Crusty Demons: Freestyle Moto-X

People say:

3

Crusty Demons is the most ridiculous game I've ever played. Even aside from the title (which is also the name of a series of dirt-biking videos), Demons is bats*** crazy. Your first clue comes in the form of an incredibly amateur (and hilarious) story sequence in which we discover that the game's characters (real-life moto-cross riders) have sold their souls to the devil so that they can do big, super-Xtreme (gnarly, dude) stunts without getting killed. So, logically, you compete in a series of silly tasks chosen by Satan himself in order to get your soul back. You immortality doesn't mean you can't get hurt, which is great because as soon as you get tired of the crappy TonyHawk-with-motorcycles main course, you can move on to dessert slamming your rider into various objects at high speeds. That's right You can fling your rider off the bike with the touch of a button and then (a la Burnout) guide them into a neck-snapping accident in slow motion for (black) comedic effect It ain't how I want to spend a Friday night but it sure beats Demons' repetitive tasks, frustrating races, and stupid-simple trick system.

6

Despite having what could be the worst name for a game ever Crusty Demons turned out pretty well. This game is essentially Tony Hawk with dirt bikes, which isn't a bad thing. Colorful characters fill skate-park versions of major cities, and they need you to collect lost blow-up dolls, mow down pimps, and complete tons of other objectives filled with too much potty humor. The bikes control well, with lots of tricks, wheelies, and bail moves to master. What I didn't like: the times when you need to turn into a cliche on wheels--think ice-cream truck or pimp car--to complete races and timed fetch-quest missions that feel out of place in the platformy, trick-friendly levels.

5

Just glancing at Demons was enough to give me nightmarish flashbacks of BMX XXX, but it's not quite the disaster that "classic" was. its rowdy-humor quotient isn't any lower, but the bail technique is practically enough to set it apart from other extreme-sports games. And, with its huge levels, you have great opportunities to waste a weekend mindlessly thrashing around. Then again, you also get all of the crude, superfrustrating missions that go with it (Crash into the bedrooms of negligent hookers? Do I have to?) The outside races aren't much better, either; the overly sensitive dirt bikes simply don't have the physics for the rigors of competitive driving, leading to spill after spill. Perhaps doing the devil's work doesn't pay.