This is going to be a quick review about the much anticipated Motorstorm 2, dubbed Pacific Rift. The first Motorstorm, released in 2007, was one of the Playstation 3's earliest hits and with good reason. Unlike a lot of early PS3 titles, Motorstorm was a good game that could really show off the system's power. As one reviewer put it, it taught us to see mud as beautiful. Motorstorm is a bit of an odd game. It's not exactly original since off-road games have been around for ages. However, the towering cliffs and and grueling tracks of Monument Valley upped the danger factor. It's not a combat racer yet there are no rules. You were pitted against both your fellow racers, who were all too eager to run you off the road, as well as numerous obstacles on the track. The well rendered graphics, damage, and mud filled the game with plenty of eye candy. It also let racers try their hands at all sorts of vehicles from dirt bikes all the way up to big rigs.

Given the popularity of the original, it's not surprising that a sequel would eventually be released. Pacific Rift takes us out of the mud of monument valley and puts the Motorstormers on an island in the Pacific. There's not a heck of a lot of difference between Pacific Rift and the first game. The idea is the same, the goals are the same, the rules are the same. The controls have changed slightly adding a combat element. Tapping L1 or R1 will allow you to side swipe opponents in that direction or if you're on a bike or ATV, you can use it to knock other bikers off their vehicle. The first track takes you along a cliff side and is vary similar to the Rain God Mesa track in the first game. The demo allows for you to play the track as one of three vehicles: a racing truck, dirt bike, and a monster truck. Monster trucks are a new addition to the game. Like big rigs, they can crush anything but they're also vary top heavy adding to the challenge. The physics engine remains the same. Graphics too aren't that different except you're swapping mud and dust for water and palm trees. Somehow, the game doesn't look as good as the original though. Another new element is offline two player split screen. The demo allows you to try out the two player mode.

There's not much else to say about Motorstorm 2: Pacific Rift. The game seems decent enough even if it is just a carbon copy of the original Motorstorm. If you left the original game wanting more, you might want to pick this one up. Still, it would have been nice to see something fresher than just monster trucks and 2p split screen.