'Motorstorm: Apocalypse' lets rip with first video diary

(All rights reserved - Sony Computer Entertainment / Evolution Studios)

Developers at UK's Evolution Studios have pumped out the first in a series of video diaries, emphasising what they hope will become the selling points of an action-packed urban racer, Motorstorm: Apocalypse.

They chat about making this, the fourth in the Motorstorm series, both more accessible to beginners and more challenging for those that stay the course, and tease the prospect of hidden features.

"Players will experience certain levels of predictability that will at least allow them to learn the tracks, but they're never too sure what's around the corner," says design manager Si Barlow just as a buggy hurtles over the crest of a hill and collides with a speeding motorcyclist.

The team boasts of five new vehicle classes added to the previous eight, and a film composer's soundtrack reassembled by a cohort of DJs and remixers.

Apocalypse marks the series' plunge into a more metropolitain setting, as racers converge upon a collapsing deserted city, leading to easy comparisons with sprawling urban racer Burnout Paradise and the unexpected destruction of Split/Second.

Motorstorm: Apocalypse is due out in 2011 on PlayStation 3, currently expected to land during March or April.

Watch the trailer on YouTube.com/user/PlayStation3.