MTX: Mototrax : Web Wombat : Games

Before I could yawn 'Not another motocross game' and lazily order my $2000-a-day butler to remove such rubbish from sight and bring me another chardonnay and silver platter full of swordfish caviar, I saw the word 'Neversoft'.

Intriguing. Who would have guessed Neversoft would create anything but skateboarding games?

I'm not saying that it couldn't - I'm the first to admit that these guys are very talented coders - but then why would you bother to branch out when you've already made 50 quadrillion dollars off Tony Hawk's back anyway?

Excuse me, what's that? The basic human drive that compels each and every one of us to strive for more, to create something better than the last, to essentially compete against ourselves and others in order to prove that we're worthy of this existence? Right. Fair call. Let's move on then.

MTX Mototrax comes to us courtesy of Neversoft and its partners in crime Left Field Productions, who were responsible for Excitebike 64. At first, MTX appears to be a fairly generic motocross game that includes all the essentials: Massive airs, killer moves, cool bikes, dangerous crashes, tight racing and realistic physics.

On top of that, it's also a fairly fun game to play, but let's take things from the top. Firstly, there are six options from the main menu - career, custom rider, track builder, options, exhibition mode and ghost mode.

For info on these modes and the game in general, I suggest you buy the game and find out for yourself. Oh wait, that's not how this 'review' thing works, is it?

"I can see my house from here. Wait,
that's no house, it's a battle moon!"

Okay then, let's just say that the career mode is where most newbies will spend their time, followed by bouts of 8-player insanity via Xbox Live.

Within the career mode there are a few other decisions to make, such as which genre you want to try. There are three, the first of which is the Racing Series, where you race other riders on 125 and 250cc bikes (2 and 4-stroke) on specially built supercross and motocross tracks.

These super/motocross races are always very close, as the AI riders are pretty good - except at the whoops. Granted, when you do get a good lead form the start, that buffer zone is often held until the final lap, but in general the CPU opponents provide a good challenge.

Supercross tracks (the indoor ones) are quite tough and you really have to stick to a racing line to come out on top - one crash is all that's needed to scupper your championship chances.

The motocross tracks, in particular, appealed to this writer more so than the supercross, due in large part to their longer straights, bigger jumps and generally better track design. Not being squished into a stadium is also nice, and the tracks are often wider, making the racing a little bit less hazardous.

After the Racing Series are the Freestyle Events, which are based on things like the ESPN X Games and so forth, where you basically have to hit a series of massive jumps and complete objectives, such as score highly, or bust through the floating targets.

This helps add much needed variety to the racing, which can get a little dreary at times, particularly if you get stuck on one track time after time, feeling the frustration build, followed by thoughts of putting your fist through the TV - bless it's inanimate soul…

The outdoor motocross tracks are brilliant
and offer up far more consistent racing

Lastly, there are the Free Ride levels, which is where Neversoft's influence is almost as transparent as grandma's underwear.

Like the Tony Hawk games, the Free Ride levels task you with completing specific goals and objectives, like doing a continuous mono for 400 metres, or racing some stooge, or jumping a house.

These levels are cool for another reason, because as you explore and hit various jumps, a small indicator will pop up with a command, such as left, Y, Y.

Punch in this code and you'll perform a new trick, and that's one way to unlock said new move forevermore. It's a great idea, and one that I liked a lot.

Controlling the bikes with some degree of precision doesn't take too long, as the physics are really nice and Newtonian-based. Things like compressing suspension to get more air, slipping the clutch to get a speed boost out of corners and pulling off frightful moves like the back flip take more time to master, but it's far from an unpleasant task working up to such feats.

Sometimes the flow of the bikes feels a little iffy, particularly when you hammering around the supercross tracks trying to find some rhythm over the jumps, but this problem only affects a handful of indoor tracks which fall into the 'poorly designed' category.

In addition to minor game-flow issues, the bikes can be a little sensitive to input at times, but this isn't something that ruins the game - merely an aspect that could have been tightened up (or loosened) somewhat.

One of the best things about MTX: Mototrax is the variety of games on offer. There's racing (indoors and out), freestyle, freeriding, track building and online racing, and in each of these there are a number of objectives further increasing its shelf life.

There is also a fairly comprehensive online mode as well via Xbox (the PS2 version is online ready as well) that adds to replayability and lets you trash talk with like-minded motocross types, which is always fun.

There are even a few tricks in there that
allow you land while sitting on the handlebars

In the beginning, MTX didn't really excite me. It's got great graphics, a ripper framerate and realistic sound effects - but it just didn't pull me in. Call me greedy, but I wanted more.

Then when I started earning more cash, getting faster bikes, learning new tricks and buying cooler clothes, the game seemed to shine a little brighter.

Granted, it isn't the easiest of games and will provide a solid challenge for even the smartest of arses, but when all things have been considered, MTX turns out to be quite a nice little surprise.

Left Field, who developed the code, deserve a big pat on the back for creating such a rich gameworld, but at the same token we can't leave Neversoft without a plaudit.

You can clearly see the influence that Neversoft has had on this game, from the menus, to the audacious moves and punk sound track, to the pro riders and the equipment and even to the way the game progresses in the 'Free Ride' levels that task you with completing various goals at your own pace.

MTX: Mototrax won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it's about as close as we're going to get to a dirt bike game that will appeal to large and casual audience with different tastes. Featuring all the real bikes from Suzuki and others, plus pro riders like Carey Hart and motocross virtuoso Travis Pastrana, die-hard fans will also find lots to like.

MTX is a well thought out game with enough variety to last most gamers months, and it has a very polished, or high quality feel, if you like. MTX: Mototrax is another impressive 'extreme' showing from Activision and Neversoft, and I for one look forward to the sequel. Top stuff!

Game: MTX: Mototrax
System: Xbox
Players: 1-8
Online: Yes
Developer: Left Field Productions
Distributor: Activision

Rating: 80%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)

MTX: Mototrax is on the shelves now.

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