Before I write this review, I think it's important for me to confess about the small love affair I had with the original MotorStorm.  Not only was it my favorite racing title of the past few years (sorry Wipeout!), but it's the game that sold me on the PlayStation 3.  Before MotorStorm hit I was really on the fence about picking a PS3 up.  Would it be a success?  Would there be enough games that I couldn't get on my 360 to warrant a purchase?  Would Blu-Ray win out over HD-DVD?  Back in March 2007 all those questions were still up in the air.

...and then I saw MotorStorm.  It was on a playable kiosk at my local FutureShop (it's like Best Buy, only Canadian).  Within five minutes the question went from if I should buy one to how quickly could I afford it.

While the original MotorStorm had it's detractors, it was easy to look past it's flaws and enjoy the creamy middle inside.  Now, only 18 months later, MotorStorm is back.  But does Pacific Rift build on the awesomeness that came before, or just retread the muddy tracks it laid down in the first game?

If I could sum up my feelings about Pacific Rift in one thought, it would be this: they listened.  Nearly every complaint or concern that people had about the first MotorStorm has been addressed, and unlike the minor tweaks you might find in a sequel like Rock Band 2 you'll find the changes in MotorStorm to be huge and noticeable.  Unlike so many sequels we've seen this fall Pacific Rift doesn't feel like an expansion pack or a version 1.5.  It's a truly new installment that's substantially bigger and better than the first.

But before we talk about what's changed, let's take a look at what's stayed the same.  The first MotorStorm was all about breakneck speeds, multiple paths, and physical obstacles.  These were the cornerstones of that game, and thankfully, precedent has now been set with Pacific Rift to make these the cornerstones of the franchise. Nothing about what made the original so great has been removed -- only built upon. It's a refreshing change to see a sequel that doesn't mess with what works.

So what's new this time around? First up, there's the things you'd expect in a racing sequel. 16 all-new tracks compared to the originals 8 and a new vehicle class (monster truck) form the bare bones that all of the real enhancements are built upon. The tracks themselves feel a little bit tighter this time around -- a little more claustrophobic, but in a good way. The first MotorStorm's terrain had fewer obstacles and more room to breath. Keeping things a little narrower this time around means you'll need to step up your game to stay on the track.

But a more challenging layout isn't the only change this time around with the tracks. One of the biggest complaints people had with the original MotorStorm was that despite how technically great the visuals looked, all eight tracks had the same brown look to them. It was a desert rally -- there's not a lot they could have done with it, but it was definitely a sticking point for some people. This time around they've changed the setting to a pacific island that features four distinct environments -- earth, water, fire, and air. Not only does this give them game some variety in terms of visuals, it also helps change up the types of obstacles you'll be facing. On the fire tracks you might be navigating your way around the crawling lava of an active volcano. On an air track you may find yourself making big jumps up in the mountains. Some of the tracks even show a bit of crossover -- earth tracks running alongside a beach, water tracks with big jumps, etc..

The tracks also feature something that hasn't been seen before -- real-time track deformation. If I take out a viewing tower made of logs? When I come around on the next lap those logs are still going to be an obstacle on the ground. If another racer gets stuck in the field knocking down sugar cane? That path he created will still be there for me to use. It's a great mechanic in a game all that's about multiple paths and obstacles, as it puts some control of the situation right in the hands of the player.

While the tracks are really what the game is about, there have been a number of technical improvements that don't relate to hands-on racing. Vehicle selection has undergone a massive overhaul this time around. Rather than being part of the problem when it came to the ridiculous load times of the original, it's become part of the solution. They've carved the majority of the vehicle selection right out of the main game and stuck it off to the side in the options menu. When it comes to selecting which type of vehicle and paint job you want for each class of vehicle, you now visit the "garage." It may sound like an extra step -- and it is -- but if you've ever suffered the first game's load times before every race, you'll be nothing but grateful for the change. You can still select your class before each race, but everything else has been streamlined out of the process.

Offline multiplayer, which was sorely missing from the first title, has made it's debut this time around as well. Offline supports up to 4 player split-screen and it does something I love that so few games attempt -- it offers 2-player vertical split-screen. In the days of CRT displays horizontal split was a no-brainer. But now that everybody's sporting wide? Horizontal splitscreen is a dinosaur and should be treated as such.

Online the experience doesn't change much from the single-player campaign. That's something of both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because you'd like to maintain the things you love about the game without having to deal with problems like lag or gameplay limitations. A curse because in multiplayer, sometimes you just want something more. Online tournaments might be a lot to ask for, but maybe some different gameplay modes like Eliminator or a "least crashes" race. Vehicle combat was introduced in Pacific Rift (we're talking a little nudge like the bikers did with their fists in part one, not some sort of weird Twisted Metal clone), and I would've loved to see a game mode revolving around that. Still -- no lag issues, no problems jumping into a game quickly, an ongoing ranking system and a built-in party system that lets you keep your friends with you from race to race no matter who you're competing against make the multiplayer fast, fun and addictive. A little note to the developers of this (and many other games) though -- if I'm not wearing a headset I probably don't want to hear their chatter through the TV. Give me an option to cut that out.

Online taught me something else about MotorStorm that I hadn't really realized before. Falling from 1st to 15th after one crash? That's not poor AI, that's the nature of the game. It was one of the complaints people had about the first game, and honestly, it seems as though they've tweaked the AI to make that a less likely scenario in the single-player game. But as soon as you get online you realize that you're traveling as the leader of a tightly knit pack, and if you crash you've got a lot of catching up to do.

And of course, there's trophy support. the trophies are fairly well-balanced and offer a lot of "earners." Complete so many of this race, win with this vehicle so many times, play for this long, etc.. Earners are attainable for anybody so long as they're willing to put in the time. I'm definitely a big fan, and MotorStorm has tons of them. A few other features have snuck their way into the game as well and are at least worth a mention. Despite the rocking music ondisc, customized soundtracks are supported this time around. There's a photo mode as well, which seems to bear a striking resemblance to the "screenshot support" we've heard so much about. After taking your photo you can export it to the hard drive, and I can say I'm proudly sporting one of my pics as my PS3 wallpaper. Who doesn't love seeing my wheels come off as a crash off the top of a big rig?

As a fan of the first, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift offered me more of what I loved and fixed the things I didn't. Rather than tossing in a few tweaks and a handful of new maps, the team at Evolution Studios took the term sequel to heart and offered up a brand new experience without changing the things that made the first one so great. If you like off-road frantic pray-to-survive type racing, you couldn't do better this year than picking up MotorStorm: Pacific Rift.

MotorStorm Pacific Rift is available now exclusively for the PlayStation 3, and retails for $59.99.

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