First and foremost, I would like to be as honest as I possibly can and let you in on a little secret... I am not a big fan of racing style games at all. Sorry. But now that the cat is out of the bag, I would also like to tell you that I requested this review on the soul purpose that the main objective of Motorstorm: Apocalypse is to drive as fast as you possibly can while escaping apocalyptic disasters as they destroy everything in front of you (which is a pretty sweet concept for a racing game, I might add).

Motorstorm: Apocalypse takes us across three different story lines from the perspectives of racers Marsh, Tyler and Big Dog during two days of apocalyptic events as they flee town from giant tornadoes, crumbling cities and all other things chaotic. The different story lines are basically separated by difficulty levels; Rookie, Pro and Veteran. Race across more than 40 different tracks with multiple paths that are full of calamity at every turn.

Heads up! Bus overhead!! The above screenshot is only a taste of what you'll come across during Motorstorm: Apocalypse. I have never played a racing game that is quite like this. There were so many awesome moments where I wish that I could have stopped and seen the scenery but of course that would have ultimately ended in certain doom. Don't be caught with your pants down, it may cost you first place.

There are so many different vehicles for you to drive; fast cars, fast bikes, ATV's, muscle cars and trucks are just a few to mention. I'm sure that you probably already know this but the faster cars will give you the upper hand in each of the races. Unfortunately, it won't always be up to you on which vehicle you'll be able to drive. All vehicles are equipped with air cooling, which allows you to be able to cool down your vehicle by driving over water puddles. Use these to your advantage as you'll need them for boosting and getting into first place.

Throughout the course of Motorstorm: Apocalypse, you'll need to collect cards that are placed throughout each race. You'll find them all over the place; in buildings, on the side of the track, all over but what I noticed while playing was that many of the collectable cards can be found by taking each of the shortcuts. You'll find that every track has multiple ways to complete it, but it'll be up to you to find each shortcut.

You can customize your vehicles, allowing you to change the way that your vehicle looks, drives and giving them different abilities through perks. Some of the perks include boost, handling and combat. You'll be able to have everything from increased grip on the tracks to a faster boost cool down rate and creating a shock wave that will whip out other vehicles whenever your wreck.

There are different factions with Motorstorm: Apocalypse: the Crazies and Dusklite; warring gangs that will do anything to survive the apocalyptic events that are taking place. The gangs will try to do anything in their power to stop you from completing the race, including shooting you, trying to steal your car (had one guy holding on for dear life to my car door while going 120mph) and trying to take racers off of the road. You'll also want to watch out for the military which tries to stop you as well with attack helicopters that will shoot at you and fire missiles in your direction. Complete destruction at every turn to be quite honest with you. Pure adrenaline.

Motorstorm: Apocalypse was actually a fun racing game to say the least; filled with fast-paced races and chaos on every track. Racing fans will enjoy themselves with Motorstorm: Apocalypse, even people who don't normally find themselves playing these types of game will have fun here. I felt that this title will be a treat to those who love fast-paced racing with a twist because honestly adding apocalyptic chaos to this type of genre was a great move on the development team. Bravo!

  • Game: Motorstorm: Apocalypse
  • Platform Reviewed: PS3
  • Developer: Evolution Studios
  • Publisher: SCEA
  • Release Date: May 3, 2011
  • MSRP: $59.99
  • Review Copy Info: A copy of this title was provided to DualShockers, Inc. by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Motorstorm: Apocalypse
7 / 10