In the MotorStorm series, there are various offensive manoeuvres the players can use to get the edge on opponents, these include "ramming" another vehicle when driving anything larger than an ATV. Players can also "punch" other riders when riding a Bike, Superbike, Chopper, Snow Machine or ATV. Timing is key when the player is going to attempt ramming/punching an opponent, as if one fails to connect an attack, boost will be wasted. The larger the vehicle, the more powerful the attack will be; ramming a Rally Car in a Buggy will be much less effective than ramming a Rally Car in a Big Rig.
Overview[]
When driving in a medium to large vehicle, one can press the "L1" or "R1" buttons (classic scheme) to ram the vehicle in the specified direction, this will cause an immediate spike in boost usage. Players riding on small vehicles can press "L1" or "R1" to throw a punch in the specified direction.
Ramming[]
Players driving a Buggy, SuperMini, Rally Car, Muscle Car, Supercar, Racing Truck, Mud Plugger, Big Rig, or Monster Truck can use the ram feature to violently force the vehicle sideways, and potentially into an opponent. When the player performs the ram manoeuvre, a moderate amount of boost will be used. Typically, ramming a smaller vehicle with a larger vehicle will cause more damage, and shunt the opponent farther than using a small vehicle against another small vehicle. Ramming is usually much easier to time correctly than punching, due to the large surface area of vehicle classes that can ram. Ramming can also be used as a last-ditch attempt to avoid crashing or falling over an edge, it can also be used to make a tighter turn than normally possible; this is known as a ram-boost.
Punching[]
Players riding a Bike, ATV, Superbike, Chopper, or Snow Machine can throw punches. Oddly enough, in MotorStorm: Apocalypse, the ridden vehicles can both ram and punch (although the former can only be done on the ground), a feature never seen before in the MotorStorm series.
Unofficial Manoeuvres[]
While punching and ramming are the primary offensive manoeuvres, there are many other ways players can wreck other opponents. These include, but are not limited to:
- Landing on another vehicle when driving a large vehicle.
- Running over and crushing someone else while in a Monster Truck.
- PIT-Manoeuvres, causing an opponent to spin, roll or indirectly run into something.
- Using a boost explosion's shockwave, these can easily wreck and propel small vehicles, or push medium-sized vehicles away and send them airborne.
- Overtake denial, typically using a large vehicle's sheer power and size to block opponents and prevent them from passing, potentially resulting in the opponent being forced into an obstacle.
- Passenger carrying, having a smaller vehicle land on your own to make it wreck.
- Distractions, with non-AI opponents, you are always able to temporarily distract them with many different methods including: performing an amazing stunt in front of them, taunting, or customizing your vehicle in a particularly eye-catching manner. As silly as this may seem, time your opponents spend looking at your car is time that they are not spending looking at the road.
- Fly by, quickly speeding infront of an opponent with a larger vehicle to give them a good scare and hopefully cause them to lose their focus.
- Brake-checking: slamming on the brakes early in order to make opponent vehicles crash into the rear of your vehicle. This is most effective with the larger classes. Do not attempt this technique with any vehicle smaller than a Racing Truck.
Avoiding Offensive Manoeuvres[]
When players are the target of an offensive manoeuvre, there are various ways the player can avoid being wrecked. Driving a larger vehicle typically limits the effectiveness of rams used against you, although when two vehicles of the same class ram each other, the ram is usually strong enough to move your vehicle a considerable distance. Players driving a small vehicle such as Bikes can easily avoid rams and other punches simply by moving away from the attack, although if there is no way to create distance between you and your opponent, your best bet would be to either bunny hop (down then up on the D-Pad), duck (down twice on D-Pad), or throw a punch (in hope of landing a hit against your opponent).
Medium-sized vehicles, such as Rally Cars, are susceptible to being shoved into a position where the player's vehicle is perpendicular to the opponent's vehicle - this typically results in the player being wrecked. Players using medium-sized vehicles can counter this by ramming in the direction the opponent's vehicle is facing. The player can also ram into the vehicle that is pushing you, as this will result in either the opponent being considerably slowed down or both the player and the opponent being wrecked.
Players riding Bikes can avoid being rear-ended by using the bunny-hop to jump and allow the opponent to pass underneath of the player. This is typically only possible if the opponent who is trying to wreck the player is driving any vehicles smaller than Racing Trucks.
Players can avoid being run over by a Monster Truck by staying as far from the wheels as possible; although risky, the player can ram into a Monster Truck as they tend to go on two wheels when rammed by any vehicle larger than Racing Trucks.
Players with any class can also hit the brakes to avoid a collision or can simply swerve to a different path. Also try to just avoid the larger vehicles and use jumps to your advantage when evading an aggressive player.
Players can also avoid contact by simply staying ahead of the competition with a fast class such as the Rally Car so you don't even need to worry about the competition (although the AI programming typically allows AI vehicles to catch up even at ridiculous speeds).
Tips and Tricks[]
When attempting to punch another rider, timing is key. In order to time a punch a right one must press "L1" or "R1" just before reaching your opponent, this is because the time between the button input and the output of the game itself is about 2.57 milliseconds. Ramming is slightly easier to time correctly because of the large surface area of vehicles that have the ability to ram.
When using the bigger vehicles, it is recommended not to use the ram feature often. Bigger vehicles can instead take advantage of their size and strength to power through opponents. Monster Trucks can use their wheels to crush opponents, although it is recommended not to attempt to run over anything larger than a Mud Plugger, as doing so could result in a rollover and a wreck. Big Rigs can also run over other vehicles albeit to a lesser extent due to their relatively low ride-height.
Trivia[]
- Bikes and ATVs, along with Superbikes and Choppers in MotorStorm: Apocalypse, are the only classes to be able to both ram and punch.
- If the player rams while in critical boost, the vehicle will usually explode or simply wreck.
- Players riding Bikes or ATVs can wreck Buggies by causing them to roll over, although this takes so many punches it would typically be more efficient to simply go around.
- In the original MotorStorm and MotorStorm: Arctic Edge, there is no way of ramming other vehicles, and punching is only possible by taunting whilst near an opponent.
- The sound of bones being broken can be heard when punching or running over a dismounted opponent in Pacific Rift
- Punching another rider off of their vehicle was first showcased in a trailer for MotorStorm, where a character riding a yellow Monarch Champ punched another rider off of his bike.
- There is a trophy in Apocalypse, requiring the player to punch another rider off of their vehicle in mid-air; known as "Air Assault!"
