Motorstorm Apocalypse takes hazardous environments and throws them at you from all directions. With an entire city at your disposal, Apocalypse is a rollercoaster ride of destruction on an epic scale. It doesn’t get everything right, with some presentation and gameplay issues causing some frustration here and there, but overall it’s a great racer – both offline and on.

Overall, Apocalypse is a well presented game, with great car models and lighting effects bringing the courses to life, while low-res textures and some poor draw distances can create some ugly vistas as you race around the city. The premise behind Apocalypse is that you, and your merry band of reckless racers, have come to the fictitious location only known as ‘The City’ to create havoc through the demolished streets and along the crumbling skylines. There are numerous comic-book style cut scenes which are dotted in-between races to give a background story to all the intensity, but the cheesy characters and lacklustre voice acting mean you’re more than likely to skip past the cinematic elements to get straight back into the racing action.

On top of the exhilarating action you’ll experience in the single player story, Apocalypse also boasts a deep competitive multiplayer experience. An integral feature to the online component is the addition of a betting system, which allows players which aren’t confident with coming first place to place wagers on opponents they think they will beat, or where they will finish at the end of the race. Dozens of tracks, unlockable perks and persistent upgrades further deepen the experience, and add considerable longevity to the time you will want to spend online.

The loose handling models of previous Motorstorm games are now a thing of the past, thanks to some considerable improvements that have been made to ensure a tighter, more accurate driving experience. The controls are by no means perfect, and frustration is a regular occurrence through races, but overall the gameplay is the best it has ever been in a Motorstorm game.

Apocalypse delivers destruction on a city-wide scale, while still maintaining the focussed racing that Motorstorm is loved for. The multiplayer boasts impressive depth, and will undoubtedly keep players occupied for months to come, while the offline component delivers race after race of impressive annihilation. Some sub-par graphics and a poor story let the experience down considerably, with the inclusion of luckily-avoidable cut scenes detracting from the immersive qualities, but they don’t stop Apocalypse from being the best Motorstorm game yet.