With double the number of tracks as its predecessor, boasting better graphics and even cooler course layouts, plus the addition of monster trucks, Motorstorm: Pacific Rift is fully prepared to blow away those who were blown away by the original. And if you haven’t seen the original Motorstorm, you may just find Pacific Rift to be jaw droppingly impressive.

The new courses are fiendishly designed with multiple tracks through, hairpin turns, bottlenecks, cliffs, even a claustrophobic run through the inside of a building, not to mention oodles of other innovative additions that will frustrate and delight. As if that weren’t enough the courses aren’t just brilliant, challenging and whatever the polar opposite of ‘boring’ is, they’re also drop dead gorgeous. Every one of the 16 courses has its own unique look, and even throughout each course the scenery is varied and consistently spectacular.

Add in a dynamic environment and the races go from interesting to riveting. Objects get knocked around as the race goes on and obstacles aren’t always in the same spot. Parts of courses with puddles or water can get muddier and ruts get deeper as races progress, causing handling problems for vehicles that try to drive through them.

Other games have a speed boost mechanic that you can only use once, or you have to recharge. Motorstorm’s boost is similar to the latter except instead of waiting for the speed boost to power up, you have to wait for your engine to cool down. It might sound like it’s just a semantic difference, but it isn’t. You can keep your speed boost running as long as you want, provided you can keep your car from exploding. In some cases there are actually nearby lava flows that will  raise the temperature of your engine, preventing you from using the speed boost as much as you normally would. In other sections there are sprinklers to cool your vehicle down.

Whatever the circumstance, the speed boost is an important part of winning. One way to use it is to power it on and keep it running until the last possible moment, especially on straight sections of track, then wait for it to cool all the way down. Another way is to constantly run the booster in short bursts. I imagine there are probably even better strategies but these two seem to work well when applied to the right sections of track. The main thing is you want to maximize the amount of time you have your booster turned on without losing control of vehicle (or exploding).

Multiple vehicle types also make this game a riot. With so many different types of vehicles on the course at once (12 racers at a time in single-player matches, and up to 12 in online mode) you’ll have monster trucks up against motorbikes, crashes, aggressive driving from AI opponents, and general chaos. Certain tracks through a course favor certain vehicles, and different vehicles handle very differently. Motorbikes are very nimble but crash a lot. Monster trucks can’t make sharp turns at speed, but they can knock the heck out of anyone else on the course.

This naturally leads some players to want to select the same type of vehicle over and over because they know it fits their driving style. Unfortunately in the single player campaign certain events are limited in what types of vehicles you have access to, so can’t always drive your favorite. It’s not so bad though, because it encourages you to get comfortable trying out and driving all of the vehicles the game offers, and learning each of their advantages and quirks. Online of course strategies also change, and a player who normally prefers motorbikes but finds himself beset by super-aggressive opponents might do well to get behind the wheel of a monster truck and dish out some damage of his own.

Motorsport: Pacific Rift is a truly a jewel of a game. It’s the type of racer you can consistently lose at, flying off cliffs and the like, and still have a blast. Definitely check this out no matter what your gaming background.

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