Exhilaration is
a sensation gamers will never stop craving. We don’t just want to be a part of
the game – we want to feel whatever is on the screen. This is especially
true of sports games. When Rainbow Studios launched the ATV Offroad Fury series
for PlayStation 2, a new plateau in gameplay was reached.
MX Vs. ATV
Untamed raises the bar another level. It’s not in the area of innovation or
groundbreaking gameplay. The graphics, though a step up from the last ATV racer,
are not on par with other PS3 and Xbox 360 titles. But if you’re in search of
the sensation – the feeling that forms inside while embarking on a roller
coaster ride – MX Vs. ATV will be the best trip you’ve taken with an extreme
sports racer.
Happily
Untamed
Not willing to
leave behind the accomplishments of its previous series, MX Vs. ATV has several
instantly recognizable traits. This means that the hold-a-button,
hope-not-to-crash trick system is back, along with similar physics for launching
off hills and ramps. The one thing in this area that has changed is the ability
to land safely. Players are now able to jump several feet higher than in
previous ATV games. As a result, you’ll have a much harder time landing on rocky
surfaces.
MX Vs. ATV
brings more than motocross bikes and ATVs into the fold. You’ll also drive
trucks, buggies, and variations of the two. These vehicles are dispersed across
Event Series and X-Cross Tournament, two modes of nearly identical content. They
differ in the way that content is delivered.
On its surface,
MX Vs. ATV doesn’t appear to be massively different from its predecessors. The
courses/environments are definitely bigger, and there are more on-screen racers
used in each competition. But the graphics are only kind of impressive, and the
controls are too similar (initially) to make the game stand out. In the first
hour, MX Vs. ATV seems like a decent, slightly-above-average racing game with a
moderate amount of thrills.
In the
following hours, its true magnificence is revealed. To get the ball rolling
sooner, don’t play the game from the default third-person view. Hit select to
zoom closer to your character. Immediately, the game feels different: faster,
more lifelike, and more intense. Switch to the first-person (in-the-car/biker’s
helmet) view and the intensity quadruples. You really won’t believe the
difference. Every bump, every jump, and every jaw-dropping fall, flip, and
death-defying crash is more realistic – and more deeply felt – from this
perspective.
The same can
almost be said for other great PS3 racers with one difference: controllability.
Most racers lose functionality when played from the first-person view. MX Vs.
ATV is more manageable. When playing from that view, I’m on the edge of my seat,
not on the edge of losing control. But even if other racers could match this
game’s reliability, they still wouldn’t have the heart-stopping thrills of
leaping 50 feet into the air and feeling every second of the drop that follows.
Those are exclusive to MX Vs. ATV.
Also exclusive
are the mechanics. The bikes and ATVs’ quick handling, fast acceleration and
remarkable steering would have done well in an arcade 10 years ago. But their
realism – the limitations that come into play when performing stunts or
colliding with an opponent – is so much deeper than anything a coin-op machine
could deliver.
Kudos to
Rainbow Studios for adding buggies and monster trucks. Not only are they a great
addition to the series, but they also give players a new way to race. While
cruising around in a buggy, every bump is met with a spring-loaded reaction.
Buggies are prone to tipping over, posing a new challenge when going up a hill.
Monster trucks, on the other hand, are uniquely empowering, especially when
played from the first-person view. They aren’t just larger versions of the other
trucks – they actually move and feel different.
You won’t play much from this angle.
Save Me.
Please.
These features
culminate for one really exciting racer. But this is not a flawless game. From
the time you begin till the very last race, you’ll run into a farrago of
ailments that drag the game down a few notches.
The save
feature is ridiculous. Let me tell you right now that I don’t like to read
manuals and I don’t want text messages in anything but RPGs. When I began the
Event Series, I ignored the warning message. I assumed it was a welcome screen,
a note about how to play, or some other trivial fact. That wasn’t the case. The
message was there to inform players that they need to create and save a profile
(from a special profile option on the menu) before starting a game. Without it,
none of your progress will be saved. Not one second of it. You can’t change this
after the fact. Having been completely unaware of this, my first two hours of
progress were lost when I turned game off.
One might say
that this is an oversight on the player’s behalf – that it’s all my fault and I
can’t complain. I suppose it would be that simple if other games were this
absurd about saving. But in 99% of the games I play each year, one of two things
happen: (1) the game saves automatically or allows me to save whenever I choose,
or (2) the game asks if I’d like to create a save file the moment I hit Start.
That’s the sensible way to do it.
Moving onto
more important issues, the increased realism has somewhat of a negative effect
on the freestyle competitions. I like to jump as high as possible, perform a
couple stunts, and land. But unless you’re landing into a hill going down, those
super-high jumps will usually end in a crash. There’s no way around it.
Realistically, bikes are not made to withstand that kind of pressure. They give
in, bounce, flip over, or just fall on their side. This was a necessary evil,
but I’ll avoid the freestyle events until the moment comes when it clicks and I
can land these jumps every time (assuming that will happen someday).
MX Vs. ATV’s
weak engine is a bit of a surprise. The game opens with the most beautiful CG
movie I’ve ever seen in a racer, which only makes the in-game graphics look even
worse. Were the grass and tree details made from 2D Jpegs in Photoshop? It’s
hard to tell. And the background textures can’t compare to MotorStorm. Clipping
occurs in some areas, and if that weren’t enough, this game uses pop-up to fill
in the empty portions of environments that should have been wholly visible from
anywhere on the track.
Lastly, the
excessive length of each competition – while justified and mostly satisfying –
can be a bit much at times. I’m not saying the game should be shorter. Instead,
it might have been wise to break a few of the larger courses into two chunks,
giving players a greater number of tracks while adding a little variety (you’d
then have courses that are small and large, instead of just the latter).
You won’t want to spend much time viewing this angle
either…
unless you’re hoping to fall off like these guys are about to.
Five paragraphs
– that’s a lot of issues. But the best thing about them is that they’re all
forgivable things we can live with. MX Vs. ATV isn’t everything it could
have been. But it is, in many ways, everything a racer should be: pure
exhilarating fun. Strap in, hang on, and hope you don’t get motion sickness.
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Gameplay: 8.3
The airborne thrills
and relentless competitions are unmatched. There are annoying bits of
imperfections found in each mode, but that doesn’t push the game away from its
must-play status. ATV Offroad Fury fans are especially encouraged to dive in.
Graphics:
6.0
The first-person
view is awesome! This game is worth playing for the aerial thrills alone. But
other than that, the graphics are a huge disappointment.
Sound: 7.5
MX Vs. ATV has a
good, punk rock-infused soundtrack that’ll make you want to crank your
speakers…for an hour or two. After that, you will have had enough of these songs
and wish there was more variety (or just more songs, period). As expected, the
engine-revved sound effects are exceedingly repetitive.
Difficulty: Medium
Refreshing. MX Vs.
ATV’s unexpectedly high difficulty is not the norm for our mainstream-obsessed
industry. To compensate, the default setting is usually the easiest.
Concept: 7.0
Not a new or
groundbreaking racer. MX Vs. ATV does what its predecessors have been doing for
years, only better.
Multiplayer: 7.9
Split-screen, LAN
and online play give everyone a multiplayer option.
Overall: 8.0
MX Vs. ATV Untamed
may not shine like a next-gen star, but it sure plays like one.
