Sony's pre-E3 press conference last year was great...especially compared to this year's snooze-fest. No, we were introduced to a series of potential PS3 videos that showed off the power of the system, and one of the movies that was shown was for the unpredictable racing game Motorstorm, pitting a number of vehicles and racers against each other on a muddy track, watching them flip around maniacally and keep grip of the road while mud kicked up from the Earth relentlessly. I admit it, I was intrigued. There's just something about a competitive racing game with hardly anything to hold it back that just grinds my gears and makes me want to play.

Well, this year, Sony had the game playable on the E3 show floor, and we decided to take Motorstorm for a spin to see if it was going to live up to that promise. Well, while graphically it doesn't seem so detailed as the movie indicated, the game does seem to be coming together in terms of gameplay to represent what next-gen racing should be all about- fast, furious, and completely wild.

In the game, you take part in a series of races that are set in Utah's infamous Monument Valley, complete with mountain tops, crevace-filled surfaces, side roads, off-shoots overlooking the valley, and other natural ingredients that could add up for a unique racing experience. In the demo version, we got a hold of a buggy-style vehicle with very promising physics, feeling just like a real buggy would in terms of weight, speed, and performance. There's other vehicles as well, and each one seems to bring tried-and-true physics, no matter the ride. For instance, the motorcycle may be faster, but it takes a bit more time to master on turns due to the fact you're dealing with two wheels, not four. And then there's also a big rig, which has far more traction but suffers in speed as a result, forcing you to react heavily to the competition in an effort to get first place.

This sort of variety is where Motorstorm will find one of its greatest strengths- real competition. The racers will be different and will also perform differently as a result, meaning that if you think you're in the clear, you can find yourself overlapped rather easily by a dude on a motorcycle while the big rip comes rip-roaring right up your backside. Fortunately, the physics thrown into the game allow you to fight with dirty tactics, possibly trapping riders across an obstacle or knocking them off the course completely, giving you that much more of a chance to scoring first place. They can do the same thing to you, however, so keep a close eye on your back door.

The game has a great "pick-up-and-play" mentality, and you don't necessarily have to be a master of the road in order to get yourself some first place wins. The gameplay feels very natural and surprisingly sharp, allowing you to handle turns and get to terms with your vehicle right away, so you're not slip-sliding all over the road. There's several camera options available for convenience, although the one right behind the car seems to work best, as you're able to see what's going on behind you while still getting an idea of the territory that lies ahead. There's also a sense of realism involved, especially involving damage.

The vehicles can take pretty good damage, and if there's a wreck, the game actually slows down a bit, Burnout 3-style, and shows you the wreck that your vehicle just went through. So it's important that you keep your ride going as stable as possible, while also keeping the competition from trying to overtake you for that crucial win in a series race. A number of races are strewn across Monument Valley, with dozens of events available to you and terrain that looks just like the real thing. I wouldn't be surprised if Evolution just took a few camping trips down there to nail the territory just right. Some companies are just into that.

On top of the great-looking graphics (which look just like the real deal) and the game's impressive physics, Evolution is also hard at work on making sure that online competition is a factor in the game. The developer is hard at work trying to implement 16 players into the mix, so that races can get even crazier as you try to show your friends who's the master of the road. The choices of vehicles should further make this a standout, and hopefully sometime soon we'll have a final count of what you can expect in the finished game, which should arrive later this year in time for the system's launch.

So, things have changed since last year's demo movie of Motorstorm, and the game may not look as blazingly real as that little flick let on. But still, it's all about the feel of the ride, and the game certainly feels like a winner, with accessible controls and a number of options that help you get to the finish line that much faster. We'll have a full review of the game upon its arrival, complete with that fresh mud smell. Well, OK, we can't give you that, you'll just have to stomp around outside and then sniff your shoes while you read on. But it'll seem like the real thing, anyway.