As some of you may know, the latest installment of the MX vs ATV series, Alive, was released last Tuesday. The folks over at Rainbow Studios and THQ really put their all into the marketing for this game. They had a large presence at the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series that ended only a few days before the release of the game, they snagged the most famous athlete in the sport - James Stewart - as the cover athlete, and they stressed that this was the motocross experience in a videogame. As any gamer knows, marketing can say what they want, that doesn't make it true. So, how did they do?
For MX vs ATV: Alive, Rainbow Studios made some major changes. It is fair to argue that it doesn't feel anything like the previous games in the series. Fans of the series will know that one of the major features is the Reflex stick (right analog stick), which was added in the Reflex installment. What this does is control how the rider distributes his/her weight. If you pull back on the stick, your rider will lean back. This adds a lot more depth than pressing left and going left. If you use the steering stick and the reflex stick together correctly, your maneuvers will be much more effective. For Alive, Rainbow decreased the sensitivity tremendously. It still is necessary for a player to be at the top level, but it almost feels completely unresponsive at times. Players will get used to going wide on most turns, if they don't just go off track. I would rather it be too sensitive and learn to adjust rather than it not be sensitive enough. The riders movements suffer from it as well and are worse than in Reflex. The rider is just way too stiff, especially in the upper body. Motocross fans will be disappointed in the Whips as well. The reflex stick works better in the air, as it should, but whips are much harder to do in a realistic way when compared to Reflex. Luckily, Scrubs work much better and are very satisfying when you get one just right and the speed carries you right past somebody for first place. It should be mentioned however, that this is all dependent on your bike level. It does get somewhat better as you progress.
For the first time, Alive incorporates a leveling system for both the rider as well as your MX bike or ATV. Your Rider level helps you unlock gear - one or two pieces each level - more tracks, and rider perks. The max level for your rider is 50, which does take a significant amount of play time to reach, especially without exp boosting techniques. The bike level is separate for each vehicle. This means that those completionists out there will have to play with every MX bike and ATV. The max Bike level is only 3. This is a great addition to the series. I am a huge RPG fan, so this scratches that itch. The only thing is that I only wish there was more to it. The Rider level unlocks gear every level, but the track unlocks are only at 10 and 25. These are when you unlock the 250cc Amateur series and 450cc Pro series, respectively. I love unlocking more tracks, but the fact there are only two checkpoints turns it into a series grind. Unfortunately for Rainbow Studios, I am not an Asian MMO player. In order to reach the next group of tracks, you have to play the same tracks over and over. With the exclusion of Freestyle - different from Free Ride - and Supercross, this means you will be repeating the motions quite a bit. Fortunately for those who hate grinding, but unfortunately for those who like progression, this race to level 25 is over within 10 hours of racing. Those who are better at the game will be finished in closer to 5 hours. There are still a small selection of perks and the rest of the gear to unlock, but the tracks are the most important part and that is over quick.
As you can imagine, the bike progression is over that much faster and only 3 ranks to achieve. That said, each progression is much more satisfying. Leveling up your bike improves braking, cornering, suspension/jumping, acceleration and speed, weight, etc. Each rank unlocks certain parts you can change on the bike. It would be nice if you could choose which parts you improve each level, instead of it being set before hand. Also, the parts that give you options don't actually change the effect, it is only aesthetic. The other parts only give you the choice of stock or improved versions. It is nice, however, to feel the difference after you level up. There really is a noticeable difference that makes the game much more enjoyable than when you are playing with a stock bike. This is a great addition to the series, but it would be nice if they fleshed it out and maybe combined it with the currency system of Reflex.
The track design is about the same quality of Reflex. It could be much better, but it is acceptable for the most part and there are certainly some gems that I keep going back to. The greatest disappointment is the exclusion of Supercross so that it could be offered later as DLC. Time will only tell how they do with a completely different type of track. They know what they are doing for the most part, but they brought the game down to a much more realistic scale so it is not the same thing they have done in the past. Hopefully they will offer at least a track or two for free soon to make up for its absence at launch.
The final aspect of the game that must be touched on is the arcade-y-ness. It is quite confusing. Rainbow studios has taken some steps to make certain elements much more realistic, but they cancel all of that out by other things that seem to be taken straight out of the arcade. They made it so that the rider is able to take more contact than in Reflex - realistic- but they made it so that nobody will fall even when rider lands on top of another - arcade. Riders will literally be sitting on top of another for a second or two if they land in the right spot. Also, they made it so that if you come into contact with a rider and then pass them, you will look back and taunt them, which would never happen in a real race because the rider would fall. The graphics are great, but the motion blur they add around the edge of the screen reminds me of Pure, another arcade quad racer. There are also perks that make it so you can take even more contact with other riders before you fall, you have boosted starts to every race, bonus exp from each race, etc. which are completely unnecessary. They fit in an arcade racer, but have no place in a realistic racer.
The final verdict: MX vs ATV: Alive seems to be bipolar. It doesn't know whether it is realistic or arcade. Rainbow Studios made some great additions, like the progression system, but they could be fleshed out better. Another example is the physics. They are much improved, but still could use just that little bit of additional tweaking to make it just right. Also, I like the return of preloading, but it isn't perfect either. Unfortunately, many of the parts that worked in Reflex were altered in a detrimental way. I can't say that Reflex is better, but I can't say Alive is better. They are both a lot of fun and really annoying for pretty much the opposite reasons. The fact that online racers will be very lonely in Reflex does give Alive the edge. However, the fact that a two year old installment certainly stands a chance in a fight against a brand new game goes to show that the new game isn't necessarily bad but it does not really improve over the last game. To use a motocross reference, Rainbow Studios were shooting to make a quad. They cased it, but they still rode away. Basically, they were going for something great and came short on a few or even many of the features. In the end, the game is enjoyable to pass some time, but it just not the true motocross experience that they made it out to be. Real fans of the MX vs ATV series will most likely be satisfied with Alive, but there will be those few who aren't happy at all. If you are new to the series, it may be beneficial to try to find a copy on Gamefly, Redbox machines with games, or see if a friend already has it and will let you try or borrow it.
~ Donny @ NBD
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