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So you might ask, “Ryan, what do you know about the world of motocross and MX racing?”
And to which I would respond, “Not a whole lot.” All I really know what this sport
is that it is a dirty sport with mud flying all around, it looks very dangerous with people
doing jumps that get to ridiculous heights, and that Jeremy McGrath had some pretty cool
games for the original Playstation. But this is not Jeremy McGrath Supercross, this is
MX vs ATV Reflex, for the Playstation 3.
You start the game and are immediately taking to a create-a-ride, where you do just that,
create your rider. Only thing is a lot of the features are locked away and can’t be
accessed yet. All you can do is basic things like change your name and number. You are
then given a bike and sent out into the world. The big problem here is, say you just want
to mess around and do some fast races. Well you can’t. Most of the game is locked away.
Now I’m not saying you should have the entire game unlocked from the start. No, there is
a certain joy that comes from racing well and earning that new bike or that new helmet.
It is your way of displaying to yourself or other how far you have gotten into the game
or how well you have done. But there really should be more at the beginning than just
one bike, one track and saying the rest needs to be earned.
So you start with your one bike, and your one track and work on unlocking the rest through
the Motocareer. That’s one way to make the career mode the main focus. So you load it
and start off with your first couple of races, which are your basic races against others
and be the first one through all the gates. Here is where you learn where the game got
its subtext, Reflex.
The Reflex system is basically which direction you have your weight shifted towards, which
is apparently very important in racing motocross. You control this with the right analog stick.
You will see a large green arrow show up on screen when you are about to lose control
or are going to fall after a jump. You have to push the analog stick in that direction
or you can expect to become very acquainted with what it feels like when your face meets
the dirt. The Reflex system also works its way into turning, allowing you to make to
make tighter turns by shifting your weight. It all feels natural and will become second
nature.
The game also looks great. It has some nice textures for the ground and the riders look
realistic and animate well. The dirt really looks like dirt and the tricks are look great
and build the tension as you fly through the air. And the physics are fun, especially when
you crash and your body it thrown like a rag doll. I really like how your shirt will flutter
in the wind when you have a lot of speed.
There really is a lot to do in this game once you get into it. There are multiple events
from waypoint races, and freestyle, to simply just free riding and taking challenges as
they come. With some nice graphics and solid racing mechanics, which can be unforgiving
as one bad jump will cause you to crash and pretty much lose the race. There is game is
a solid time. Although a lot of it is locked from the beginning, I had no problem working
my way through it and unlocking all the game has to offer. So much so I thinking about
getting myself a bike and trying it out.... or maybe not.