Ever since they were picked up by THQ following their triumphant ATV Offroad Fury games, Rainbow Studios, also known as THQ’s Phoenix division, has been tinkering with formula, adding little things here and there to each of its MX Vs. ATV games to make it an ultimate ride. Its latest effort, MX Vs. ATV Alive, doesn’t stray too far from the territory it covered in 2009’s MX Vs. ATV Reflex, though a smaller pricing model ($40 compared to $60) and the option to add content via DLC do mark an interesting business turn. But how does that affect the game’s ride in itself? Well, if you thought Reflex was good ol’ mud-sloshing fun, there’s nothing that’ll change your mind here. Most of Reflex’s fundamentals remain intact, including the terraforming in the tracks that show what ground you’ve covered before, the ability to do some monstrous tricks after launching 30 or so feet in the air, and plenty of competition both off-line (against the AI) and through Xbox Live (against eagerly waiting riders).
That’s not to say the ride is perfect, though. The gameplay, while intuitive and different than most arcade racers out there, might be too complicated for its own good. The left analog stick controls your bike’s movement, while the right allows you to lean your rider, letting you corner better and perform death-defying wheelies when you see fit. While this independent system has good momentum for the most part, there are times it’s a bit wonky. Having to perform a quick down-up jump maneuver, then shift to the right analog button and quickly hit directions on the right analog stick to perform tricks, then safely adjust to land from said trick…it’s like trying to perform calculus. Only when you’ve become a natural (which takes a long, long time) does it seem less than elaborate. Furthermore, the rider motions can lead to crashes way too often. While leaning into a turn, we found ourselves coming off of a hill more than once, resulting in a sudden gravity lean when we were sideways.
Sometimes we would land perfectly on wheels, which was inexplicable; others, we would eat dirt, and possibly lose the lead during a race. And we can’t even tell you how many times we accidentally almost flipped over, save for a quick tap on the analog stick to maintain our composure. It’s not broken by any means, it’s just a lot for people to get used to, especially if they’ve spent their time racing around with the likes of Nail’d or Pure, games that relied more on speed than tactics. There’s some deep stuff here, and as you progress in each race (even if you don’t score first), you gain stature on your rider’s stats, and eventually unlock new gear that will help you get ahead in your career. The Career Mode in itself isn’t bad, but it asks a lot of you. A lot of the better races in the game don’t even unlock until you get to level 10, which took us quite a bit of time to reach. (There is a quick unlock available for 400 Microsoft points, should you become agitated.)
This feature review concludes on the next page, please click Page 2 below to see final thoughts on THQ's MX vs. ATV Alive.
