The future of racing games
One of the pivotal moments around the PlayStation 3, a moment that said to me, "Wow, we're really in the future," was when I saw gameplay of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Nathan Drake, the titular hero, was moving through water, causing his clothes to appear wet. They would dry over time, which was not something I had any recollection of happening before. Not only did this signal that we were in the future, but it was proof positive of the immense power of the PlayStation 3 to be the home of beautiful graphics in beautifully made games. While I'm not here to focus on Uncharted, rather a game that's much more underrated, I think it's important to note that we knew what the console was capable of. MotorStorm is another game that takes advantage of the immense power of the system as you violently race through Monument Valley, Arizona.
Racing games are often some of the best-looking games on their respective consoles, and this is a very real instance of that. While MotorStorm would debut less than six months into the PlayStation 3’s lifespan, it still looks incredible 18 years later. Like Nathan Drake’s clothing soaking up the water he was walking through, the racetracks of Monument Valley, of which there are 9 in the base game, become actively deformed as you race through them. The track deformation is a major component of how races play out in the second and third laps. While you may have been able to tear down the middle of the track during the first lap, the mud that appears in the second lap may make that task more difficult. This is also true of things like barrels and the husks of cars that litter the track, which will remain in the spot they’re moved to until something else hits them. This is a really interesting way of utilizing the power of the system to keep races fresh.
As I mentioned earlier, violent racing is the key to everything here, something I’ve noticed much more with my recent replay of the game than I had in the past. I play a lot of Gran Turismo, which is a great counterpart as a Sony-published racing game, and that game prides itself and, in a way, forces the player to play nicely with the other racers. This is part of what makes MotorStorm stand out versus the other PlayStation-exclusive fare, and the AI racers are just as guilty as anyone you could potentially face online - they want to win. There were several instances of me flying down the track, and another racer would come alongside me and lock their wheels into mine and push me off the track or into various geographic features, which meant my buggie, rally car, truck, or motorcycle exploding in 9 out of 10 situations, and that’s if my overuse of the boost feature didn’t make me explode before that.
The different vehicles are what give the game most of its diversity because you will find yourself racing those aforementioned nine tracks over and over. In total, there are seven different vehicle types: ATVs, dirtbikes, buggies, rally cars, racing trucks, mudpluggers, and big rigs. Each vehicle plays differently, coming with respective pros and cons. For example, the dirtbike is great for moving through racetracks swiftly, but comes at the cost of being the easiest for other racers to destroy. On the other hand, the big rig is the slowest vehicle, but allows you to burn through the mud without issue and destroy the other racers with ease. An interesting thing about this game is that it requires you to utilize all the different vehicles. In other racing games, it’s easy to find yourself in a vehicle niche, but in MotorStorm, that’s just not possible. While any race could potentially be won with any of the vehicles in the game, the race tickets, which are the game’s various events, can have up to four races in them, and each race could be on the same track, but with different vehicles.
In 2025, the game’s multiplayer servers are dead, which is also true for both of MotorStorm’s sequels, Pacific Rift and Apocalypse. The game would benefit from the online component, but I won’t take that into account as it isn’t the game’s fault that the servers aren’t alive anymore. The game does have some downloadable content, but the base game is what’s important here. Nine tracks, 21 race tickets, and seven vehicle types do make for a pretty varied experience in the base game. Learning all the different vehicles and their strengths will keep you engaged, and the white-knuckle experience that comes with each race is something that needs to be experienced. It’s obvious that the game influenced other arcade racers, and the off-road focus feels fresh all these years later. I’d love to see this game make a comeback, or for the original PlayStation 3 trilogy to be re-released. With how popular the Forza Horizon series is, especially with its recent PlayStation 5 debut, MotorStorm is quietly waiting for its revival and subsequent time in the sun.