MX vs. ATV Alive

For the most part, I love this series, but MX vs. ATV Alive was a step in the wrong direction and a game that many people have more negative memories of than positive ones. This is the fourth game in the series and it was actually the last time that THQ was in charge as they went under shortly after. This game in many ways represents the greed of video game companies!

Going For The Top

As you would expect in an MX vs ATV game, the career mode is where you will be spending most of your time. Some of the ideas here are solid, it has RPG-style elements where you get new skills as you level up and being able to use these in races such as recovering faster from a crash for example. You can have two of these equipped at a time and they can be very useful.

Wait, I Have To Get To Level 10!

You will notice the first issue with MX vs. ATV Alive after about five minutes. There are only two tracks unlocked at the start of the game. You unlock more as you level up. Now, in theory, that is ok, I do not have a problem with it, but you do not unlock new tracks until you are level 10! This forces you to replay those first two tracks over and over again! Not to mention, after this the next tracks do not unlock until you are level 25!

While this feature is long gone. THQ made the very greedy decision to allow players to unlock everything at the start of the game as long as they were willing to give them an extra ten bucks, I am sorry, but I find this disgusting. It put a sour taste in my mouth when this was released and I was not the only one.

Let It, Snow

I will say that for the most part, the presentation of MX vs. ATV Alive is pretty good. The tracks look nice and muddy and the way the riders move is great. I especially liked the tracks that had snow on them as I feel these looked great. There is a bit of an issue with pop-in every now and again, but as you are so focused on the racing you will probably not notice it all that much. There is a licensed soundtrack here that has some decent tracks on it. THQ was having major money troubles at this time so that might explain why the soundtrack is not as stacked as it had been in past games.

Reading The Mud

The actual racing on offer here is solid. One of the things that I like about the MX vs ATV series is how at its core this is a sim, but it is not “too sim” if that makes sense? You have to get to grips with your bike or ATV as you learn how to take corners, know how to accelerate properly and how to read the tracks. It sounds like it would be hard and it can be, but it is also a great deal of fun.

Pros:

• The game looks great, especially levels with snow
• Plenty of racers and bikes/ATVs to ride on
• I thought being able to use special abilities was cool
• Some of the music is good

Cons:

• This game is a massive cash grab
• The progression is far too slow