Joystiq impressions: MotorStorm Arctic Edge (PSP)

MotorStorm is about to roll onto the PSP for the first time with a new title -- and it's not even a port! MotorStorm Arctic Edge, developed by Bigbig Studios (the guys responsible for Pursuit Force), made an appearance at the recent Sony Gamers Day event and took us for a ride through its chilly environments. If all those word things after the break aren't your thing, be sure to give the screenshots in our gallery a long, cold stare.

Dispel the imagery in the CG trailer.

As much as we love the PSP's hardware, that sure isn't gameplay footage in the trailer. We played the game on a fairly big Sony Bravia HD television at the gamer event and found that keeping it on the PSP's smaller screens did much to preserve the game's graphics -- which aren't bad, as long as you dispel the imagery of the CG trailer.

Game Director Richard Ogden from Bigbig took us through the game, which he said began development right after Pursuit Force 2. As fans of the original PS3 MotorStorm, his team spent time with developer Evolution, learning "what a MotorStorm game was" -- and apparently Evolution was satisfied with the end result.

"Mario's gone to the snow land ... so why shouldn't MotorStorm?"

The Bigbig guys developed a brand new engine for the game by taking everything they'd learned from the Pursuit Force titles and reworking it into the new project. They chose the Alaskan setting by going through a list of classic video game settings, which had already covered the desert and jungle arenas. "Mario's gone to the snow land... so why shouldn't MotorStorm?" asked Ogden. Just don't expect any multicolored mushrooms to pop out as you run laps.

MotorStorm Arctic Edge strikes us as a fun racer, perfect for whipping out for quick bursts on the subway. It runs the risk of becoming repetitive in the long run, sure, but being able to freeze-frame and save spectacular crashes might just give it some legs. Those crashes can be avoided, by the way, if you remember to use the break every now and then instead of just jamming your accelerator down -- Arctic Edge's icy mountain passes have a brutal way of highlghting that! The game features 12 different, reversible tracks and will offer up to 8-player online racing via ad hoc. Leaderboards, vehicle customization, a photo mode and custom soundtracks from a memory stick round out the features.

Interestingly, this title will be offered both on a UMD and as a downloadable title for the PSP -- unfortunately, Ogden wasn't sure if there would be a price difference between the two. He added that the game has the built-in ability to accept DLC like new tracks and vehicles, but isn't yet sure if that's something Bigbig will be doing.

MotorStorm Arctic Edge will be out sometime later this year for both the PSP and the PS2.