MX vs. ATV Alive

MX vs. ATV Alive is a blast to play. The controls are perfect, the gameplay is engaging thanks to the collision system, and the vehicles, riders, and tracks all look great – not to mention one of the best online racing experiences this year. It's a shame that these elements are packaged into such a bare-bones game. For $40, I can definitely recommend it to fans of the series. In the future, however, here's to hoping that THQ will take these same gameplay mechanics and build around them a full-fledged racing career experience.

MX vs. ATV Alive is a pretty good experience. Well many people out there may slam THQ for trying to offer a somewhat stripped down experience for a cheaper price in an effort to sell more DLC, I have to applaud them as they have indeed tried to make this a very customizable experience.

True to the game's title, MX vs. ATV Alive is a game competing against itself. On one hand, you've got an amazing experience that any racing fan should check out -- it's truly the realization of a series that has been refined to near-perfection over the last half-dozen years. On the other hand, the game's pricing strategy has created a bit of an uneven value in which the available content is too lean for beginners to keep racing, especially if they're unable to go online. Fortunately, the game's positives are currently outpacing the negatives, and THQ's ability to create constant, quality DLC at a fair price can only widen the gap even further.

This review might feel like a complaint towards THQ. It is but not entirely. Truth is: MX vs ATV Alive isn't only fun but also addictive and well-worth the $40 price of entrance. However, those who have been enjoying the heck out of Reflex will feel like someone punch them in the gut.

MX Vs. ATV Alive doesn't raise the bar when it comes to racing action, as its over comprehensive controls and familiar presentation won't wow everyone. But for fans of motocross and previous examples of Rainbow Studios' work, it's definitely worth taking a ride with.

In conclusion, this game is a double edge sword. If you are buying MVA at forty dollars and not really expecting much out of it, then fine. I've so far gotten myself to level 17 and I need to get to level 25 to unlock everything. Do I have a desire to keep going? Sadly, no.

On the positive side, the game features a strong racing engine, good graphics, and competent AI racers, and the multiplayer races are exciting. On the negative, the presentation is pretty basic, the event selection is limited, severely so for a while into the game, and the DLC available at the time of this writing is a bit on the sparse side. With more content it would be a stellar game, but for now it's more for fans of the sport than anyone else.