A Revolution in Control, sans Motion Capture! "MX vs ATV: Reflex" Demo* Preview

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I have been looking forward to MX vs ATV Reflex since before E3, so I was very excited when I discovered that the demo had gone LIVE (Available on XBL and PSN).  I had only played the previous title in the series (Untamed) from time to time when visiting my cousins, so I also downloaded the Untamed demo for comparison purposes.

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Graphics wise, Reflex trumps Untamed on realism, even before you start talking about the new terrain deformation feature. In fact, I have to wonder if Ranibow Studios wasn’t too ambitious, given the capabilities of the Xbox 360 platform.

During my time spent with the demo (over 3 hours), I noticed some geometry or texture jitter, most likely from mip-mapping transitions.  Mip Mapping is a graphics technique that uses smaller resolution textures the further away an object is from the game camera, in order to overcome memory size and bandwidth limitations.

I only really noticed this in the pre-race freestyle playground,  It wasn’t a problem in race, which is a good thing.   Graphics are only a small part of the equation however.    MX vs. ATV Reflex sports some much more important innovations that are welcome improvements over the previous title.

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The most obvious change is the new Rider Reflex control system, which uses a dual stick control scheme to add more control than ever before. The steering is handled by the left stick, while the right stick (previously used only for the camera) now controls rider body position.

This opens up a new dimension of control, including doing doughnuts!  And everybody loves doughnuts, I know I do!  The right stick is also used for the new stunt system. Stunts are now performed by holding down the “Stunt” button and flicking the right stick in combos of three directions.   It’s sort of like unleashing Chun Li’s Spinning Bird Kick, minus the sexy gams.

Spinningu Badokyaku!

Not everything is perfect in stunt land however. In comparing Reflex with Untamed, I felt that pulling off two stunts (successfully) in one jump was much harder to do in Reflex. This does bring up my one other concern about Reflex, which is the lack of a “Cancel Stunt” button for getting back on the bike if you know you won’t finish your trick.

But enough of this talk of carefree, right stick shenanigans!  This next feature is dedicated to all the squares out there…

As amazing as the Rider Reflex system is, I feel that the new Wreck Avoidance feature adds the most to the playability of the franchise. Wreck Avoidance uses a quick time event system for bad landings, throwing up a large, unobtrusive arrow onto one of the four sides of the screen.

Flick the Right-Stick in the indicated direction in time, and you will save yourself from a wreck. This does not give you carte blanche for stunts however. If you are still climbing around your bike like a monkey when you touch down, nothing is going to save you!

Whip it good...

I really enjoyed the demo, and I am excited to see the final results when MX vs ATV: Reflex launches on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PSP, and DS on Dec. 1st, 2009 (USA).   Sorry, European gamers, but you will have to wait until February 2010, unless the game is made to be region free.

*Preview is based on Xbox 360 version

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