Platform: Playstation 2

Genre: Sports

Publisher: Midway

Developer: Delbus Studios

ESRB: E (Everyone)

Released: June 2003

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Score: 7.9  / 10

Pros:

- Excellent level design

- Killer soundtrack

- Good assortment of game modes

- Rag doll physics

- Level Editor

Cons:

- Controls can take a while to learn.

- No Split Screen multiplayer

- Visuals are nothing special

- Game can get extremely frustrating

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"Freestyle Metal X offers fun, fast, and wide-open game play in the vein of Tony Hawk..."

It sure is nice at times to get a break from simulation style games considering Midway has a pretty good idea of how to get the best arcade elements out of any sport. This time Midway has tried their luck at Motocross and comes out swinging with a pretty solid game.

Freestyle Metal X (FMX) seems to have some inspiration from the Tony Hawk series. The environments, the music and the game modes are similar to the Pro Skater series.

The career mode has a lot of depth and a wide variety of options. Everything from bike upgrades to being hospitalized from injuries are included. You first begin the career mode by attending a school which teaches you the basic moves that will help you throughout the different game modes such as the Challenge mode. Much like in Tony Hawk 4, you must go up to different people who task you with all manner of things. In one case you're required to land a trick combo, while in another case you have to catch a person who is terrorizing school children on a field trip. Although some of the challenges are completely frustrating it's not so frustrating as to leave a bad taste.

In Freestyle mode you are given a certain time limit to accumulate as many points as possible by performing tricks. The controls take a while to get used to, but those who are used to games such as Tony Hawk shouldn’t have much trouble. Some of the tricks are easy to execute, while others will get you frustrated.  There are an unbelievable number of tricks 

you can perform and you probably won’t realize it unless you look at the instruction manual.

The King of the Hill mode pits you against the clock to see how fast you can make it up a series of steep hills. It may sound like a very dull idea, but it turns out to be very fun and challenging.

No Midway game would be complete without some multiplayer, but some will be disappointed with the method of multiplayer in FMX. There is no-split screen mode! Instead there is a party mode, which consists of different challenges 

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such as jumping over a series of buses and so on. You take turns, one after the other. The Party mode is satisfactory, but a split screen mode would have really been better. Unfortunately you cannot even race against your friends, which is really lame.

One of the best things about Freestyle Metal X is the environments, which are large and have an excellent layout with a great number of jumps and hazards such as water and traffic. The environments are well suited to any game mode you play. There are a total of nine levels and the variation among the levels is remarkable -- everything from snow to barnyard mayhem. If your not satisfied with some of the environments the game also comes equipped with a level editor.

The graphics certainly aren’t ground breaking, but are decent. The textures on the background props such as vehicles, buildings, boats, etc. could have used some extra work. The character models are decent, but there are a lot of other prettier things on the PS2.  The frame rate gets choppy at times, especially in the heavily populated urban environments and when hitting jumps. It's not unbearable, but it does occur every so often. One big positive are the rag doll physics. When your character wipes out it's extremely detailed although the blood that spews out after crashing is too exaggerated.

FMX's sound is excellent. The audio consists of mostly rock tunes and a few songs you'll recognize from GTA: Vice City. Not only that, but there are a series of unlockable tunes as well. Aside from the music there are no character voices or much else for that matter.

Freestyle Metal X offers fun, fast, and wide-open game play in the vein of Tony Hawk, even with the disappointing multiplayer aspect. A rental is recommended.

- Siddharth Masand

(July 27, 2003)

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