MX Unleashed

The Xbox has seen no shortage of dirt biking games throughout its lifetime thus far, and it doesn't look like the supply is really going to dwindle anytime soon. Having said that, it's always nice when one game in a genre stands out from the rest, and MX Unleashed does just that.

Unleashed is leaps and bounds beyond THQ's previous instalment in the genre, MX Superfly, on almost every level. The game modes are more varied, the game itself is more fun, there are more options, better graphics, and the game just plain feels better. Sporting 3 main event types (Freestyle, Nationals/Motocross and Supercross) to satisfy your appetite, the career mode even lets you choose how to play Ц you can specify the number of laps in each race, and unlocking tracks and vehicles can be done in a couple of different ways so you don't actually have to finish first in every tournament to advance. While this does work (though you don't need to get first every time, the tournaments you can compete in are based on your world ranking which is proportional to your performance in the races) you can also "buy" tracks, vehicles and the like through the stunt points you earn in the races and freestyle competitions. Nothing's terribly cheap of course, but it does mean that if you're really good at tricks and not so good at actually racing you have a chance of unlocking everything.

National races all take place outdoors and are probably the prettiest of the bunch, supporting some very challenging and impressive environments. They generally feature lots of hills and softer banks, where the indoor Supercross events are relatively flat and include sharper corners. While not ugly, the indoor events obviously aren't a whole lot to look at since they're pretty much comprised of dirt and hay bales. The Freestyle events are where the engine really shines, as the environments are rather impressively sized and each feature numerous challenges Ц one vehicle race (where beating the features vehicle, such as a bi-plane, helicopter or monster truck unlocks that vehicle for your use), one Trick event (where you have to acquire so many trick points within the time limit), 5 Runs (where you have to take off and land in designated areas without bailing) and 5 Hits (where you have to take off and land in 10 designated areas within the time limit). The vehicle races tend to be the hardest of the bunch with the other challenges being relatively easy, but all enjoyable nonetheless. The Freestyle courses are all well designed with some major trick points in mind, and the number of 600 foot jumps you very well may attain is kind of ridiculous, if not incredibly fun, for some really cool tricks.

Speaking of tricks, the variety at your disposal is rather impressive. Using any of the three trick buttons plus a direction on either the D-Pad or thumbstick performs a trick, and you can use any of the available combinations of two or all three buttons pressed in addition to the basic formula for a rather impressive trick list. You can link them together in mid air for a combo multiplier, and by rapidly pressing forward then back right as you launch into the air off a jump you can attempt a backflip to combine with the other tricks. Additionally, on the ground you can perform either a wheelie or stoppie to link your points together between jumps, meaning you can quite possibly link together jumps and tricks for as long as your thumbs hold out. Not to say that it's terribly plausible considering how hard it is to land in a wheelie, but it is possible nonetheless.

Included in the new MX arsenal are the abilities to preload your suspension for a jump, and good ol' fashioned clutching for those standing starts and sharp corners. Preloading can take some time to get the hang of, requiring you to pull back on the thumbstick and then moving it forward before you launch off the jump, the further forward you push it the more severe the preload (a preload is when a rider puts weight on his or her suspension and then releases it quickly before launching for maximum air and distance off the jump, giving them more control over where they land to avoid hitting the upslope of a jump or another hindering area). Clutching is when the rider engages the clutch but still applies the gas, meaning that when the clutch is released the gears catch and the rider's given a sudden speed boost. Unleashed recommends that you lean back on the bike when doing it, but be warned that sudden and occasionally excessive wheelies can occur.

The vehicles that can be won provide a respectable amount of bonus entertainment, and while not really overly useful, can be fun to play around with. As a racing game there is also a decent amount of given replayability, but much to my disappointment there is no Xbox Live support for the title -- meaning that you can never enjoy the game with more than one friend at once. This is certainly a curious and unfortunate decision, but even without Live support there's still enough to keep you going for quite a while on your own.

The game's graphics are pretty much what you'd expect from a dirtbiking game, with high-poly player models (which can be customized with a decent wealth of options) and bikes, as well as impressive outdoor environments. The sound's pretty standard stuff, with your good old dirt bike whines and howls accompanied with some nice crash sounds. Where the aesthetics really shine though are in the physics and musical departments. The game's physics are excellent both on and off the bike Ц almost innumerable factors influence how your bike rides in a relatively realistic if arcade-like fashion, despite being able to stop on a dime and achieve excessive amounts of air. Should you be removed from your bike, some of the best ragdoll physics to date are used, as the riders seem to avoid going completely and utterly limp but rather move significantly more like a real broken human being. Luckily you'll re-spawn on your bike after a few seconds with a running start, but the crash physics almost make crashing worth the effort. A bail mode would certainly be a welcome addition to this franchise assuming the same physics were to stay in play.

The musical selection of the game isn't necessarily worth mentioning, but how it's implemented is Ц by default the game mixes in any music stored on your Xbox's hard drive with the music that's packaged with the game (which is a pretty impressive spread I should add), a simple feature, but one that game designers really need to take more note of. It's the little things like this that make a game more enjoyable, and developer Rainbow Studios really has done an excellent job of making the player feel right at home in their game.