MX vs ATV Untamed review

Dec 17, 2007

You’ll probably often hear MX compared to the PS3 launch game Motorstorm, with both offering a similarly comprehensive vehicle set and both flinging mud about the place like a pig in the poo pond. But where Motorstorm is among the most beautiful racers ever made, MX is as plain as a bowling shoe and - because of that, we fear - likely to get a bit of a thrashing sales-wise on store shelves.

There’s no reason why a game with the pedigree of MX shouldn’t be the 360’s answer to Motorstorm’s dominance of the PS3. Instead, it looks barely dissimilar to the last MX vs ATV on the original Xbox, and while it’s true the game is throwing around impressive physics and incidental effects, a straight screenshot makes it look like a hatchet-faced version of the PS3’s premier racer.

The pre-rendered intro looks fabulous and though the video is far in excess of what Motorstorm achieves, it’s closer to the level of graphical excellence Rainbow should have been shooting for. MX vs ATV Unleashed was one of those rare Xbox titles to run in 720p, and comparing the two at the same resolution shows how small the step between the generations has been.

But discounting the visuals, this is a bigger, and in some ways, better game than Motorstorm, which even at its best lacks the depth, width and length of MX. Untamed is a game honed by almost 10 years of playtesting and refinement; a game hammered into shape through revision after revision of Rainbow’s motocross and ATV titles.