ugly and distracting.

Maybe it's just the demo track, but it doesn't really get close to the epic dramatic feel of Split/Second.

This has pretty much saved me typing up my impressions - the bike was skitting all over the place. It's always hard to judge a game like this on a one-track demo but from my few goes last night it's split/second with motorbikes.

Also agree about the AI/Rubber-banding - on my first go I was hitting everything (the collisions are very well done) and was amazed to look up on the seond-to-last corner and find myself in first place.

[SozzlyJoe]

I used to hate rubberbanding as that seemed to be the correct thing for to do, but having thought about it I'm actually not really against it at all. Where's the fun in coming first (or last) by 2 minutes, especially in a series like Motorstorm where the hurly burly of different vehicles all bashing each other to get in position is the very essence of the game? If you want a mode with no rubberbanding as a pure test your racing skill, surely that's just Time Trial?

[Bleeders]

As long as it's not Mario Kart-kinds of rubberbanding cheating, then it's fine with me.

[Hawkeye]

If you want a mode with no rubberbanding as a pure test your racing skill, surely that's just Time Trial?

Nah, time trial is just you against the clock. When racing I'd rather know I'd nailed it and had got way in front or had fell way behind due to driving like an idiot, rather than my driving not seeming to determine my position. That doesn't feel like racing at all.

[MDY]

I'm surprised people aren't making more of a fuss over the fact that they're making a bunch of people redundant the day after all these stunning reviews come out.

Someone on Gaf posted that:

20 or so guys have gone from Evolution. No word from Liverpool but London is meant to be hit the hardest, Singstar Team seem to be out completely.

Horrible news... again.

[Velse]

Someone on Gaf posted that:

Horrible news... again.

That's inaccurate. Liverpool is less than 5, I think, Evo around ten. The Singstar team are fine, but the losses in London elsewhere have been heavier.

[Robo_1]

Christ, the UK games industry is really getting hammered.

Really rough for the guys at Evolution, having barely had time to enjoy seeing the reception of their latest game, folks from the dev team are being dropped. Are they being made redundant or are Sony shuffling them to other studios?

It seems that Sony are shaking things up a bit, with Kaz Hirai being promoted and plans for the NGP's EU launch being leaked (November 11th), it sounds like they're putting their house in order a bit.

Best wishes to anyone losing their job over this though.

[Fatsam]

Hmm... not sure judging by the demo. Making the game much faster has reduced the sense of weight that the first two games did so well - the car feels like it's made of paper. It feels too arcadey this time, quite Ridge Racer-like. The bike handling is very twitchy, almost digital.

Yep, going by the demo, Motorstorm has now become a full on pure arcade game. To go with the super fast speed, the car appropriately drives like something from Burnout. The superbike I think is less fun, but I feel that about superbikes in any racing game.