Online multiplayer real appeal of ‘MotorStorm: Apocalypse’
First, the bad news: Evil trolls hacked into Sony's PlayStation Network. These criminals reportedly got their hands on gamers' passwords, email addresses and possibly even credit card information.
This Sony apocalypse is precisely why I never buy anything through PlayStation Network or Xbox Live. I've always felt a Jedi-like intuition that hackers would someday crack the vault at one of those online networks.
If you're an online PS 3 gamer, you should definitely consider changing your bank, credit card and email password if it's the same as the one you use for your PS 3 online purchases. And obviously, keep an eye on your credit card statements.
Meanwhile, Sony shut down the PlayStation Network in order to rebuild its security system.
As a result, we PS 3 gamers haven't been able to play online, and that's devastating to new PS 3 titles that millions of us want to spin online.
Now the good news: One of those games is the racer "MotorStorm: Apocalypse," and it will be fun to play online after Sony clears up its mess.
I have played "Apocalypse" both offline and online (during critic testings), and it's nearly great, though not quite as appealing as the past few "MotorStorms."
The essential feel of "MotorStorm" is the same as in previous titles in the series, but the setting is urban, not the usual desert and mountain vistas.
In offline racing, incredible things happen. Smokestacks plunge down in front of your car, and you have to avoid them. And you must race across rooftops featuring ramp-jumping.
The tracks are cool. On one, you race along a long double-decker bridge that has fallen apart in places. So one moment, you're racing on the top deck, then suddenly your car falls down onto the bottom deck, and you must weave around an obstacle course of smashed cars and debris.
Here's my complaint. My cars, ATVs, Jeeps and trucks get stuck on some urban rot. (My motorcycles do not.) That is, I'll be driving fast, and then my car gets inexplicably stuck, at zero mph, stupidly wedged against a stray rock on the street.
You'd think that would make me lose a race, since other drivers whir past me. But in many races, I crashed or got stuck 10 times and still won.
I even won races without using turbo gas. Fortunately, the game does get harder the farther you progress. But it's pretty easy for long stretches.
The real appeal is the online multiplayer, as is always the case with "MotorStorms." These online roads also suffer occasional, car-sticking debris. But the online mode is rad, nonetheless, especially driving spectacular, smooth and fast motorcycles.
I just implore online multiplayers to create unique passwords and proceed skeptically with credit card information. A few weeks ago, you would have called me paranoid. I'd say, "prescient and paranoid."
("MotorStorm: Apocalypse" by Sony retails for $60 for PS 3 -- Plays fun offline and online. Looks great. Easy offline; challenging online. Rated "T" for crude humor, drug reference, language, suggestive themes and violence. Three and one-half stars out of four.)
Contact Doug Elfman at delfman@review journal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.
NEW IN STORES
Video game players are skeptical of games created in the image of contemporary movies, because they frequently stink. So you’ll have to forgive us for casting a cautious glance in the direction of “Thor: God of Thunder” (Sega).
But you never know. “Wall-E” and “Spider-Man 2” were terrific. Anything good can happen at any moment, right?
In “Thor,” you portray the title hero, the god of thunder, in a third-person combat adventure. This means you are equipped with a very intimidating hammer that comes down on monsters’ and trolls’ heads with the crushing force of a heavenly hammer.
You also summon magical powers of thunder, lightning, wind, then employ gnarly finishing moves to take down giants.
The plot smartly strays from the movie’s storyline, giving the game freedom to be larger and more varied, as you travel across fantasy lands of Norse mythology during a quest to save Asgard.
The story consultant is Marvel author Matt Fraction. And the game changes somewhat depending on which system you play it on. The Xbox 360 and PS 3 versions are high-tech. The Wii version is more cartoon-cell in presentation. And the DS “Thor” is a side-scroller with ambitious animations.
The game retails for $50 for Xbox 360 and PS 3; $40 for Wii; $30 for DS. It’s rated “T” for violence, though the DS copy is “E 10+” for fantasy violence and mild suggestive themes.
— By DOUG ELFMAN
