Motorstorm (PS3)

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As enthralling as MotorStorm can be, its AI can be unforgiving in the later levels. It almost seems as though your savvy opponents have some kind of traveling, portable holodeck to transport themselves to very near your speeding derriere -- even if you've pressed the X button to boost your way to the head of the pack and beyond. (Don't boost too much: You'll literally explode.) Another glaring negative is the lack of tracks. As varied as the vehicles can be to handle, more wacky courses should have been a natural for a game that costs $60. Plus, I wouldn't have minded seeing the occasional coyote crossing the path and, on the next lap, vultures feasting upon coyote roadkill to slow someone's bike, or even a bearded, bipolar gold miner crawling across the mud in search of cool, clear water -- you know, just things to get in the way to make sure the synapses are sparking properly.

There's a fair amount of strategy involved in winning, especially when it comes to leading a big rig to the finish line. Since courses are often divided between wide, low roads and skinny, precarious high roads, don't even try to steer your truck up high: that way lies madness...and an exploding engine. With a bike or dune buggy, I've found it's highly useful to use your yaw (the left controller stick) to straighten the rumbling machine out when you've rocketed off a ramp high in the air. And, if you hit the damn ground after a crash and are facing the wrong way, a light tap on the Select button will set you in the proper direction.

When racing online, the competition can be cruel, insulting and brutish, but at least you won't have to wait to join in on the action. Speeding around in the dirt is a generally flawless experience, but I did find the occasional lag while playing. You'll start out as a Zero, move up to Grunt, and if you don't become bored or frustrated, you'll work your way up to Hero, then Legend, then God, the ultimate ranking. If that's not enough, there have been, since its release, five downloadable updates along with large chunks downloadable content via the PlayStation Network. For instance, a no-charge download lets you play time trials, the results of which you can upload to a leaderboard and boast, or hide your face in crippling shame if you stink as I do. For minimal bucks, you can suck down the Devil's Weekend upgrade, which includes a new track with nine new racing challenges.

As it ages, MotorStorm, in all its dusty, oily glory, gets even better. Yeah, the sound of a dozen engines powering and cranking together can be annoying, as can the adrenaline-charged, heavy metal soundtrack. (You can turn it down. Next time, how about thinking outside the box to put a Nellie McKay ballad on one of these sports games? Metal and hard rock is oh-so-usual.) And, yeah, some folks are going to find MotorStorm too excruciatingly hard to finish. Me, I find going on these drives with Kerouac and Tarantino to be the ultimate in gaming romanticism: fluid, awe-inspiring trips where "On the Road" meets "Death Proof" meets "The Twilight Zone."

This review was based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.