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Preview: MX vs. ATV: Supercross

MX vs ATV is a series prised from the lifeless corpse of THQ by Nordic Games. Beginning life in 2005, five games were released before THQ succumbed to bankruptcy; Nordic then acquired the publishing rights and shortly thereafter announced the the sixth game in the series.

MX vs. ATV: Supercross is in development at Rainbow Studios — previously THQ Digital Phoenix — the original team responsible for the series. The original track designer for Motocross Madness has even been recruited back into the team to help achieve a level of authenticity and track design that’s been missing from prior iterations.

To further ensure that the quality of the game was high and that playing felt as much like the real sport as possible, the team at Rainbow had professional riders play all five previous games. In doing so, Rainbow was able to quiz them on what they felt worked and what didn’t. Rainbow began to develop a clear picture how the franchise had evolved and what the next steps were.

The most important aspect of MX vs. ATV: Supercross for the team at Rainbow was to have the Career mode mimic that of real life Supercross. Players will race across 17 Supercross tracks in five different series including, 250 East, 250 West, 450 MX, 450 ATV and 450 MX vs. ATV. All of the tracks are set in real world cities across the United States with players criss-crossing between divisions and tracks, just as they would in real life.

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To add to the realism even further, MX vs. ATV: Supercross features 80 participating companies from the Supercross market. This means that all of the aftermarket parts and customisation options are modeled on real world items. From bike parts to boots, helmets and even the artwork on jerseys. Everything is based on a real life counterpart with the latter even using the actual art files from for the in-game versions. Rainbow has also included 60 pros to choose from as your playable character.

MX vs. ATV: Supercross gives players a choice when it comes to control. Playable in either the single stick or dual stick configurations, it provides for multiple play styles. When played with dual sticks the left stick controls the rider’s position while the right stick controls the rider. It’s disorienting at first, but after a few laps it becomes second nature and provides a much more precise level of control. It’s almost like controlling a tank and it’s turrent as you need to work both in concert to achieve any kind of success. When you do though, you’ll never go back to single stick controls.

The racing line has never been as important as it is in MX vs. ATV: Supercross. If you fail to find a good line, you’ll fail to win. It’s a simple as that. With the tracks full of jumps and bumps, riding them exactly becomes an art form. Pressing L1 pops your vehicle’s clutch, temporarily increases the revs and gives you a slight speed boost when hitting a jump. Time this right and you can clear multiple jumps and not lose speed. Time it wrong and you’ll end up at the back of the pack. It’s a classic risk vs reward scenario, but the pay off is totally worth it.

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Coming to PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 means that it’s not the prettiest of games. Textures aren’t as crisp as we’ve now come to expect — a year into current-gen — and characters and bike models are a little under detailed. But, it’s by no means ugly and real time track deformation is a very cool addition that is both aesthetic and practical. It changes the track as you play meaning that your ever important racing line must be constantly updated to stay ahead of the pack.

It’s not going to set the gaming world on fire, but a small and rabid fan base will lap it up and love every second of it. MX vs. ATV: Supercross has been lovingly crafted by a dedicated team who simply want to delight their fans. I’m sure they will succeed.

MX vs. ATV: Supercross will be available from 16 October on Windows PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.


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DeltaPhoenix08