Exhilaration is a sensation gamers will never stop craving. We don’t just want to be a part of the game – we want to feel whatever is on the screen. This is especially true of sports games. When Rainbow Studios launched the ATV Offroad Fury series for PlayStation 2, a new plateau in gameplay was reached.

MX Vs. ATV Untamed raises the bar another level. It’s not in the area of innovation or groundbreaking gameplay. The graphics, though a step up from the last ATV racer, are not on par with other PS3 and Xbox 360 titles. But if you’re in search of the sensation – the feeling that forms inside while embarking on a roller coaster ride – MX Vs. ATV will be the best trip you’ve taken with an extreme sports racer.

Happily Untamed

Not willing to leave behind the accomplishments of its previous series, MX Vs. ATV has several instantly recognizable traits. This means that the hold-a-button, hope-not-to-crash trick system is back, along with similar physics for launching off hills and ramps. The one thing in this area that has changed is the ability to land safely. Players are now able to jump several feet higher than in previous ATV games. As a result, you’ll have a much harder time landing on rocky surfaces.

MX Vs. ATV brings more than motocross bikes and ATVs into the fold. You’ll also drive trucks, buggies, and variations of the two. These vehicles are dispersed across Event Series and X-Cross Tournament, two modes of nearly identical content. They differ in the way that content is delivered.

On its surface, MX Vs. ATV doesn’t appear to be massively different from its predecessors. The courses/environments are definitely bigger, and there are more on-screen racers used in each competition. But the graphics are only kind of impressive, and the controls are too similar (initially) to make the game stand out. In the first hour, MX Vs. ATV seems like a decent, slightly-above-average racing game with a moderate amount of thrills.

In the following hours, its true magnificence is revealed. To get the ball rolling sooner, don’t play the game from the default third-person view. Hit select to zoom closer to your character. Immediately, the game feels different: faster, more lifelike, and more intense. Switch to the first-person (in-the-car/biker’s helmet) view and the intensity quadruples. You really won’t believe the difference. Every bump, every jump, and every jaw-dropping fall, flip, and death-defying crash is more realistic – and more deeply felt – from this perspective.

The same can almost be said for other great PS3 racers with one difference: controllability. Most racers lose functionality when played from the first-person view. MX Vs. ATV is more manageable. When playing from that view, I’m on the edge of my seat, not on the edge of losing control. But even if other racers could match this game’s reliability, they still wouldn’t have the heart-stopping thrills of leaping 50 feet into the air and feeling every second of the drop that follows. Those are exclusive to MX Vs. ATV.

Also exclusive are the mechanics. The bikes and ATVs’ quick handling, fast acceleration and remarkable steering would have done well in an arcade 10 years ago. But their realism – the limitations that come into play when performing stunts or colliding with an opponent – is so much deeper than anything a coin-op machine could deliver.

Kudos to Rainbow Studios for adding buggies and monster trucks. Not only are they a great addition to the series, but they also give players a new way to race. While cruising around in a buggy, every bump is met with a spring-loaded reaction. Buggies are prone to tipping over, posing a new challenge when going up a hill. Monster trucks, on the other hand, are uniquely empowering, especially when played from the first-person view. They aren’t just larger versions of the other trucks – they actually move and feel different.

 
You won't play much from this angle.

Save Me. Please.

These features culminate for one really exciting racer. But this is not a flawless game. From the time you begin till the very last race, you’ll run into a farrago of ailments that drag the game down a few notches.

The save feature is ridiculous. Let me tell you right now that I don’t like to read manuals and I don’t want text messages in anything but RPGs. When I began the Event Series, I ignored the warning message. I assumed it was a welcome screen, a note about how to play, or some other trivial fact. That wasn’t the case. The message was there to inform players that they need to create and save a profile (from a special profile option on the menu) before starting a game. Without it, none of your progress will be saved. Not one second of it. You can’t change this after the fact. Having been completely unaware of this, my first two hours of progress were lost when I turned game off.

One might say that this is an oversight on the player’s behalf – that it’s all my fault and I can’t complain. I suppose it would be that simple if other games were this absurd about saving. But in 99% of the games I play each year, one of two things happen: (1) the game saves automatically or allows me to save whenever I choose, or (2) the game asks if I’d like to create a save file the moment I hit Start. That’s the sensible way to do it.

Moving onto more important issues, the increased realism has somewhat of a negative effect on the freestyle competitions. I like to jump as high as possible, perform a couple stunts, and land. But unless you’re landing into a hill going down, those super-high jumps will usually end in a crash. There’s no way around it. Realistically, bikes are not made to withstand that kind of pressure. They give in, bounce, flip over, or just fall on their side. This was a necessary evil, but I’ll avoid the freestyle events until the moment comes when it clicks and I can land these jumps every time (assuming that will happen someday).

MX Vs. ATV’s weak engine is a bit of a surprise. The game opens with the most beautiful CG movie I’ve ever seen in a racer, which only makes the in-game graphics look even worse. Were the grass and tree details made from 2D Jpegs in Photoshop? It’s hard to tell. And the background textures can’t compare to MotorStorm. Clipping occurs in some areas, and if that weren’t enough, this game uses pop-up to fill in the empty portions of environments that should have been wholly visible from anywhere on the track.

Lastly, the excessive length of each competition – while justified and mostly satisfying – can be a bit much at times. I’m not saying the game should be shorter. Instead, it might have been wise to break a few of the larger courses into two chunks, giving players a greater number of tracks while adding a little variety (you’d then have courses that are small and large, instead of just the latter).

 
You won't want to spend much time viewing this angle either...
unless you're hoping to fall off like these guys are about to.

Five paragraphs – that’s a lot of issues. But the best thing about them is that they’re all forgivable things we can live with. MX Vs. ATV isn’t everything it could have been. But it is, in many ways, everything a racer should be: pure exhilarating fun. Strap in, hang on, and hope you don’t get motion sickness.

Gameplay: 8.3
The airborne thrills and relentless competitions are unmatched. There are annoying bits of imperfections found in each mode, but that doesn’t push the game away from its must-play status. ATV Offroad Fury fans are especially encouraged to dive in.

Graphics: 6.0
The first-person view is awesome! This game is worth playing for the aerial thrills alone. But other than that, the graphics are a huge disappointment.

Sound: 7.5
MX Vs. ATV has a good, punk rock-infused soundtrack that’ll make you want to crank your speakers…for an hour or two. After that, you will have had enough of these songs and wish there was more variety (or just more songs, period). As expected, the engine-revved sound effects are exceedingly repetitive.

Difficulty: Medium
Refreshing. MX Vs. ATV’s unexpectedly high difficulty is not the norm for our mainstream-obsessed industry. To compensate, the default setting is usually the easiest.

Concept: 7.0
Not a new or groundbreaking racer. MX Vs. ATV does what its predecessors have been doing for years, only better.

Multiplayer: 7.9
Split-screen, LAN and online play give everyone a multiplayer option.

Overall: 8.0
MX Vs. ATV Untamed may not shine like a next-gen star, but it sure plays like one.