MX vs ATV Unleashed for Xbox Reviews by Gamers

Not since those lanky Rastafarian Predators fought HR Giger's horrific Aliens have we been made privy to such a monumental match up. Tonight's bout: MX vs. ATV. Both corners are fighting for the unified heavyweight championship of the world. Ironically enough, both contenders are probably going to win it.

Before we get into exactly why avid fans of offroad racing should skip merrily down to the local videogame store madly waving a wad of twenties at the nearest sales clerk, let's try and understand where MX vs. ATV is coming from.

It all started with Rainbow studios in 1998. That's when the Microsoft published and Rainbow developed Motocross Madness hit stores. After a successful Madness sequel, the brand was abandoned by Rainbow, which then partnered with Sony to apply its offroad expertise to 2001's super hit, ATV Offroad Fury. Rainbow then went on to create an ATV sequel for Sony, after which it drifted away from the big S and headed toward the Calabasas, California based THQ.

In 2004 Rainbow adopted Pacific Coast Power & Light's good but young MX series and came out strong with the first MX Unleashed -- a new THQ brand for a familiar type of gameplay. Now we're left with MX vs. ATV Unleashed, a sequel that combines all of Rainbow's offroad experience to make a new frontrunner in the genre.

Even though MX vs. ATV is a sequel to just one game, it can be easily seen as a spiritual successor to no less than seven games. It's because of this that hardcore players might be a bit putt off by MX vs. ATV's sometimes startling similarities to other offroad titles, especially those Fury games Rainbow previously worked on. But, when taken as a standalone product -- and even given however unoriginal it might be -- MX vs. ATV Unleashed is certainly at the top of its genre.

In terms of generic features, MX vs. ATV boasts 480 progressive scan, surround sound and a variety of audio presets on both platforms. The options are deep enough to allow users to toggle between custom soundtracks, rock-n-roll, subdued night time audio and standardized game mixes. Of course, the game also allows for a lot of manual adjustments, if you don't approve of any of the ones provided.

The in-game audio library is also fairly robust, if a bit limited. MX and ATV fans are apparently Nickelback and Papa Roach devotees. I'm no music connoisseur so I adhere to a very simple music rule: don't listen to artists that make me want to set myself on fire. But then to each his own, right? Since I'm not prepared to totally alienate the few million track and trail marauders out there who love their Powerman 5000, I'll just let the 20+ songs slide as considerate inclusions that are somewhat limited in scope. At least Rainbow thought ahead and implemented the option to enable or disable specific songs, though. This considerate nod is deserving of the Guitar Center sponsorship most users won't even notice and it keeps me sane.

It should be known that the bulk of the game -- gods be good -- does not include menu navigation and Nickelback. MX vs. ATV Unleashed can, in fact, be easily broken down into quick races, a career mode, freestyle rounds, offline multiplayer and online multiplayer. Players will want to goof around with freestyling (never a focus of the series), jump headlong into career, try offline multiplayer, and probably invest serious hours into the online component.

The very nature of timely Internet reviews prohibits us from properly punishing the online modes of every single game that comes our way, but we had a chance to play a lot of interoffice MX vs. ATV multiplayer and found the action to be very solid. What manages to work better than expected is the combination of vehicle types on any given track. Even though it may seem unfair to race a Monster Truck against an ATV, we found ourselves helplessly addicted to seeing who could do what behind which wheel. The horizontal and vertical split screen multiplayer isn't nearly as engaging, but offers a bit more variety if you're done with the challenge of singleplayer, which you might get bored with fairly quickly if you're a superstar stud. As a long time player of various ATV and MX titles and self-professed ultra-man, I highly recommend playing through MX vs. ATV Unleashed on difficult. Casual gamers will find the meticulously laid out career mode's "medium" difficulty curve to be nice and smooth, but an avid fan of titles of the sort won't have any problem whatsoever. Even given prelims and position heats, I never finished less than 1st until about twenty races in, and even then that was on account of a random disruptive phone call. So put it on hard, baby.

It's not that there's any real problem with the game. In fact, there are actually no real problems: the AI lines are solid, the levels are nicely designed and the aggressiveness has definitely been tweaked. The apparent lack of challenge on the medium (read: easy) setting is due in large part to familiarity. Since Unleashed is indeed the spiritual successor to about seven games, anyone who's at all comfortable with the basic controls will dominate. We have a focus on preloading jumps, tight turns and proper clutching. If you know how to do that, you're set. And, given that you might have played this seven times already, you should be set. Even though it sounds a little odd, I've found that racing from the first-person actually makes the game substantially more challenging and enjoyable. So give that a try if you breeze through too many courses.

Don't be mistaken, though. Even for pros there's definitely a thrill associated with MX vs. ATV Unleashed that makes it simply an outstanding product. The hard setting lets us move through a remarkably deep career mode replete with an excess of vehicles. Now, while it may be easy to anticipate preloads and land right and proper, the races are generally pretty tight and go either way after a single late race misstep. Career mode also does a great job of funneling players through a variety of game types, so there's always something new to see. Even if the spontaneous Monster Truck challenge is not your thing, and the Supermoto races are too slippery for your taste, and the Sand Cart bonuses are too Rallisport, you'll find something interesting. I promise.

One of the things I would have liked a bit more emphasis put on was avatar creation and handling. It would be nice to eventually associate faces and personalities to our riders -- taking hints from Road Rash to Pro Race Driver and everything in-between. The selection of 24 pro riders is great, but it never feels like the player is a part of that inner circle. And, since the racing formula has obviously been pinned down by now, I have to think it's time to develop some of those other areas of the game.

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