MotorStorm Apocalypse unveiled

Sony have officially unveiled the next game in the MotorStorm series, MotorStorm Apocalypse.

The game takes place in a city which has just suffered an earthquake and is empty, which prompts the racers to move in, however the earthquakes haven't quite stopped and the city isn't quite empty.

Matt Southern, Evolution Studios' Games Director explains: "Throughout the game the city will be ripped to pieces, in real-time, as you race. Routes will be affected, as will our emergent gameplay.

Buggies using collapsing walls as half-pipes. Big Rigs on the rooftops of skyscrapers as they collapse. Superbikes gunning into the basements of enormous rifts. Supercars flicking on their headlights to barrel through the subways and sewers. Multi-vehicle pile ups on giant bridges as they buckle and twist. Driving through someone's office and smashing up their desks. It's all there.

Two groups have also stayed behind, and neither takes too kindly to MotorStorm's arrival. I'll talk more about them another time, but for now I'll say that when they realise there isn't going to be much of a city left, they start to destroy it too.

This isn't post-apocalyptic. It's apocalyptic. You are there when it happens. It's survival racing."

MotorStorm features:

• Sixteen player online multiplayer.

• Four player split-screen.

• Combinations of the two. Play with three friends in the living room against 12 more online.

• Massive vehicle customisation. Change vinyls, vehicle parts, vehicle shapes and more. Upload them to the community site and share them with others. They automatically work on all vehicle types, and include your PSN ID.

• Vehicle perks. Modify your handling, boosting and offensive abilities as you unlock new perks.

• A wealth of rankings to progess through online with associated rewards and recognition.

• Stacks of online rewards to earn and persistent progress giving the most determined and successful racers the status and recognition they deserve.

• Persistent matchmaking. Keep your party together throughout your gaming session.

• A Game Mode Creator. From a completely blank canvas you can design your own game rules and victory conditions, play them online, and incorporate them into tournaments.