Back in 2011 I was a massive fan of MX vs. ATV Alive, putting countless hours into the game and loving every second I spent with it. Publisher THQ then went into liquidation and the MX vs. ATV franchise was acquired by the company Nordic games. Enter MX vs. ATV Supercross Encore.
Bear with me now… this, my first foray back into the series since 2011, is a remake of a 2014 game that was released in 2015 for PS4 but has only just come out for Xbox One.
MX vs. ATV Supercross Encore was not the game I had hoped for, and I’m sorry to start with this sombre tone, but this game is in fact exactly what I didn’t want…a buggy inconsistent mess that isn’t just boring but ugly as well. Now that that’s out of the way let’s talk about my experience with the game.
First up is the graphics; this game isn’t as terrible as I initially made out – sometimes throwing out visuals that look fairly realistic… that’s only sometimes though. Most of the time you’re looking at jagged, washed out textures, which for some reason have a draw distance meaning sometimes elements just pop into sight, and on top of that the frame rate is all over the place, which makes no sense as the game barely pushes the limits of graphic fidelity. Also one time I saw a riders’ tracks magically vanish in front of me and then reappear when he went round a corner… exceptional!
On the side of handling, the game also falls flat, utilising the rider reflex mechanic from previous game (one analog stick for bike and one for rider). Before this worked perfectly but now seems to be constantly stuck as either unresponsive or way too sensitive, meaning you either end up not turning at the correct degree or just randomly pulling a full 180, confused at what just happened! This is also an issue in take off and landings, meaning pulling off a great scrub and subsequent landing almost impossible to get right. As you stabilise in the air everything feels OK, but once the wheels hit the ground it’ll decide that you came in wrong and take away any momentum you feel you deserved.
Not only are the controls, physics and graphics subpar, the game play itself is dull and repetitive – giving you same after same over and over, with not much to break up the monotony and give you something fresh and exciting to feast your eye on. In the words of Dr Zoidberg “your game is bad and you should feel bad!”
Hopefully in the future the MX vs. ATV franchise will go back to the adrenaline filled excite-fest that it used to be, but unfortunately as of right now the franchise looks stuck in the mud.
Author: Hal, Plymouth store
