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MotorStorm: Apocalypse canned in Japan

Still too soon?

PS3-exclusive racing game MotorStorm: Apocalypse won't get a Japanese release - Sony has cancelled the game's launch.

No explanation was given, reported Andriasang.

Sony delayed the game's 17th March Japanese release following the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country's coast earlier that month. MotorStorm: Apocalypse takes place on an island torn asunder by an enormous earthquake, you see.

Rebuilding Japan will take many months and years - the parts of it, that is, that can be replaced. Perhaps Sony deemed the game's premise still simply too close to the bone.

It's a shame, because the unfortunate MotorStorm: Apocalypse - released here after a slight earthquake/tsunami-related delay - was very good.

"It works because it's not subtle," wrote Oli Welsh in Eurogamer's 8/10 review. "Not much about Apocalypse is, from the crushing orchestral dubstep soundtrack, through the astounding visual assault of bounding cars, flying masonry, landslides, dust clouds, twisters and moody, filtered light, to its sheer breakneck speed.

"But beneath all this clamour you can detect the stable, confident hum of a decent racing series finding its feet – in its improved boost mechanic, substantial feature set and streamlined campaign."

The first 15 minutes of MotorStorm: Apocalypse.