Review: Motorstorm: Arctic Edge – Ripping the cold terrain to the finshline!

Racing in the off road is exhilarating and adrenaline-pumping. It’s like man being one with nature on big, dirty wheels. In terms of the arctic outdoors, that’s a whole other topic. Motorstorm: Arctic Edge for the PSP gives players a chance to be in extreme off-road racing glory below freezing temperature. Does Motorstorm: Arctic Edge have what it takes, to take on mother nature when its cold outside ?

Motorstorm: AE is a off-road racer. Your given access to many different types of vehicles from the quick and nimble motor bike to the hulking snow plows. The game has 12 tracks. all of which has been strategically design to give many short cuts on the track. The game has a traditional reward base system for a racer, given points depending on what places you come in only from 3rd to 1st. These points can be used for unlocking more stages, cars, parts for customization, etc… The different types of races can be unlocked through time attack, race to the finish and speed attack.

What makes Motorstorm: Arctic Edge a great and fun game is its simplicity. You have the classic control setup, accelerate, break, boost are for your vehicle. Right shoulder button to accelerate, X button for boost and the left shoulder for handbrake. Also added to the control scheme is the ability to attack other players using the square button for another competitive edge on the race track (Bare in mind that you can only attack other players with exposed racers such as a bike, ATV and snow bike). Also depending on which car you use in the game, the terrain of the stage will affect its performance. Snow plows are good when on the snow (of course), however when racing on dirt, the plow will feel slightly sluggish, this adds a realm of realism to the game which is a plus. Smaller rides such as the motorbikes are also effected. These vehicles are the opposite of the snow plows, good on dirt, snow and mud but affected by the heavy terrain such as deep snow, mud etc… This can also be taken online too. Feeding the need to try and top the leaderboards while racing against others.

The racing tracks in Motorstorm: AE are really good and well designed to add challenge and strategy, which is rare in most racers, especially on the PSP. Each of the 12 tracks are unique however some tracks are best performed with specific rides. The stages look amazing for the PSP really pushing some power out. The developers really took much care in designing the stages and the snow and ice look fantastic. The mud and dirt on the stages look real gritty and dirty as you race. The frame rate is a constant 30 fps even in multiple intense explosions on screen. The cars in the game are highly detailed and the racers themselves are decent. The added touches like snow and dirt hitting the screen while riding and the snowflakes falling from the ski makes the game visually stand out from the rest of the off road racers on PSP.

Despite Motorstorm: AE being a visual showcase, game sound took a slight hit. Almost all the audio in the game, sound a bit compressed. With all the on screen action going, the music and sound effects get distorted. The main drawback from the sound is the clarity of it. Music tracks also sound compressed, like MIDI tracks rather then full clear music tracks. The good news is that the game allows a custom soundtrack option which allows music on your PSP to use while playing the game. This feature is a Godsend and should be available more often in PSP games.

Overall, Motorstorm: Arctic Edge for the PSP is a great game for racers. Its simplistic pick-up-and-play gameplay, gorgeous graphics, large variety of vehicles, 12 big tracks, custom soundtracks and the ability to take it online is more then enough reason to get this game. It may be getting cold outside, but Motorstorm: Arctic Edge well keep you warm and busy.

Overall – 8.9