Motorstorm: Arctic Edge (PSP)
HAVING just tried out the excellent Gran Turismo on the Sony hand-held, I was fearing the worst for Motorstorm when I first popped the UMD disc in.
I shouldn't have worried, though. The two don't compare. Gran Turismo is all serious realism. Motorstorm: Arctic Edge is its fun-loving younger cousin who's just got chucked out of their third school for drinking too many alcopops.
Slips, slides, bangs and wallops are the norm as you crank up the adrenaline in a variety of vehicles around 12 frosty Alaskan tracks with reckless abandon.
But it's more than the ice and snow that'll cause you problems, watch out of the avalanches, collapsed bridges and some serious AI competition.
Select your machine carefully - the snow plough is my favourite - and don't get too carried away with the nitro turbo boost. I met a fiery end on more than one occasion.
Gameplay is very quick and slick, featuring interactive scenery and gorgeous graphics.
There's a few different modes to try out to cater for hardcore racers and those just looking for a quick blast.
Other cool options include the ability to use your own music collection as the in-game soundtrack - Vanilla Ice anyone? - and an ad-hoc mode.
However, the real ace in the pack is the tremendous six-player online mode. The joys of ramming a Frenchman riding a tiny bike off the road with your souped-up monster truck will never get old!
DANIEL SMITH
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Authors
Steve Wollaston - Sunday Mercury games reviewer Steve has been writing about video games for donkey's years. In fact he is probably far too old for it now which is why you will see a lot of reviews been done by kids... He has been nominated three times for Regional Games Journalist Of The Year at the Games Media Awards, but never wins. His major love is sports games and rates Sensible World of Soccer circa 90's as the greatest game ever made - closely followed by Championship Manager 2. Skyrim has currently taken over his life.
