Getting the Most from Speed Races in MotorStorm Pacific Rift

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To get those elusive gold medals in the speed races on MotorStorm: Pacific Rift can be somewhat frustrating, with the time ticking down, and every millisecond doing the wrong thing might mean the difference between gold and silver.

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First thing to remember – getting gold on these, especially later in the game, is supposed to be hard. However none of them are impossible…I’ve completed them all myself with a good few seconds to spare, and I’m not that good at the game.

Second point is to expect the unexpected. Some of the speed races follow pretty standard track loops, while others mess with your head by gallivanting all over the tracks in strange directions. If it’s your first time in a particular speed race, don’t just sail through a gate expecting to be lined up perfectly for the next one. Be cautious and pay attention.

Third point is practice. Unless you’re some kind of god, you’re not going to get these babies the first time out, especially on the later levels. Give them a test run first, and learn where those illusive gates are.

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Fourth point is to learn to drive efficiently. In a previous blog post on the time attack mode, I offered some tips on improving your driving, and these hold true in speed races, too.

  • Conservation of momentum – Braking (obviously) and hard turning all reduce your speed. The fastest laps are the ones where you brake and turn as little as possible.
  • Explore different routes – Each track is a myriad of routes. The optimal route for each vehicle will need some searching out to find.
  • Exploit your chosen vehicles’ advantages – Clear the route – After each lap your timer resets, but any objects you have knocked around the track will stay in those positions. You may want to use a warm-up lap to clear the track of obstacles before going for that hot lap.
  • Hang time is slow time – Time spent in the air over jumps is lost time – you’re not accelerating. Keep the height and distance of jumps down to a minimum.
  • Turn in the air – While in the air, you still have some control over the direction your vehicle is facing. Use this to line yourself up for a perfect exit when you land.
  • Nurse that boost – Save your boost for the long straits. Boost is more efficient if used in long bursts, as each time you hit the boost, the first ‘surge’ costs you quite a lot.

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Fifth point is be careful with the time – early on in a speed race, crossing a gate will reward you with a generous slice of time on the clock. Don’t get complacent, because the later gates will give you increasingly less time on your clock. Getting a good bank of time early on will allow the odd mistake later in the race.

And lastly, chill out. Relax and don’t get too stressed. You can think too hard when playing a racing game, so just sit back get into the groove and enjoy the ride.

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33 Comments

  • This game and Burnout Paradise is my fav racer for 2007.

  • Awesome tips Nigel. Hopefully I can make Platinum now!

  • You have no idea how much these speed races have pissed me off……. Other than that, I freaking love this game :D (except the three wins in a row online trophy, trophies should never rely on luck online :( )

  • I still need to get this game!

  • Also, I love the plethora of screenshots you guys include in all your Motorstorm: PR posts. Others should take note!

  • Friendship
    Complete a Split-Screen race with 4 players

    So where’s the patch that fixes this utterly pointless mistake of a Trophy?

    What the [DELETED] were you thinking Evolution? 99 percent of the people are never going be able to get the Platinum Trophy just because of that one idiotic trophy because they don’t own 4 controllers and aren’t going to waste the money buying 2-3 more expensive controllers just for a Bronze Trophy.

  • Sorry for all the posts (OOPS!) but just saw from you guys on the PSBlog that MotorStorm: Pacific Rift is $39.99 at a certain retailer – http://twitter.com/SonyPlayStation

  • Some good pointers, thanks! Motorstorm: Pacific Rift is the best racing game to release this year. Such an awesome game.

  • Anyone got a box of tissues for NathanJ?

  • I think you mean “elusive” as in “difficult to find” opposed to “illusive” which means “deceptive”. Unless the trophies are nasty little liars.

  • TouchyEd, picking a retarded guy for your forums avatar was a perfect choice.

    Well done!

  • Thanks for the tips

  • 2007 ?

    :P

  • speed races are the best part of this game. it can be hard but still fun and rewarding. more speed races via DLC please

  • I love Motorstorm Mondays on this blog. Keep it going. Motorstorm Pacific Rift is one of my favorite PS3 games right now amongst my other holiday fare: Rock Band 2, Dead Space, LittleBigPlanet. I am glad to read this post admitting that the Speed events are hard from Evolution Studios. This game in general is the only game that makes me SOL (swear out loud) at moments, but once a race or event is overcome, I get a real sense of accomplishment.

  • Thanks for the tips Nigel.

    So many games to play and Home out now, I gotta find some more time to play this one.

    I have it, just finding that time to play is tough lately.

    Now if I could win a lotto…I could have all the time in the world….(fat chance though).

  • #4 and anyone else who wants to get this game, get down to Best Buy. They have this game on sale right now for $39.99.

  • I still have not picked up Motorstorm 2 yet. I think I will this week though. Thanks for the update.

  • Yeah, I’m starting to do well w/ the speed races in the early tickets, even though I’m on level 6 tickets… I think the best way to go about the speed races w/ boost is to not use too much at the beginning, epecially since you get 5 seconds for each *checkpoint*, then use the boost a ton more when you’re getting to the last checkpoints.

  • Motorstorm 2 & Grid are the two best racers out there, one for dirt, one for pavement.
    thx for the tips, good job.

  • NathanJ:

    Crying like a baby here on the blog (as you’ve done week after week) is a great personal choice too! Keep it up!

  • @TouchyEd

    Nice to see you’re getting help with the big words from someone.

    It’s very cute, like watching a forum flammer Special Olympics.

  • Thanks for the tips!

  • good stuff man , keep it up , i love motorstorm pacific rift

  • I love the Speed Races! Even early ones can become frustrating but once you learn where all of the gates are it will be only a matter of time until you are able to complete it. :)

  • solid title you guys have on your hands right here with over a million units sold worldwide. not 2 shabby!

    peace,
    Lh

  • What happened to the promised weekly DLC?

  • Thanks for the tips, and thanks for this amazingly cool game! : D

  • Thanks for the tips!… I buy it the game and it’s very funny, but i thing that evolution must bring us free content to the game like: more tracks, cars, events, etc. A great example of this is Burnout Paradise, since the game was launched don’t stop offering new stuff. This make the game more “permanent closely” to the users. (sorry by my english).

    Regards.
    Leo.-

  • lol i got all speed events they were so easy but i cant do the races all gold and eliminater is SO hard

  • Ok, so I picked up Motorstorm Pacific Rift today 12/17/2008 and I have to let you know that this game is f’in awesome. I mean it is better than the first one and that is saying a lot. I took it over to my friends house with my wife’s cousin and all three of us where amazed buy the visuals and intense game play.

  • Oh I forgot after playing the game with us my friend went to GameStop to get his own copy. He called me about an hour after we left his house to let me know. :)

  • Will there be a patch to allow the save datas to be copied on a usb device (in case of freeze,bug, etc…),just to avoid to have to restart all the game ,when the datas are corrupted?

    Thank you

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