Continued from September 2014 Kandy Magazine. Click here http://app.lk/kandymagazine to download the Kandy app and to read the full review.
…Two years before THQ collapsed in 2013 and was forced to sell its titles to the highest bidder, the publisher completely cancelled the MX vs. ATV franchise and axed roughly 200 developers that were working on the next game in the series. To fans, it looked as though the franchise was truly dead. But the games industry is a topsy-turvy place to be and now, three years after the project was axed, MX vs. ATV lives and THQ doesn’t.
This new entry in the series is intended to be a return to form. Built by many of the same devs who started the project years ago (Nordic re-hired core talent from the original studio), MX vs. ATV: Supercross feels closer to the original entries in the series than it does to more recent releases. Tracks are more realistic looking and built to fit within actual stadium limitations. The rhythm of courses reflects the work of talented track designers rather than the wishes of a kid who grew up making all-ramp courses in Excitebike. And while the graphics are decidedly last-gen, the physics still manage to stay close enough to reality to keep the experience immersive and fun.
Folks who played MX vs. ATV: Alive will note that the difficulty curve has been downgraded. It’s easier to maintain speed and it’s easier to keep momentum in Supercross. The team made these changes in response to feedback from Alive; players seem to have felt that Alive’s difficulty curve was a bit too steep given the nature of the subject matter. Folks searching for a pure simulation experience will be left wanting; the clutch is mostly a modified boost button and collisions with other riders are treated with immense forgiveness. Still, MX vs. ATV: Supercross manages to straddle the line between realistic and arcade by providing a mostly authentic experience backed with real-life riders (OEM bikes and ATVs are planned as downloadable content).
All in all, MX vs. ATV: Supercross plays like the game fans would want, even if its presentation is slightly less than perfect and its visuals are rooted in the previous generation of systems. It’s not going to blow anyone’s doors off or cause a video game revolution, but it’s good for what it is: the rebirth of a beloved franchise that has had flaws since the start. MX vs. ATV: Supercross isn’t the best MX vs. ATV game ever made, but it’s definitely the best MX vs. ATV game in recent memory.
Besides, one could argue that any MX vs. ATV game is a better result than the complete death of the franchise as a result of THQ’s poor financial management.