One More Lap
MX vs. ATV: Untamed signals the end of Rainbow Studios' all-too-familiar formula. Or at least we hope.
Published: January 18, 2008
Speaking of, the 8-player online modes are arguably where the game does best (and in fact, it's been one of Rainbow's hallmarks since the Offroad Fury days, mainly because of the non-racing modes). You've got your usual races, and even a Tony Hawk Graffiti Mode biter, but the highlight is without question the Snake game, which turns vehicles into Tron-style trail-dropping obstacles (again, pulling heavily from the recent Tony Hawk games). Because verticality plays so much of a part in the MX games, the trails that are left by players can actually be skirted past, driven under and even jumped, creating a far better feeling of barriers in three dimensions. It really does make for some great online matches -- if you can find people to play against.
It's a little weird, however, that with all the familiarity with the gameplay, the leap to a next-gen Sony system hasn't really done the game any favors. The physics in the game, which admittedly were damn near perfect already, don't feel any better now (again, not a huge complaint, and I suppose that's a testament to Rainbow's programming prowess), and the visuals are strikingly underwhelming. The framerate dives heading into a pack of other racers (it's not a huge dip, but the game runs at a liquid smooth pace when riding solo), the detail in the environments makes it all feel like an up-ressed PS2 game and the texures range from passable to downright bad -- particularly because the mip-mapping (if that's even used these days) is clearly visible just a few feet in front of the bike, creating an obvious line where the textures are filled in with more detail. It just doesn't look like a next-gen game, and it's a shame.
Sound-wise, things are a little better. With the variety of vehicles, you'd expect there to be plenty of difference between, say, a monster truck and a little putter of a bike and indeed there are, though part of me wished for a little more in the way of mud sloshes and the thunder of a truck tearing through a puddle only to hear the water hammer the undercarriage. The soundtrack is rather typical punk-pop fare for the most part, but seeing as I actually like that stuff for the most part, I really didn't mind it in the least. A custom soundtrack option, however, would have appeased those looking for something beyond Reliant K and their ilk.
It's a sad thing to have to default to the "if you liked the previous games, you'll no doubt like this one" defense of something from Rainbow Studios. The core parts of their games are here; rhythm racing, killer physics, and a ton of stuff to do, but in all honesty, you've probably already done this stuff before -- especially if "you liked the previous games." I'm not saying the formula has completely run out of steam -- yet -- but there needs to be a drastic change to things going into the next game, because as it stands now, there are not only better off-road racing games on the PlayStation 3, but it's far easier to recommend one of the previous MX vs. ATV games over this one.