MotorStorm: Arctic Edge

MotorStorm: Arctic Edge
Developer	Bigbig Studios
Publisher	Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Platform(s)	PlayStation Portable PlayStation 2
Rating	ACB: PG ESRB: T PEGI: 12
Media	UMD (PSP), DVD (PS2)

"At the edge of the Arctic circle, the fearless have arrived. Drawn to the thrill of a new challenge. A passion to combat the extreme drives them onwards. In this land of raw, glacial power, only the greatest warriors will reach their peak. The mountain awakens. The stage is set. Welcome to MotorStorm!"

- Intro movie, MotorStorm: Arctic Edge

MotorStorm: Arctic Edge is a 2009 racing video game, developed by Bigbig Studios and published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. This installment takes the franchise's signature off-road racing to the frigid wastelands of Alaska. The game includes six vehicle classes seen in previous MotorStorm installments and adds two more specifically catered to the frozen tundra: the Snow Cat and the Snow Machine. This is the first game to feature Customization, wherein players can equip their rides with different parts or apply decals and stickers.

Teaser trailer description

A helicopter is heard as the camera pans to a cold mountain in Alaska. Lights are seen and the Festival's crowds are heard down the landscape. The camera then skips to a blizzard-wreathed race in which a green Buggy - a Jester BB-XS - is seen racing and attempting to overtake a biker on a Wasabi Katana. As the buggy successfully overtakes the bike, a Rally Car - a yellow Wulff Bolter - merges to the main route after a shortcut and slams into the buggy. The buggy falls onto another ledge, but it doesn't get wrecked.

A Castro Varadero is then seen racing as well, and tears through an ice bridge, which causes it to collapse down with a yellow BB-XS running over it, causing it to fall and land nose-first into the snowy ground, wrecking it, along with a black Bolter, which collides into the buggy while steering away from the icy debris.

The green BB-XS and the black Bolter (the latter is attempting to overtake the former) race through an icy banked corner. Little do they know is that the yellow Wulff Bolter (the one which pushed the green buggy out of the way) makes the turn and discharges its boost, and manages to overtake them both. It also sideswipes both the black Bolter and the BB-XS, causing them to skid out of control. The black Bolter which was pushed out of the way survives this, while the buggy careens out of control and is thrown off.

The camera then cuts away (right before the green BB-XS is sent skywards) showing a Wasabi Yuki Snow Machine launching off an ice ramp and successfully landing the jump, making its way torwards the others. Right after the turn, the camera then pans to the Varadero. The driver in the Varadero blows its loud train esque horn; this causes the snow on the mountain peak to crack, unleashing an avalanche down the slope, sweeping away both the BB-XS and the Wasabi Katana. The biker gets knocked off his bike, but survives. The biker then tries to get back up on his bike, only to see the same snowmobile flying past through the snow pile. The biker ducks in time, only to suffer a twist of fate when a Patriot Rhino Snow Cat bursts through the snow. The scene freezes and ends (with the game title), leaving it unknown whether the biker gets mauled by the Rhino.

Event Types

As well as the normal races, Arctic Edge also features two other event types, such as the returning Speed checkpoint challenge and the all-new Time-Ticker race, where the player will compete against three competitors and attempt to score points by either taking the lead or getting as close to the leader as possible. In addition, there is a new event type known as "Invitational". This is series of races that take place over three or four different tracks, with only a single vehicle class eligible for entry.

The Festival in Arctic Edge consists of 101 events, which are divided into eight Ranks, with progressive difficulty. The players will get Festival points, depending on their final positions at the end of the event (100 for 1st place, 75 for 2nd place, and 50 for 3rd place). Gaining Festival points allows players unlock new vehicles or rank up in the Festival. In addition, there are stars that can be obtained by completing certain tasks in specific events. Collecting stars unlocks Speed events, Time-Ticker events, or even Invitational events. Winning Invitationals unlocks a new vehicle (one in the class used for the race series) or videos on the making of the game, which can be viewed in the Media section of the Garage.

Multiplayer

In the PSP version of Arctic Edge, up to six players can battle locally via the handheld's ad-hoc mode, or online to place in global leaderboards. The PS2 version of Arctic Edge features up to four player split-screen multiplayer.

Characters

Main article: MotorStorm: Arctic Edge/Characters

Tracks

There are 12 tracks in Arctic Edge, all of which are reversible. The tracks are separated into three unique zones, each equipped with their own unique set of challenges to face.

Low Altitude:

• Gold Rush
• Log Jam
• Mud Bowl
• Widow Maker

Mid-Altitude:

• Eagle Falls
• WolfPack Mountain
• Ascension
• Anguta Glacier

High Altitude:

• The Chasm
• Northern Face
• Snowgod Canyon
• Vertigo

Vehicles

Arctic Edge features six vehicle classes from the previous MotorStorm titles (except Racing Trucks and Monster Trucks) and two new vehicle classes. Many of these vehicles make their appearance only in this game and unlike most of the other games, each individual vehicle possesses its own unique set of statistics (the last of the three possessing the overall best stats for that class).

Bikes

• Wasabi Katana
• Mohawk Indiana
• Mohawk 66

ATVs

• Molotov Sickle
• Lunar-Tec Kutter
• Wasabi Inuwashi

Snow Machines

• Wasabi Yuki
• Italia Gladiatore
• Lunar-Tec Stratos

Buggies

• Jester BB-XS
• Lunar-Tec Apollo
• Wombat Typhoon

Rally Cars

• Patriot Surger
• Wulff Bolter
• Ozutsu Senpai
• Mirage Rapide Only available in the Special Edition

Snowpluggers

• Atlas Peacemaker
• Jester TK-XL
• Lunar-Tec Foreman

Snow Cats

• Nörd Pioneer
• Patriot Rhino
• Patriot Compadre

Big Rigs

• Atlas Journeyman
• Castro Varadero
• Molotov Piledriver

Badges

Main article: MotorStorm: Arctic Edge/Badges

Soundtrack

• The Prodigy - Omen
• Bullet For My Valentine - Disappear
• Pendulum - Propane Nightmares (Celldweller Remix)
• Blood Red Shoes - I Wish I Was Someone Better
• Fake Blood - Blood Splashing (Fake Blood Theme)
• Mink - Get It Right
• Motörhead - Runaround Man
• Overseer - Hammerhead
• The Bronx - Digital Leash
• The Hives - Tick Tick Boom
• The Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl (Soulwax Remix)
• Evil Nine - Twist The Knife Feat. Emily Breeze
• Queens Of The Stone Age - Go With The Flow
• The Body Snatchers - Club Beat International (Arctic Edge Edit)
• Bodyrockers - Round and Round (Switch Remix)
• The Exploders - Straight Ahead
• Does It Offend You, Yeah? - We Are Rockstars (Kissy Sell Out Remix)
• The Qemists - Lost Weekend
• Subfocus - Timewarp
• Radiohead - Electioneering

Glitches

Glitches in Motorstorm: Arctic Edge

Trivia

• The voiceover artist in the Arctic Edge intro movie is different to the one in the two previous games, MotorStorm and MotorStorm: Pacific Rift.
• Arctic Edge is currently the only game in the series not to be released for the PlayStation 3. This is also the only game not to be developed by Evolution Studios.
• This game, along with Apocalypse, is the only game to feature reversible tracks.
• MotorStorm: Arctic Edge is the only game in the whole MotorStorm series to feature an XMB-style vehicle selection screen.
• Oddly enough, this MotorStorm entry is the only one in the entire series that does not feature Racing Trucks, possibly due to the limited capacity of the UMD.
• If one looks at every Rally Car's chassis, the chassis seems to be flat unlike other vehicle classes. Although this was clearly caused by the limited capacity of the UMD.
• This is the only game to feature collapsing ice bridges and avalanches that can occur when racers sound their horn at a certain location.
• It can be argued that though Arctic Edge might not be the best game in the series, it is the most unique. This is mainly due to its unique soundtrack, snowy landscape, and bright visual graphics that seem to explode with colour.
• This is the only game to feature vehicles with flashing construction lights on vehicles as well as real-working blue headlights on every vehicle.
• Arctic Edge is the first game where both every driver and vehicle can be unlocked with offline gameplay

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