MX Vs. ATV Untamed

Rating Everyone Genre driving Publisher THQ External Links Official THQ Website

I am a sucker for hybrids. Nothing delights me more than when two become one (yes, that was a Spice Girls reference. I hope that does not deter your from reading the review ahead). The Prius, ligers, shampoo/conditioners, yup, these are just a few of my favorite things. So just imagine the giddiness that overcame me when I opened my mail and saw a copy of MX Vs ATV Untamed sitting there for me. Here is a game that combines motocross vehicles with all-terrain vehicles and pits them against each other in a battle for supremacy.

What MX Vs. ATV does right is that it does provide gamers with a fun gameplay experience. Driving whatever vehicle you choose throughout the tracks is something that, once you get the hang of, you will grow to enjoy. The strength is not in providing a realistic racing game. Instead, it makes for a good racing simulator. The physics system isn’t the most realistic in the world and occasionally you will find your vehicle flying unrealistic lengths off of a small dirt hill or ramp.

There are plenty of modes to enjoy the racing in. Tournament modes, quick individual races, and “free roam” modes help to give players as full of an experience as possible. Unleased isn’t without its drawbacks, and the main weakness lies in the redundancy. Playing the game for extended periods of time can cause a severe case of the crazies for players, unless they enjoy repetition. While I hailed the game for its lack of realism one paragraph ago, the game does stay true to life in the way that races are executed. Typical races are run twice around the tracks, just like in real life, giving the game an authentic feel in that sense. While it is nice to have some authenticity to the races, in the end, racing around a lengthy track twice and totaling nearly ten minutes worth of a race can be enough to drive certain players off the deep end, especially if you are overly anal-retentive, like myself, and want to finish first in every race.

Graphically, Untamed is one ugly game. This is a bit of a downer, considering that it’s on a next-generation console. The graphics look like something that could have been suitable for the Gamecube. While the Wii never prided itself on its graphical achievements, one can’t help but be disappointed in the low-quality eye-candy offered in the Wii version of Untamed. At least the audio is good. The sounds of engines revving can be heard alongside a deep, background soundtrack.

MX vs. ATV Untamed is not likely to fly off of any shelves or make any end of year “best games” lists. It provides a pleasant enough experience for gamers that are seeking a mindless racing experience that, at times, defies the laws of nature. While it’s not the best hybrid out there on the market, there are certainly far more offensive picks out there.