The mountain awakens; the stage is set; welcome to MotorStorm!
It's kind of crazy how beautiful Arctic Edge is; graphically or otherwise. Every time I think the PSP has been tapped out, a game drops that reminds me just how much potential the (almost 5 year old) system still has. It's absurd. First it was Ridge Racer and WipEout Pure, then Daxter, followed by God of War: Chains of Olympus, and now Motorstorm Arctic Edge. All of these games were, to me, portable versions at least as good as their PS2-eqivalents, and in the case of Arctic Edge, an entirely new gear has opened up, and I actually think it's broaching into quasi-PS3 territory in a handheld...
Let me explain. Everything you love about the PS3 exclusives Motorstorm and Motorstorm: Pacific Rift has effectively been transferred to Motorstorm: Arctic Edge. So all the carnage and mayhem and slow-mo explosions and chaos you love is retained in Arctic Edge. And it's for the Playstation Portable. As in, you can take it on the go with you. It's friggin' lunacy.
The sights, the sounds, and the DNA of Motorstorm are completely intact in Arctic Edge and, whether you're a fan of handhelds or not, it's hard to diminish the awesomeness of that fact. Motorstorm's gameplay may not have been specifically designed for portability, but the mere feat of what has been accomplished by Arctic Edge is nothing short of amazing. Moreover, despite being a console game, I'd argue that with sleep-mode, and the fact that racing games are usually served in 3-5 minute chunks, it actually is portable-friendly.
Like other Motorstorms the main campaign is composed of races with different vehicular restrictions, which makes each event substantially diverse even if it takes place on a track you've already played. And that's not to say that the 12 tracks in the game, which can be played in reverse as well, isn't enough -- on the contrary; with so many paths in each course, you'll often times find new routes even after having played a track a dozen times. Cool! Along with the single player campaign, there's Wreakreation, which has free play (for practice), time-attack, and multiplayer. And, yes, Arctic Edge has both Ad-hoc and Online multiplayer for up to 8 players, bringing even more longevity to the title.
On the vehicle side of things, new to the series are snow pluggers (like the mud plugger vehicles of previous games), snowplows (big and slow and I didn't really like them), and snowmobiles (which play like a mix between a motorcycle and ATV, but are weaker than the two, so you crash at the slightest touch).
Being that this game takes place in the arctic, ice, snow and storms can wreak havoc on your visibility and mobility, adding a new dynamic to the game. Like Pacific Rift, when you go through deep snow or water, your vehicle may slow down slightly and lose traction a little, but your engine boost cools down much faster allowing you to drop the hammer a little longer. OH, and there are avalanches that can completely hose your chances in the later races. Supposedly they're caused by the user honking or using turbo in designated areas, but I couldn't get them to trigger with consistency.
There are other odds and ends too, like a fully functional photo mode to capture some of your intense racing moments, a decent soundtrack, custom soundtrack support, customizable paint/stickers for your vehicle, and tracks that are incredibly over the top, but all of this is par for the Motorstorm experience. What I enjoyed most about Arctic Edge were things like heavy bouts of snow that inhibited my ability to go full tilt, or speeding around a corner and getting blinded by arctic sunrays shining directly into my eyes... All of this stuff adds up; so much so, that I quickly forgot that I wasn't playing on a PS3, which is the biggest compliment I can give the game.
Really, it's hard for me nitpick Arctic Edge simply because it does everything as well as Pacific Rift (a game that I really liked.) If I had to complain about anything, it'd be that it's launching too close to Gran Turismo PSP (our review here) - if you don't get oversaturated with the racing genre altogether, you'll probably have a very hard time deciding which of the two to play.
Speaking of which, in my opinion Arctic Edge looks better than GT PSP. I know, I know, you hate me, but I think the 60fps doesn't work well with the PSP because of ghosting (on older PSP screens), and the dithering which quite a bit more noticeable in GT. Fortunately, they're so different, and complimentary, that racing fans will get a kick out of both games. I'm just saying that if you're a graphics-whore trying to show off your new PSP go, Arctic Edge is probably a safer bet for flashy visuals. It's also a better example of the system's features as well (online multiplayer, well rounded single player, easy-to-get-into gameplay, awesome audio, graphics, and controls, etc.) On the flip side, it ain't no racing sim, though.
I'm gonna sum it the same way I started; all of the character and charisma that you enjoy about the Motorstorm franchise is captured with vivid exactness in Arctic Edge... That should speak for itself.
