Platform: Xbox
Genre: Racing / Extreme Sports
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Left Field Productions
ESRB: T (Teen)
Released: March  2004

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Pros:

- Excellent visuals

- Career Mode

- Online Play

- Create a track mode

- Good trick system

Cons:

- Not enough tracks

- Expect to replay a lot of races

- No rag doll animations

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"If you’re a motocross fan, then MTX Mototrax is your game..."

Activision may be best known for the highly successful Tony Hawk Pro Skater series. This time around they put their weight behind motocross, a sport that has seen its share of highly successful games including Motocross Madness and MX Unleashed. Left Field Productions and Activision’s effort, MTX Mototrax (MMT), proves to be a solid title but misses a perfect landing over a couple of issues.

Like most games in the genre, the standard modes include: single race, multiplayer (offline and online), track editor, create-a-rider, and a career mode.

The game features four different race types including freestyle, free ride, supercross, and motocross. The freestyle races are based around completing different tricks and challenges in a given time period. The free ride mode sees you complete different challenges (similar to those in Tony’s Hawk’s Pro Skater series) and sometimes earn money along the way. The supercross races take place in indoor environments (arenas), while the motocross races take place in outdoor areas.

The career mode should the main attraction of the game as it’s fairly robust. In the career mode you create a custom rider, climb up the ladder of success, and acquire corporate sponsorship. The career mode has an email system where you’ll basically receive information from your race manager, news from around the league and email from different companies wanting to sponsor you. At the beginning of the career mode you’ll meet a rider named Travis Pastrana who’ll teach you the basics of motocross and from there you begin racing.

The motocross and supercross races are made up of different series (125cc and 250cc classes). In each series you’ll have to attain the first place standing in order to qualify for other events and unlock new items.  If you achieve first place, then your email inbox will be flooded with companies asking you to be their sponsor. The companies range from helmet makers to bike manufacturers and the more sponsors you have the more equipment you’ll be able to use.

MMT isn’t your typical two button racer as you’ll have to use a lot of strategy to win races. Aside from your typical accelerate and brake buttons are the clutch (left trigger) and the suspension levels, which become your best friends throughout the races. The clutch is used when taking corners and usually the clutch will give you a much needed speed boost. The suspension on your bike can be controlled using the A button. The longer you hold the A button, the more air you’ll get off a jump. (The most challenging part is using the clutch in moderation with the accelerate button. Sometimes I found it easier to have my finger pressed on the clutch and accelerator buttons at the same time as this maximized the speed of my bike, however there will be some instances where this strategy forced me off the track and ended up costing me the race.)

All of the tracks are made up of small hills, massive jumps and lots of “whoops!” sections.

MMT also supports offline and online multiplayer capabilities. Online, you can play with up to eight players. There are three mulitplayer modes: King of the Hill, Race and Freestyle Battle. MMT also supports split-screen play offline for two players. In the offline multiplayer mode you can either play a race series or just a regular race. There is also an impressive track editor mode, which allows you to create your own tracks from scratch.

One complaint that many people may have is the small number of tracks. You’ll experience this a lot during the career mode as many of the race series take place across the same tracks time and again. The game could have benefited greatly if the developers had included more tracks. Some people may also get frustrated by the fact that you have to place first in all the racing series. You’ll probably find yourself replaying a lot of the races over and over, and this is made worse by the lack of track variety.

Graphically, MMT is top notch. The game runs beautifully at about sixty frames per second with no slow down. Lots of the environments are nicely detailed and well lit.  You’ll notice a lot of trademarked clothing and equipment on the riders. Though it would have been a lot nicer if the developers had implemented some rag doll animations.

The game’s audio mainly consists of rock’n roll tunes. There is a fair bit of licensed tracks in the game as bands such as Slipknot, AFI and Pennywise. Since MMT boasts a large number of licensed pro riders and has a Tony Hawk feel to it, there is a lot of speech. Lots of the pro riders have lent their voices to the game. You’ll usually hear the riders talk when they are giving you a goal to complete or render a verdict of your performance.

MTX Mototrax is a solid game that contains the basic features you’d find in any motocross game, with a few extras. If you’re a motocross fan, then MMT is your game, but if your not, then a rental might be up your alley.

- Siddharth Masand

(April 3^rd, 2004)

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