I never bought Pacific Rift, I really disliked some of the track design. The lava elements in particular turned me off, along with the big open areas of dark brown dirt. The tracks didn’t really seem like they could exist outside of a game, unlike the relatively realistic and down-to-earth tracks in MS1.

Maybe I’m in the minority, but I’d much like to see a return to semi-realism in Motorstorm. The coolest things about the original for me where the menu cutscenes showing the sweet festival and the great helicopter footage of the monument valley area. When I heard that Pacific Rift would feature a great deal more variety I was initially excited but I was sad to learn that this variety came at the expense of realism and believability.

Maybe the story aspect will be what sells me on Apocalypse, as the premise of Motorstorm (a traveling race festival) is inherently super cool.