As my face smashes against the mud at seventy miles per hour for the fifth time during this Supercross championship race, I briefly ponder why I continue playing this game. My arm is twisted through my chest at an impossible angle, and my legs should probably be broken completely off right now. This is a normal occurrence, and I have long since stopped yelling at the other racers who either blindly forced me off the track with no regard to my safety, or have somehow nailed every jump with flawless accuracy while I fall behind, restricted by the laws of human error.
I love Motocross and all the awesomeness that is born of dirt-bike racing. There is nothing quite like riding down a hill at a hundred miles per hour in first person view and then blasting through the air to pull a Tsunami backflip over a 200 foot cliff. It's a different experience altogether from racing simulators and street racing arcade games, and that's why I wish my favorite motocross series would get it right for once. The Dead Man tells a tale on:
In Reflex, you take control of Nameless Hero number 1 and attempt to take over the motocross world in a Tour de Game Modes. These modes range from Supercross, to Free Ride, to Waypoint Races, etc. etc. It's standard fare for MX vs. ATV, and that's not a bad thing because the variety is indeed still there. The only problem is that the racing, while improving mildly, is no less infuriating.
All good motocross games have started from the ground up, and Rainbow Studios took this very literally. The track itself morphs with every lap, showing the previous paths of other racers and yourself and slightly altering the driving for some segments. This is a lovely and realistic addition to the world, Rainbow, but maybe you should have changed up the fundamentals of actually driving the damn bike, because I feel less like I'm driving an agile, light-weight, two-wheeled death machine, and more like I'm sitting inside a tank, circa World War I. Except this tank has no gun. Or armor. Taking turns with any kind of speed can send you way off the track like you suddenly sprouted wings on your wheels and deployed your ass rockets at the wrong time.
To remedy this, a leaning system was added to the right stick, and you have to press that stick in the direction of your turn to cut it sharp. Hilarious, because when I press left on the left stick, I was hoping that I would actually turn in that direction. Instead, the game decides to ask me if I'm sure that I want to turn left, because I'm rapidly approaching oblivion and that would just be a good idea. I indulge the system, and give it confirmation by pushing the right stick left. At this point, with all due gusto and hyperactivity, my bike fishtails in that direction, leaving me motionless and facing parallel to the road. Before I could quickly rectify the situation, I was utterly flattened by the field of brain-dead racers behind me.
"Why Cadaver!" you may think, "That is simply a case of laughable human error!"
To this, I say, "Yes, yes it is, and you better get used to it."
This game is more forgiving than the previous spawn of Satan MX vs. ATV Unleashed, but thanks to the clunky control of your steel horse (who seems to have some sort of terrible arthritis to be turning like this), the attempts to make the game less difficult fall short. The very slightest error on your part, and consider the race over. Don't understeer, don't oversteer, avoid the other racers at all costs, don't take the jumps too fast, too slow, at too shallow an angle, or with your head at the wrong tilt, and make sure the dog went pee before you race. If you do this, the incredibly inconsistent AI drivers should be no problem.
The only game mode that gives you plenty of love is Freestyle, because its so easy to bust tricks left and right with the intuitive trick system and destroy the meager competition.
This shouldn't be how it is though. I shouldn't have to pick out which game modes are the least frustrating, but perhaps by the time MX vs. ATV Alive releases sometime this year, then they will have fixed the major issues and we'll have a dirt racer that far exceeds all others and marks its place in the world of racing games.
At least while you're causing yourself terrible injury over and over, you have some beautiful scenery to look at. The environments are painstakingly rendered to give you a wonderful burial ground for your next wipeout.
I love Motocross and all the awesomeness that is born of dirt-bike racing. There is nothing quite like riding down a hill at a hundred miles per hour in first person view and then blasting through the air to pull a Tsunami backflip over a 200 foot cliff. It's a different experience altogether from racing simulators and street racing arcade games, and that's why I wish my favorite motocross series would get it right for once. The Dead Man tells a tale on:
In Reflex, you take control of Nameless Hero number 1 and attempt to take over the motocross world in a Tour de Game Modes. These modes range from Supercross, to Free Ride, to Waypoint Races, etc. etc. It's standard fare for MX vs. ATV, and that's not a bad thing because the variety is indeed still there. The only problem is that the racing, while improving mildly, is no less infuriating.
All good motocross games have started from the ground up, and Rainbow Studios took this very literally. The track itself morphs with every lap, showing the previous paths of other racers and yourself and slightly altering the driving for some segments. This is a lovely and realistic addition to the world, Rainbow, but maybe you should have changed up the fundamentals of actually driving the damn bike, because I feel less like I'm driving an agile, light-weight, two-wheeled death machine, and more like I'm sitting inside a tank, circa World War I. Except this tank has no gun. Or armor. Taking turns with any kind of speed can send you way off the track like you suddenly sprouted wings on your wheels and deployed your ass rockets at the wrong time.
To remedy this, a leaning system was added to the right stick, and you have to press that stick in the direction of your turn to cut it sharp. Hilarious, because when I press left on the left stick, I was hoping that I would actually turn in that direction. Instead, the game decides to ask me if I'm sure that I want to turn left, because I'm rapidly approaching oblivion and that would just be a good idea. I indulge the system, and give it confirmation by pushing the right stick left. At this point, with all due gusto and hyperactivity, my bike fishtails in that direction, leaving me motionless and facing parallel to the road. Before I could quickly rectify the situation, I was utterly flattened by the field of brain-dead racers behind me.
"Why Cadaver!" you may think, "That is simply a case of laughable human error!"
To this, I say, "Yes, yes it is, and you better get used to it."
This game is more forgiving than the previous spawn of Satan MX vs. ATV Unleashed, but thanks to the clunky control of your steel horse (who seems to have some sort of terrible arthritis to be turning like this), the attempts to make the game less difficult fall short. The very slightest error on your part, and consider the race over. Don't understeer, don't oversteer, avoid the other racers at all costs, don't take the jumps too fast, too slow, at too shallow an angle, or with your head at the wrong tilt, and make sure the dog went pee before you race. If you do this, the incredibly inconsistent AI drivers should be no problem.
The only game mode that gives you plenty of love is Freestyle, because its so easy to bust tricks left and right with the intuitive trick system and destroy the meager competition.
This shouldn't be how it is though. I shouldn't have to pick out which game modes are the least frustrating, but perhaps by the time MX vs. ATV Alive releases sometime this year, then they will have fixed the major issues and we'll have a dirt racer that far exceeds all others and marks its place in the world of racing games.
At least while you're causing yourself terrible injury over and over, you have some beautiful scenery to look at. The environments are painstakingly rendered to give you a wonderful burial ground for your next wipeout.