MotorStorm 2: Evolution Studios Interview

We chat with Evolution boys Paul Hollywood and Nigel Kershaw to get the full picture on MotorStorm Pacific Rift.

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Kikizo: What about things you're taking out - are you removing any shoddy bits altogether?

Kershaw: Loading times, for a start. The vehicle select was just absolutely murdered and everybody hated it - we had this 3D vehicle select, and obviously the problem was that it loads from disc... and that really wound people up [laughs]. What we've got now is a much more streamlined interface.

Hollywood: We've added the ability to choose your avatar, choose your character, and that's persistent so you can go through the game unlocking different characters - there are some we call 'hero' characters - and then you can keep that avatar, place it online.

Kershaw: I think a lot of it isn't so much what we thought was wrong with the first game, so much as what we didn't have time to do on the first game. As you can imagine with a launch title you've got to hit this date whether you like it or not.

Kikizo: We were about to ask about that, what happens if you drop back?

Hollywood: You die!

Kershaw: There was also the difficulty curve - a lot of people really struggled. The problem you get developing a game is that you play it for like 8-9 months, and you think 'eh, piece of piss, that.' And then you give it to someone else, and they go 'Jesus Christ!' and get absolutely stuffed. So we spent a lot more time on focus tests and with people who just don't have a clue about games generally, and put together a much more forgiving learning curve to get into the game.

Interesting strategic design notes on the white boards in Evo's office...

Kikizo: But presumably you don't want it to be too forgiving...

Kershaw: Oh absolutely, absolutely. It really bongs you on some of the levels, because the AI is so much better at it.

Kikizo: So the opposition is a bit tougher this time round?

Hollywood: The AI [drivers] are really easy to wind up. You can flick them a gesture - flick them two fingers, flick them a bird - and they'll come after you, but you can use that as a mechanic to try and draw them into a situation, cause them to crash.

Also we've got new attack manoeuvres. Previously we had a context sensitive action, so depending on the situation you were in, you could throw a punch or another action, but now we have the shoulder buttons as action buttons so on the bike I can throw punches whenever I want. And on the other vehicles - the non-rider vehicles - that [serves as] a ram, so if you pull alongside someone and press a shoulder button we have a side-ram, so you can take them out.

Another thing we've added to the rider vehicles is the ability to get out of danger, because the bike is more vulnerable than the other vehicles, so we now have a bunny hop. That allows me to jump over danger, get onto a different route over a fallen log or something. And you can duck as well.

Kershaw: There's a lot of low-lying obstacles and things, so the bike has got a lot more options - cause they were always one of the most popular vehicles that we have, but they were obviously also one of the most vulnerable. Up against a big rig, for instance, they soon get toasted.

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