nce you cross the finish line, it doesn’t matter how you got there. Whether you took a few liberties with a defenseless motorcycle or the guy ahead of you over-boosted and destroyed himself just feet away from the end, history will know you only as the victor. Each MotorStorm race is filled with vehicular carnage and a level of unpredictability that always has you pushing hard to the end.

Developer Evolution Studios has taken its rally expertise and added an extra layer. The game does an excellent job of not only enticing players to come in first, but also making them fight more than a few battles along the way. It’s like running the gauntlet in high school, only instead of getting hit by socks filled with quarters, you’re trying to keep from getting smooshed by a hard-charging semi while hitting all the right jumps and keeping yourself on course. Also, don’t forget to watch your boost consumption. Use it too much and you’ll blow yourself sky high.

If this was all there was to MotorStorm, it wouldn’t be as good as it is. Evolution has deftly tailored the AI so it rubber bands to surround you with action. At the same time, however, it’s not cheap. You always know that if you take your corners right and choose the appropriate path for your vehicle, your superior racing skills will serve you right. Perhaps more importantly, MotorStorm’s other racers are just as desperate for a win. Instead of being mindless bots, the game’s AI competition makes the whole world feel alive. Without using obvious scripted events, you’ll see wrecks happen right in front of you as hunks of burning metal scream past you at high speeds. It’s not just you against everyone else, it’s a full-on battle royale where anything can happen. I loved it when I’d be racing along, and then all of a sudden a car would literally drop out of the sky in a crunched heap as it fell off some overhead pass that I didn’t even know was there, and I’d think to myself, “What the hell happened?” Online races are just as surprising and fun – it’s just a shame that you can’t fill them with AI stand-ins if you don’t have a full field of 12 people.

As much as MotorStorm does right, it’s obviously just a first step. The game doesn’t get as gonzo and death-defying as it could, which is especially noticeable since you hit the same tracks throughout the game. It’s also shorn of much embellishment. Small things like a create-a-character, minigame mode, or a fleshed-out career mode could go a long way. As it stands, however, the mayhem that MotorStorm creates is enough to have you gunning for the finish line and doing whatever it takes to get there.