I got motorstorm 2 a few days ago and I'm now 150 points from reaching level 8 in the festival with some races left. I absolutely hated the original motorstorm and it was the worst game I played last year. I still got MS2, because I have a weakspot for crappy racing games. Heck, I even finished nfs: undercover.
MS2 really is a big improvement over the original, but I still think it's a polished turd. The core gameplay in motorstorm is still annoying instead of challenging. Even when I win, I don't get any satisfaction, because luck plays such a huge role. The AI is suicidal and there just to ruin your life. I just finished a level 7 event on a motorcycle. Three cars were in front of me and repeated everything I did. Brake on a straight, turn left, turn right. EVERYTHING. Speed event are the least fun I've ever had in a racing game. Who on earth thought it would be a good idea that your car blows up if you touch the smoke marking a checkpoint. Nothing like going over a jump to a checkpoint you can't see and instead of getting the satisfaction of "man that was close" you wreck your big rig that can go trough building, because it hit a small smoke canister. Checkpoints are also placed in the worst possible spot just so you have to retry as many times as possible to get a gold.
Looking back is too slow. Last night I was leading an online race and decided to check if any monster trucks were behind me. There was one, but he wasn't the problem. The car that was left on the starting grid and didn't turn into a ghost after 1 lap of idling was. I crashed with it just, because looking back took two seconds instead of the second it should.
Tracks are so much better than before. You almost never crash on basic jumps. Sadly their big innovations of destructable plants and water aren't a good idea. Why does every cooling station need a trap right after it? I just want to cool my turbo, why is there a jump while my vision is still blurred from the water. While there are less traps on the tracks you still crash a lot, because if you have to avoid those crazy AI cars and the route usually only has a narrow safe area with no stones. Gotta avoid hitting that monster truck, oh I hit that small rock in a blindspot instead. Lighting is IMO great, but why are so many races in conditions where you can't see where you are going. Sun is always shining in your eyes just to make you crash more ofter.
Motorstorm 2 has one of the best soundtracks in racing games, but I only like the drum'n'bass songs and while you can select what songs it plays it would be nice to have a clear division between rock and d'n'b.
The Good
+ Graphics
+ Soundtrack and engine sounds
+ Every track is better than any track in the original
+ Elimination races are the best races in SP
+ Menus are much faster, but could still be faster
+ Monster trucks are my new favorite vehicle
+ online works well
The Bad:
- Poor visibility
- Rubber band AI ruins single player races
- AI is crazy
- Speed events are HORRIBLE
- Tracks still have traps in stupid places
- Rumble could be better (like sega rally)
- Motorcycles are too unpredictable. Some times you can land at crazy angles and another time you will crash with a much better landing.
- Outside camera doesn't turn fast enough
- Water and destructable enviroments don't work as well as they could
Sega rally is still the best offroad racer this generation, but at least MS2 is a step in the right direction (and better than Pure).
