MX vs. ATV Reflex Review

MX vs. ATV: Reflex is the next instalment of the off road racing franchise. Will it get to the flag first or come dead last?


What's Hot:
Courses are great
Terrain deformation works well

What's Not:
Learning difficulty curve with the controls
Nobody online to play with
Music and Sound effects are very bad
Graphics are outdated


MX vs. ATV: Reflex is the next instalment of the off road racing franchise and if you've played the past couple releases, it will seem like more of the same, that's not to say that there isn't any new features in MX vs. ATV: Reflex. For one thing, there is terrain deformation. What ever you are driving over whether it is dirt, sand or snow, the result is that each successive lap around a track leaves the course more and more worn so you'll have a harder time keeping your lines clean as the race goes on. On some courses, this has a bigger impact, but it's not all ways game-changing. It's great because it forces you to pay attention to the course and drive more defensively than you might have before.

The way tricks are handled has also changed in Reflex. In other games, you would press a button or two and push the left analog stick in one of eight directions to trigger a trick. Now, all of your moves have been transferred to the right analog stick. You press and hold the trick button and then tap or rotate three directions. The change from face buttons to the right analog stick was intended for a different trick system initially, but that doesn't matter at this point. What matters is that while it now takes more input to perform a trick and requires more practice to get right, it might put some people off with its steep learning curve, it is also difficult to judge if you are going to hit or miss your mark.

The other major addition to MX vs. ATV Reflex is in its Reflex controls. Rather than controlling your bike and rider as one unit with the left analog stick, the left stick now controls your vehicle while the right controls your rider. This allows you to lean into turns and gives you a little more control over how you're handling the track. You can also use it to stop you from making a mess of a landing as well. The rider control adds a layer of complexity to steering that makes you more involved in cutting corners well, but you may find that it is too complex for you, after a while, it should became second nature

One thing that Reflex does well is the great course design to race on, every track in the game is very well designed as most of the tracks have a good balance of speed, wide turns and tight ones. They're difficult in just the right ways where blazing through them will hurt you, but practicing and respecting them will give you a big advantage. Fantastic stuff here once again.

The game features a heavy metal soundtrack, but the game cycles around 10 songs that can often repeat and not change to another song. The vehicles all have different sounds that sound authentic, apart from the UTV, it sounds like a lawnmower and after a single lap, you will want to turn the effects down.

The games graphics seem very outdated, most of the tracks look ugly and it looks like a PS2 game it looks worse than the previous game, untamed.

The game features a single player mode with a range of different modes including National, Super cross, Omni cross and Free Ride for the different types of vehicles including MX, ATV’s, UTV’s and Racing Trucks and an online mode that has the same for between 8 and 12 players. While playing the game it was difficult to get into a game due to the lack of people playing online, after finding a game you are put into a lobby and you can ride around while you wait for others or wait for the game to load but I found issues in the multiplayer lobbies when despite the game being full, it would not start a game.

MX vs. ATV Reflex is another very solid release in the franchise but it hasn't changed a ton in the game play department. The controls are hit and miss and with an empty online component it’s hard to recommend this game.