MotorStorm Apocalypse Message Board older than one year ago

Sony has unleashed a barrage of MotorStorm Apocalypse news over on the official PlayStation blog. Revealed in a video posted after the break is a track called Skyline, which pits racers against each other while driving across the rooftops of a destroyed (and crumbling) city.

The clip also shows off a new Superbike vehicle, and lots more. The game will offer player customization in the form of both perks and cosmetic updates, a new photo mode for snapping shots mid-race, extensive PSN tie-in content including some PlayStation Plus exclusives and a new taunts / gestures system that will enable you to bug other riders online.

Sony also promises lots of DLC (including possibly a free island-themed track) and a series of developer diary videos in the weeks to come. The game's been given a launch target of Spring 2011, and a demo is planned for early next year. Is it weird that whenever we start to key in on a big Sony release, our biggest wonder is what KB will say about it?

#ps3 Getchaself a good look at the gameplay in MotorStorm: Apocalypse, in which those fortunate enough to have working vehicles choose not to flee their city's imminent destruction, but rather have badass races before all the buildings collapse. Or during them. More »

On the recent trip to New York we unveiled the new MotorStorm Apocalypse track Skyline and we’d like to share a video, as well as bring you details revealed at the event. First up, the video of Skyline starring my favourite new vehicle, the Superbike.

Here’s a recap of the new info we shared:

• Player customization: Perks enable full visual customisation and performance customization in the form of perks are both new features.
• Playable demo: A demo is being planned for 2011.
• Stereoscopic 3D: We showed Skyline in stereoscopic 3D, and pretty much everyone agreed with me that it sets the benchmark for 3D gaming. I hope you get to experience it in this way!
• Exclusive content: PSN avatars, dynamic themes, pre-order and PlayStation Plus exclusives are all planned and we’ll have specifics to share very soon.
• New Photo Mode: We’ve got a sophisticated Photo Mode that can capture gameplay images in ultra-high resolutions, as well as some easy-to-use tools that allow for fantastic post-effects – all of the Skyline screenshots were taken using Photo Mode mid-race!
• Post-release content: We have big ambitions to continue support for the game after it releases, and to develop some of the concepts we haven’t been able to find time for in development, including a special island track we’re hoping to be able to give away for free.
• New taunts and gestures: All previous versions of MotorStorm featured the ability to taunt other riders. This time, we have a set of insanely flamboyant gestures guaranteed to get your opponents fuming.
• New videos: The videos, including a series of developer diaries , will be launched on the PlayStation.Blog and PSN in the next couple of weeks.
• Release date: We don’t have a final global release date, but are scheduled to launch in Spring 2011.

We always try to release video and game information first on the PlayStation.Blog, but as some of you have already discovered we didn’t quite manage it this time. Here’s a quick round-up of some of the reaction to the unveiling, and some links to me talking and (more excitingly) videos of MotorStorm…including some play-through footage of the track.

• MotorStorm Apocalypse Preview “The special effects-strewn setting seems like the perfect complement to the impressive visuals and physics tech the franchise is already known for.”
• Exclusive MotorStorm Apocalypse Developer Interview Including New Skyline Footage “MotorStorm Apocalypse will leave your palms so sweaty there should be a warning on the box…”
• MotorStorm: Apocalypse’s Iconic “Skyline” “The folks putting out the party-at-the-end-of-the-world racer MotorStorm: Apocalypse vow that “Skyline” is winnable by all 16 vehicle classes.”

Jamie, our Community Manager who answered your questions while I was travelling back, has shared your reactions, feedback and concerns with me, and a great way to be in the loop on all things MotorStorm Apocalypse is to follow him on Twitter.

Thanks to everyone for your comments and your support. Speak soon!

#screens The folks putting out the party-at-the-end-of-the-world racer MotorStorm: Apocalypse revealed another course with six new screenshots today. They vow that "Skyline" is winnable by all 16 vehicle classes. I'm sure I'll go nuts figuring out how for six of them. More »

It’s been a while since we’ve shown anything new from MotorStorm Apocalypse, we were planning on keeping pretty quiet while we work like maniacs to get the game finished. But when I was asked to skip over to New York for one last reveal of 2010, I couldn’t resist showing just one more track, and of course sharing a glimpse on the Playstation.Blog.

Let me introduce a track that has presented us with some of the biggest gameplay challenges we’ve ever had: Skyline, AKA ‘the Blockhopper’ AKA ‘Vertigo Redux,’ AKA ‘the one with a race where you get dropped from a helicopter onto a skyscraper that is already collapsing, and are expected to win against a pack of bikes and ATVs on rooftops and in offices that are falling to pieces.’

Making the track spectacular but also fun and winnable by all 13 vehicle classes has been a real test of everything we’ve learned.

For obvious reasons there are a lot of jumps and ramps as you pelt from one building to the next, and that means ensuring you can always make those jumps after bailing, even in a Monster Truck. The addition of in-air cooling (you can earn more boost if you release the accelerator in the air) means there’s another new tactical layer to the gameplay, as you can hunt out ramps to maximise the boost available to set world-beating times. It’s been an interesting track to get right!

We’re close to nailing it though, and hope people agree that there’s never been a race like this before.

We haven’t blown our load yet – there are a good few more surprise tracks in store from MotorStorm Apocalypse. So keep your ear to the ground for some more news in the next few weeks, I hope you can join us for the party at the end of the world when we launch next year!

Cheers and Happy Holidays.

The 2012 of racing games.

Walking around shows like gamescom, talking to journalists and developers, you pick up on certain ‘buzz phrases’ each time, and this year, one of those was “MotorStorm Apocalypse in 3D”.

Those that had played it were encouraging others to do so with anecdotes of physically ducking out of the way as a racing truck tumbles towards them. The other big news for the boys from Evolution Studios last week was that they were showing the first new track since the game’s announcement.

I managed to prise Game Director Matt Southern from his dark room for some well earned Vitamin D; check out the interview below.

#gamescom2010 As I crossed the finish line after my fifth run through the latest Motorstorm Apocalypse track in 3D, I raised my arm in the air and let out a resounding, "Woot!" What did I have to celebrate? More »

No, MotorStorm Apocalypse is not stealing ideas from other recent racers.

#gamescom It took more than 100 years for the notion of 3D film-making to prove itself with the 2009 release of smash hit Avatar, and Sony believes that games like the Playstation 3's Motorstorm Apocalypse and Killzone 3 will do the same for gaming. More »

Motorstorm Apocalypse’s crumbling urban environments, dynamically distorting racetracks, and stereoscopic 3D support all lead to plenty of new questions for the heavy-hitting PS3 racer. And if you’ve got questions, Evolution Studios may have answers.

Our friends at the EU PlayStation.Blog are preparing to hold a livechat with the team behind Motorstorm Apocalypse. EU Blog Manager James Gallagher and Matt Southern – Game Director, Paul Rustchynsky – Lead Designer,
Simon Barlow – Assistant Game Director/Design Manager and Phenom_Evolution – Community Manager will field questions from the audience.

Won’t you join them? Let’s listen in:

Evolution Studios Live Chat

You are there when it happens, and this is survival racing!

The first thing I notice as I fit the 3-D glasses over my eyes and launch into the MotorStorm: Apocalypse E3 demo is that there are people running all over the place. "Looters ... crazies," art director Simon O'Brien corrects, as I plow into one, sending his ragdoll body flying out of the screen at us.

I figure I'm not going to have many, if any more chances to play MotorStorm: Apocalypse in 3-D (I'm no early adopter), so I settle in and run through the demo a few times. The third MotorStorm game for PS3 has been in development for two years and its 3-D component for half that time. Developer Evolution Studios has done an admirable job implementing this technical gimmick, and in 3-D mode the demo maintains a steady 30fps framerate and the visual details hold up (at least better than in Killzone 3's first take in 3-D).

MotorStorm: Apocalypse is understandably chaotic, however, and the 3-D distractions, like those flying crazies, make an already difficult race course more challenging to navigate. I slam into a few walls, not easily seeing turns in the impromptu "track" -- a straight-shot race through a crumbling, fictional West Coast city. I finish in something like 13th place and ask if I can see the game in "2-D mode," but the demo doesn't allow for us to switch over.

For some, Sony's E3 press conference wasn't filled with too many surprises. However, its lineup at E3 was still rather impressive, featuring some high-profile sequels like LittleBigPlanet 2, Killzone 3, inFamous 2, and the return of Twisted Metal for PS3. Check out trailers for all of Sony's first-party traditional (non-Move) PS3 games at E3 2010 after the break.

Evolution Studios' third MotorStorm game races out of the jungle ... into a self-destructing city, it seems. This is definitely one game that's difficult to capture in screens, so watch the trailer after the break. Stay tuned for our hands-on preview.

With so many titles shown at yesterday’s press conference, we didn’t have time to do a deep dive into every last one. But here’s one that we announced last month which I think you’ll want to see more of: MotorStorm Apocalypse. Before jetting across “the pond” to E3, SCEE’s intrepid blog-type-person scored an interview with the devs of what is shaping up to be the best MotorStorm game yet.

It felt appropriate seeing MotorStorm Apocalypse in London’s Fabric nightclub. With hard dance music throbbing out of the cutting-edge sound system and a selection of journalists seated on the vibrating dance floor, we were presented with the third MotorStorm festival on PlayStation 3.

The premise this time around, Evolution Studios’ Matt Southern explains to us in this video interview, is urban off-road racing. This is not a post-apocalyptic city; you’re there during the apocalypse and every second of every race you’re bombarded with earthquakes, explosions and other environmental madness.

For sheer lunatic ambition the team at Evolution Studios are hard to beat and with MotorStorm Apocalypse they seem to have outdone themselves. Quite simply, you’re racing through a city as the world ends around you.

Wanna see more MotorStorm Apocalypse? Check out the new E3 trailer:

It's like we're in the game – and trapped under a building.

What's better than racing in a post-apocalyptic wasteland? Very little.