Video Game Vintage Title: MotorStorm: Apocalypse

MotorStorm: Apocalypse

MotorStorm: Apocalypse is a 2011 racing 3D video game by Evolution Studios and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the fourth game in the series and the third for the PlayStation 3. It was announced shortly before the beginning of the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 on the PlayStation Blog by Evolution Studios on 10 June 2010.

MotorStorm: Apocalypse was released in Europe on 16 March 2011 but the UK release on 18 March was delayed by Sony Computer Entertainment UK following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The Australian launch went ahead as planned on 17 March, but Sony announced further shipments of the game to that country would be halted in the wake of the disaster. The planned North American release date of 12 April 2011 was delayed by Sony who later confirmed new releases dates of 31 March 2011 in the UK and 3 May 2011 in North America.

The game's release in Japan was cancelled in June 2011. No reasons were given at the time.

MotorStorm: Apocalypse Plot

Apocalypse is more story-driven than previous instalments. The events of Apocalypse's MotorStorm Festival are told from the perspective of three participants, labelled Mash "The Rookie", Tyler "The Pro", and Big Dog "The Veteran" by Evolution Studios, with each participant also representing a difficulty level of gameplay. These three participants will each see different parts of the catastrophe unfold over the course of the three day festival.

MotorStorm: Apocalypse Gameplay

New vehicles in the game include supercars, superbikes, hot hatches, muscle cars and choppers. Apocalypse is the first game in the MotorStorm series to focus on an urban setting as opposed to natural environments. The city that the Festival takes place in is enduring the throes of a massive natural disaster, causing the man-made structures in the city to visibly deteriorate. As players race through the tracks, the tracks can change in real-time; bridges can buckle and twist, buildings collapse and rifts open up beneath the vehicles as they drive. Players can also customize their vehicles with vinyls, vehicle parts, and modify the vehicle's handling, boosting and offensive abilities through perks. They are able to create and design their own game rules for online tournaments. A new gameplay element is the addition of "air cooling" one's boost. Similar to driving through cool water in Pacific Rift would speed up the rate of boost cooling, releasing the accelerator over a large jump will also cause the boost temperature gauge to drop quicker.

A new challenge in Apocalypse is the introduction of people who try to interfere in the event. The City houses two factions, known as the Crazies and Dusklite, who vie for survival. The Crazies try to impede the progress of the racers. They loot broken buildings, break into fights on the streets, steal cars and try to slam racers off the road, and attack racers with firearms. A private military company known as Dusklite attempts to enforce order and their involvement creates additional hazards for racers to overcome such as an attack helicopter firing missiles onto the track.

SettingThe game takes place in an apocalyptic urban area called The City, based on the West Coast of the United States (in particular California's Bay Area). The game consists of more than 40 tracks that can be altered from active catastrophic earthquakes and helicopters crashing through buildings.