Quick Look: MotoStorm Apocalypse

I'm in sixteenth place out of sixteen competitors and I'm feeling fine, confident that even though it’s the third lap, a combination of good choices when it comes to using the boost, clear-headed driving and a touch of luck will see me reach second or third place before this race is over.

This is MotorStorm Apocalypse at its best, a racing game that has little use for actual physics or well-taken corners and focuses on more exciting aspects like fireballs, crashing, boosting, huge trucks, nimble motorcycles and quick decisions.

Apocalypse is clearly concerned more with spectacle than with the down-to-earth driving and more with flash than with complex game mechanics, but those looking for realism and for complexity can turn towards Polyphony Digital's great creation Gran Turismo 5, also available exclusively on the PlayStation 3 and still getting updates.

Those who come to and stay with MotorStorm are looking for something else, for fluidity, for quick reactions, for spectacular wipeouts and crazy moves that save one's racing neck in the last possible second.

Apocalypse was created by Evolution, the same studio which has been in charge of the series since 2007, and it's pretty clear that they have a vision for their game, one which aims to deliver quick adrenaline powered sequences that can be taken on their own as well as integrating into a bigger single-player narrative.

I've probably lost more races, especially Elimination ones, in the game than I have won, but none of them have felt slow or boring.

MotorStorm Apocalypse deserves to be a much more talked about game that it currently is, after the earthquake and tsunami fueled launch delay, because it manages to take trends that were present in the genre and coalesce them into a coherent, engaging and at times thrilling experience.

Here's a look at MotorStorm Apocalypse in action: