[HEADING=2]Presents[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]MX vs ATV: Reflex[/HEADING]
Notes
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By: Lost in the Void
MX vs ATV Reflex [from now known as simply MX] is a game, which fits into a genre, that most people on this site would not usually pay attention to. It is a game featuring extreme motor sports, lacks a plot and has no character development what so ever. This does not make it a bad game though. I am writing this review to bring attention to a game that throws off the stereotypes of a so called ?Sports Game,? and show it for what it really is; a well-designed game that, if you?re willing to give it a chance, can prove to be a lot of fun. Because this game does not have plots or ?real characters? I will, instead, be focusing on the graphics and game play a lot more than I normally would. Now without further ado; MX vs ATV: Reflex.
One of the new gameplay innovations is the Reflex actions, which are controlled by your right thumbstick. Reflex controls cause your character to shift his weight around the MX and allow you to remain in control of your bike at all times. Rough landings will prompt you to shift your weight in a certain direction to avoid crashes, and using the Reflex also causes you to use your tricks, while pressing the Left Button. This is an interesting, though basic concept, that makes for a slightly more realistic experience.
Look Ma No Feet
The Single Player Career is where you will spend your first parts of the game. This is your ?MotoCareer? where you purchase an MX or an ATV, hence the namesake, and take part in various events such as races, and freestyle events. The races make for a fun, though familiar challenge; the AI is balanced and will make the race exciting, but not extremely difficult. This makes it great for mastering new controls or for players who have just started to play this game, but for the more experienced, the races become too easy, and become a bore. The freestyle events are events where you preform tricks for judge approval. The tricks are easy to do if you do them one at a time, but to truly master these events, you must do combos of various events. These combos can become extremely difficult to perform in time, and so you will end up crashing a lot in the beginning of your career. This is alright though, as the judges can be slightly impressed with your combo even if you do crash.
There are also free roaming areas with up to four challenges to complete, though without a proper radar or map, it can make the events extremely hard to find. These events range from checkpoint races, sprints, hill climbs, and jump locators. The Checkpoint Races are races where you go from gate to gate, your timer resetting every time you make it to a new one. Sprints are a timed race where you get ?x? amount of seconds to make it to the finish line. Hill Climbs are events where you attempt to drive up a steep hill and see how far you can go before you crash, and finally, the Jump Locators are essentially Checkpoint Races, but you have to hit a jump to actually make it up to your checkpoint. These challenges range in difficulty with the Hill Climb being the easiest, and the Jump Locators being the most difficult.
Free Roam is the next feature in MX, and is exactly as it sounds. This is a feature that allows you to simply explore the Free Roam maps, taking in the scenery and hitting the rough terrain by yourself or with a friend. It makes for a fun relaxing period of practice and exploration. This somewhat ties into the Multiplayer feature in which you and a friend can compete in any of the above events or simply burn around in the free roam, tearing up the dirt. I have only played split-screen, deciding to opt out of Online Multiplayer, so I cannot review that section of the game
Now that we?ve covered the gameplay features we will discuss the graphics of this game. The game boasts only slightly above average graphics that give it a pretty, but sometimes distorted world. There is some clipping, but this usually is unnoticeable and doesn?t take away from the experience. A great feature brought into MX is the terrain destruction. Your MX or ATV can now churn up dirt and mud leaving noticeable ruts and holes in the environment. These can make races an interesting new experience, and add a newer grade of difficulty, as your vehicle can get stuck in these ruts and sent off course.
In conclusion, despite being a simply racing game, MX vs ATV: Reflex does make for an entertaining game, if only for a short while. It brought new graphic and gameplay innovations to the series that made it a refreshing new experience for even a veteran of the series. I recommend a rent for anyone who wants a run racing game to tide them over for a few days
I Can See This Ending Badly
This was reviewed on the Xbox 360 Version of the Game
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