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Review

MX vs ATV Untamed

6.0

Format Xbox 360

Developer Rainbow Studios

Publisher THQ

Genre Racing / Driving

8-Apr-2008 No depth. No realism. But it's actually quite fun...

1 Comments

The biggest problem with this game is the awful garage-rock soundtrack. It's hard to concentrate on extreme sportmanship when you're listening to drivel like "Gonna fight against the mass appeal. We're gonna kill the seven record deal. Make records that have more than one good song. The dinosaurs will slowly die." And that's before considering that NOFX's song Dinosaurs Will Die rants against corporations while playing over a game filled with officially-licensed kit. Aside from this, MX vs. ATV: Untamed is surprisingly enjoyable.

An unashamed arcade racer, it doesn't have much in the way of depth or realism. But what does that matter when the courses are challenging, the gameplay instantly accessible, and the tricking system just unpredictable enough to make you laugh? Ultimately, MX vs. ATV: Untamed is a quick and simple blast that makes for a fun Xbox Live experience too.

Let's get off-road
It's broken up into various different disciplines such as motocross, freestyle and opencross. Checkpoint racing is by far the most addictive here, because it removes all the boundaries and gives you free-reign of the fairly expansive environments. Plus, of course, it gives you the option to completely ignore the actual race and just mess around off-road with your friends online.

Rainbow Studios has probably spread itself a little bit thin by including so many different vehicle types, meaning that only the titular vehicles have any kind of handling finesse whatsoever. The monster trucks, dune buggies and other unlockable vehicles don't come with a tricking system and the handling isn't quite as convincing either. But get behind the wheel of an ATV or dirtbike and you're guaranteed to enjoy pulling off supermans and heelclickers... before wrapping yourself around the nearest tree. The slightly iffy driver ragdolls just adds to the entertainment.

If only MX vs. ATV: Untamed looked a bit sharper it would have scored higher. Sadly, the final production reeks of a PS2-level port and that doesn't really cut it when the likes of Burnout Paradise have raised the bar. But blurred textures and quite a lot of clipping don't stop this being a bit of guilty fun - just make sure you turn off that goddamn awful music.

Ben Talbot