8. Motorstorm Apocalypse
Born out of the assertion that race games were stuck in a rut, trying to best each other in the realistic, hardcore stakes to the cost of gameplay and gamer experience, Motorstorm Apocalypse is an entertaining riot of a game. It might not have the deepest storyline (though what there is is told well through good-looking motion comics), but that isn't the point at all. The game feels like the culmination of everything that the MotorStorm series stands for: ignoring precise realism to concentrate instead on gameplay friendly elements like chaotic racing, entertaining game modes and well-designed, good-looking tracks and environments. It all leads to thrilling results, as in Apocalypse everything has been tuned up and pimped out to spectacular effect - the race experience is bigger and more intense, and the tracks are both complex and completely engaging, mixing driver-friendly design with artistic beauty that adds depth to the experience, no matter how fast you're zipping past it. One of the best parts of the game is not just the driver's ability to destroy the environment, but the apparent intention of those environments to fight back, throwing in surprising environmental issues that test the gamer's abilities and reaction speeds like few other racing games before it. Along the way you jostle for first position, boosting opponents off the track and into obstacles through some of the finest ever tracks committed to a game, and it's an absolute joy at every step. Who says ultra-violence has to be ugly?