Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

The reviews for Motorstorm for the US are coming in, and the showpiece PS3 title that looked gorgeous as far back as James’ November trip to fiddle with it in New York City is acknowledged as having excellent graphics and car detail. The critics say the single-player racing is pretty shallow and with only 8 tracks available for online and offline, there isn’t a whole lot of meat to the game. This is reflected in IGN’s 8.9 and Gamespot’s 7.9 scores. Quite a gap between the two, but that’s another story.

Gamespot’s review talks up online play as being heaps of fun, especially since the game lacks local multiplayer (split-screen) options. Up to 12 racers can compete together, and any vehicle from a motorcycle up to a truck is selectable. It’s the track design that stands out to me, however. The eight tracks are acknowledged as being long, but they’re also noted as having several ways to run them, with tight little roadways and paths with lots of jumps for the bikes and more open, less winding paths for the cars and trucks. This variety of ways to get through a single level sticks out in my mind as something pretty new for a racing game in general, and it seems like a bit of a risk to do things this way in a new, high-profile franchise. But after the offline-only JP version’s poor reception, a strong online mode is a saving grace for the title.

I imagine the game will sell well, opening the door for a sequel (or a patch) with deeper single player as well as even better online play. But for now it can stand as one of the unusual titles on the fledgling PS3 with strong online play and weak offline play.

Via Gamespot and IGN.