Motorstorm Apocalypse reviewed on PlayStation 3 by Harry Neary. Game supplied for review by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

Even ignoring the recent tragic events in Japan many of the levels on offer in Motorstorm Apocalypse offer a depressing spectacle. Would it really be fun to race offroad vehicles through a city destroyed by earthquake? Are the cold grey broken streets a delightful locale for a sporting event? Christ it’s bleak - especially the night races. What can we expect from Evolution Studios next time out - powersliding across the surface of a childhood cancer?

Of course there’s plenty of spectacle and the first time you see a skyscraper fall over and become part of the track on the rooftop level you may utter a completely honest “wow”, but otherwise I find Motorstorm Apocalypse a drab affair. There’s plenty of technical wizardry on show but none of it is particularly pretty - a shame as this is where the Motorstorm franchise has been at its best thus far. Racing across volcanoes and through jungles brings a pleasing holiday feel to the action. If I wanted to experience adrenaline thrills amongst broken concrete and urban decay I’d just go on a ram-raid through Wythenshawe shopping precinct.

But there we go and here we are. Motorstorm takes place in an unnamed US city that’s had the living crap knocked out of it by an earthquake. To make matters even worse many of the local populace have gone bonkers and rather than arriving to save the day the local military finds itself at war with zombified pedestrians. The locals - as you might imagine - a somewhat pissed off about the situation, and when a bunch of smelly “burning man” types turn up to hold races through their blighted home they aren’t very welcoming. So in addition to the dangers of racing through a city falling to pieces the locals will be throwing Molotov cocktails at you and the military will be doing its level best to to well...level the place. Imagine Charles and Camilla’s recent theatre trip but taken in a monster truck through a wall of unwashed dimwit Pink Floyd progeny and you’ll get the idea.

There’s a career on offer with story mode. A neat feature is that the difficulty levels on offer also represent different stories - all told via attractive animated 2D comics. There was a whiff of American urban as understood by pale white programmers in Cheshire about it at times, but the artwork is nice even if - should you be over the age of 14 and live west of Ireland - you’ll find yourself skipping it to get on with the racing. Skipping is good though - saves time when up against the rather long loading times.

On track the familiar Motorstorm gameplay is there. If you liked the previous games you’ll probably like how this latest game plays. Apocalypse is initially more forgiving too. You can race through the whole of the lowest difficulty level with your finger on accelerate and dab the boost occasionally. Boost is limited by its tendency to blow your engine if used to much and as ever racing through water cools things down. Each track offers multiple routes and often the surface suits one type of vehicle rather than another - so the trick it choosing the right route for your massive truck, dirt bike or buggy.

The problem remains with Motorstorm that success or failure seems awfully random - you may be ninth at the start of the last lap but by the time you cross the finish line you’re in the lead, without passing anyone. What’s gone on? I guess vehicles on other routes have crashed or something. Sometimes scenery will make you explode, sometimes you’ll just brush off it. And later it just feels unfair at times and baffling at others.

To be fair though Motorstorm has always been like this. You either like the gameplay model or you don’t. Certainly when played online it’s a more compelling experience and feels much less unfair. It’s a bit of a larf innit? With a surprisingly generous number of tracks on offer and several careers to play there’s plenty of stuff to enjoy in Motorstorm Apocalypse. This is a well made game - seeming a bit like a b-game on an a-game budget at times - but entertaining enough. The whole “race while the world falls around you” is impressive and a wonderful spectacle and you get to see it within five minutes or so of loading the game up.

But you get used to that kind of trick very quickly and soon you find yourself racing though another jungle of broken rebar and concrete wondering if you couldn’t be doing something better with your time. Sad to say this city falling down thing can be surprisingly boring. Motorstorm Apocalypse is okay, but it’s not great. What this series needs is a kick up the bum, and perhaps an end to the - one location for each game - approach used thus far. How about something more like a world tour next time? And of pretty places please, we don’t need Motorstorm Famine thank you very much.