Just read the OS MXGP review and I honestly think it was poorly done. It made some legitimate claims but I think it was an overall rather poor review of a great MX game. The best MX game yet, imo.
So with this long read I hope to give you my thoughts, a comparison to the most popular MX games as well as some tips to making MXGP a very advanced feeling game and more of a challenge for anyone who, like the OS reviewer, finds the game too easy.
Since all MX games are always compared to the MVA series I am going to do a review (of sorts) of MXGP...highlighting its pros/cons and also do the same to the Reflex/Alive series which everyone always seems to think is superior. Now, I am super excited for the new MVA Supercross and I know some of the team members and talk with them now and there and I think it will be far and away the best MVA ever but this is comparing MXGP to the games that have been released so far being Reflex and Alive.
So here is my take, my 2 cents worth. I am a MX fanatic and a MX gaming fanatic so I know both sides of the sport. Honestly, MX games is about all I play now with the demise of my beloved 2K Hockey series.
In the end...MXGP, in my opinion, is the best console MX/SX game ever made to date.
Let me tell you why.
And by the way, I am reviewing the import PS3 version of MXGP. I have played the PC version as well. They are pretty much identical except the PS3 version runs much more smoother..at least on my system.
MXGP is really different in a lot of ways than the MVA series. some good, some bad.
Right off the bat I will say this. Reflex and Alive have better control and better physics. Hands down MVA is superior in those regards. But honestly, that's about all it has over MXGP.
Let me run done my honest pros and cons of each.
Reflex/Alive Pros
-Rider Reflex is great.
-Great control
Nice terrain deformation. Not perfect but pretty good.
-Excellent arcade/sim physics. Needs to be more realistic but controls great and has a somewhat sim feel to it.
-nice gas/brake gyro/rev limiter
-Working clutch
-Much better bike sound
-Reflex had great flow. Lacked weight and gravity but really felt better than any other MX game out.
-James Stewart Compound replica tracks in Alive were AMAZING.
-Nice in game camera control. I like the slot vide from the side a little.
-Great control over scrubs and whips (though I think this whole thing is completely over rated.) Racing is about the riding on the ground against the track and opponents and not so much in the air. Its sweet but it is icing on the cake.
Reflex Alive cons
Terrible Lack of authenticity. This is a biggee to me. No AMA license, no Feld license, no MX sports license. The series gets real riders and Alive had real bikes but it is far from a licensed game of our sport. Tracks are never replicas and often far too fantasy based. Outdoor tracks never look nor feel like the real thing except the JS7 stuff. Fans want AMA replica Supercross tracks and AMA Nationals Motocross tracks like Glen Helen, Unadilla, Red Bud. these are iconic tracks of our sport. You need a full agreement with Feld and MX Sports so you have every rider, every bike, every replica track, detailed points series, every bike, every rider's gear, every team looking just like the real bikes....just like what MXGP did.
No full points series (till now with Supercross). And even now we won't get Heats and LCQs But at least with Supercross we will have something decent. Alive and Reflex had nothing but one off exhibition races and the little tournament in reflex but the main events were a lame 3 laps. Terrible.
I along with millions of others could care less about the ATVS. Its all about motocross and supercross to me. Look on the Nordic forums. SX and MX is all anyone talks about.
Random rider finishes. Too many times in MVA games Tarah Geiger gets 1st place and Ryan Villopoto (4x SX champ) gets 11th and James Stewart gets 13th. Ridiculous. Riders should be ratings based like NFL games.
AI crashes way too much in this series. Always has dating back to MM2. Reflex is sometimes a joke. You get taken out by a careless AI rider far too much. Alive was a little better but too goon like.
No career mode. Nothing. Crickets.
Game speed is too fast in my opinion
Hard to really race against the AI. Not much back and forth racing and battles for positions. Just crashing everywhere by the AI.
Tracks scaled too big (till alive). Jumps too long. Just everything exaggerated too much.
The focus should be MX and SX. There are plenty of ATV games out there. Be the only US game to focus solely on MX/SX
No full race replay mode. Highlights are lame.
Jumps too floaty in Reflex. Not enough traction. better in Alive but it had wheelie issues
Just doesn't have that atmosphere where you FEEL the Motocross love from the developers. Seems too watered down as they try to please everyone in offroad. needs to concentrate on Motocross and Supercross
That's just touching on the big pros and cons.
Here are MXGP's pros and cons.
Pros
First and foremost...its just all about MOTOCROSS!!! Nothing else. That is needed in video games. No one else does a MX game only. You can feel the passion in this game.
Complete authenticity! They must have a mega deal with Youthstream because every rider is there. Every bike looks identical right down to Tony Cairoli's last sticker on his 350 SX-F. Right down to his boots. They have every rider, every replica bike, perfect looking and riding REPLICA TRACKS which is huge, every team, rider's gear is perfect, every last sponsor. The amount of authenticity MXGP has is quite astounding...especially for a small company making only their 2nd MX game. Major props.
Great atmosphere. Horns blowing, fans waving banners of riders that say Herlings, 222 and DeSalle. This IS motocross! You may not be as familiar with Jeffrey Herlings and Tony Cairoli as you are of James Stewart and RV but they are the KINGS of the MXGP league and this is a game based off of the World Championship. You can't hold that against them, especially since the game was released mainly in Europe.
A real authentic MXGP weekend. This is a biggie to me. The fact you race on the replica real tracks...which Milestone did an amazing job of really getting them to look and feel right.....and that you can go thru the full weekend is so cool. Its cool to be in the pits on that screen where you can look at the timing and scoring or talk to your mechanic and make bike tuning adjustments, then race practice, come back and look at times, then go to qualifiers, then look at how times start dropping, make any adjustments...gearing does make a difference....then go into first moto, then back into pits...see your points updates, then 2nd moto and then overall finish results.
Full season points series mode!!! This again is huge! Imagine playing Madden with no season mode. that's what Reflex and Alive are like.
Bike tuning
Game speed seems perfect. Not exaggerated. I compared it side by side on 2 monitors with a real MXGP race and it is spot on.
Manual shifting ( I have a huge tip on this later that makes the game even better and harder)
Nice looking career mode. best ever career mode in any MX game yet. Period!
Full race replays with different cameras for viewing all the race. Very sweet! Best ever in a MX game.
Great atmosphere. From the track preview to the mechanics area with your mechanic and bike tech guy working on bike down to the little cut scenes and the menu screens and tip screens with all the real riders. Its just freakin nice and bleeds motocross.
You must brake on these tracks and let off the gas a lot. You must ride them like a real track. Slow down in the corners and ride realistically. You can't just pin it wide open all the time. Very well done.
front and rear brakes...nice
Excellent AI that rides smart and doesn't clean you out all the time.
Top tier riders seem to be near the top most of the time which in turn makes the points series make sense. Tom Brady should be at the top of the NFL games. same thing with moto and their elite riders.
REPLICA tracks....worth saying again. they did an outstanding job replicating the tracks. Beautifully rendered. Realistic!!
MXGP cons (so far)
Physics are somewhat primitive compared to Reflex/Alive. Bikes don't control nearly as good. Sometimes some really weird happen in regards to physics. No doubt Reflex/Alive are superior here.
Whips and scrubs are just basically an animation so not much control over that. Not that big of a deal to me though as I think people put too much emphasis on those any way.
Not much brake/gas gyro in the air.
Online is having issues right now. Milestone says they are working on it. I honestly don't play online so no issues for me.
Jumps are still a tad too floaty (like all Mx games)
Not much terrain deformation but the tracks do seem to get rougher as laps wear on.
Bike sounds not nearly as good (though atmosphere is better in MXGP than MVA)
No clutch...that's weak. Though with manual shifting I can understand why they omitted it. Would be a nice option though.
I wish it had an adjustable camera so you could pitch it to the side a bit where can see front wheel like MVA. Nice zoom feature though.
Honestly, so far. That's about it for cons. So you see what I mean. MVA does the core stuff great. Gameplay, physics, control.....but really misses the boat on everything else not having a full license, authenticity, points series, all the real riders bikes, career modes, atmosphere, full replays, motocross love and the biggee...replica tracks. MXGP takes a hit on physics and control but it is authentic to the core with a full license which makes you feel like you are in a MXGP race.
Look at for example when 2K sports lost the NFL license to EA. the next year 2K came out with All star football because they couldn't use any real players, any real teams, etc because EA had the license. 2K's gameplay was MUCH better than Madden but who the hell wants to play as Tom Arnsburger for a team called the trojans?? I want to play as RG3 with the Washington redskins at fed Ex field against Romo and the Cowboys. AUTHENTICITY is where sports games are now a days.
I don't know how many times I've heard people say I wish we had a Madden or NBA2K of Motocross or Supercross. Well MXGP is far and away the closest thing we have ever had to having that.
As it stands right now, I think MXGP is the finest complete MX/SX game on console we have ever seen. I plan on enjoying this game for a long time and look forward to their next game and of course look forward to the new MVA Supercross which I think will be a great step in the right direction with the best of the old team forming a new team. Trust me, MVA Supercross (and especially their full fledged sequel) has the potential to be another great SX/MX game with the team they now have on board. Just as long as they focus on SX and MX not trying to please the masses.
Btw, my tips for MXGP.
Turn on Manual gear shifting. Then re--map the upshift to L3 (where you have to click the L stick down) and the downshift to R3 (where you click the R stick down). That way you can shift without ever having to take your fingers off the analog sticks for your rider/bike control. This takes a bit of getting used to but once you do you will love it and it helps IMMENSELY and brings a whole new dynamic and advanced control to the game. It even makes the starts decent (though I, too, dislike the ready steady go thing) as you have to be in neutral then time it and pop it into gear and quickly upshift.
Trust me....manual shifting is better with this control scheme. I suggested this control scheme to both the developers of MXGP and MVA. At least in MXGP you can re-map anything. It makes the game much harder and for sure have a more advanced feeling of control.
Second tip. One issue with the game is when you crash that the game respawns too quickly. An average crash (nothing crazy) just a normal tip over...takes a rider about 8 seconds to remount and restart (unless he has issues starting the ol' hot 4 strokes). So when you crash, allow 6--8 seconds to run off before you pop it into gear and proceed. Sure it is helping the game out a bit but honestly I do this with a lot of games to even the playing field out.
With those tips I doubt you will be smoking the field. Just switching to manual shifting makes the game much more difficult. Trust me.
So that's it. My review, tips and comparison. And a LOT of love for what I think is the best console MX game to date....MXGP!
So with this long read I hope to give you my thoughts, a comparison to the most popular MX games as well as some tips to making MXGP a very advanced feeling game and more of a challenge for anyone who, like the OS reviewer, finds the game too easy.
Since all MX games are always compared to the MVA series I am going to do a review (of sorts) of MXGP...highlighting its pros/cons and also do the same to the Reflex/Alive series which everyone always seems to think is superior. Now, I am super excited for the new MVA Supercross and I know some of the team members and talk with them now and there and I think it will be far and away the best MVA ever but this is comparing MXGP to the games that have been released so far being Reflex and Alive.
So here is my take, my 2 cents worth. I am a MX fanatic and a MX gaming fanatic so I know both sides of the sport. Honestly, MX games is about all I play now with the demise of my beloved 2K Hockey series.
In the end...MXGP, in my opinion, is the best console MX/SX game ever made to date.
Let me tell you why.
And by the way, I am reviewing the import PS3 version of MXGP. I have played the PC version as well. They are pretty much identical except the PS3 version runs much more smoother..at least on my system.
MXGP is really different in a lot of ways than the MVA series. some good, some bad.
Right off the bat I will say this. Reflex and Alive have better control and better physics. Hands down MVA is superior in those regards. But honestly, that's about all it has over MXGP.
Let me run done my honest pros and cons of each.
Reflex/Alive Pros
-Rider Reflex is great.
-Great control
Nice terrain deformation. Not perfect but pretty good.
-Excellent arcade/sim physics. Needs to be more realistic but controls great and has a somewhat sim feel to it.
-nice gas/brake gyro/rev limiter
-Working clutch
-Much better bike sound
-Reflex had great flow. Lacked weight and gravity but really felt better than any other MX game out.
-James Stewart Compound replica tracks in Alive were AMAZING.
-Nice in game camera control. I like the slot vide from the side a little.
-Great control over scrubs and whips (though I think this whole thing is completely over rated.) Racing is about the riding on the ground against the track and opponents and not so much in the air. Its sweet but it is icing on the cake.
Reflex Alive cons
Terrible Lack of authenticity. This is a biggee to me. No AMA license, no Feld license, no MX sports license. The series gets real riders and Alive had real bikes but it is far from a licensed game of our sport. Tracks are never replicas and often far too fantasy based. Outdoor tracks never look nor feel like the real thing except the JS7 stuff. Fans want AMA replica Supercross tracks and AMA Nationals Motocross tracks like Glen Helen, Unadilla, Red Bud. these are iconic tracks of our sport. You need a full agreement with Feld and MX Sports so you have every rider, every bike, every replica track, detailed points series, every bike, every rider's gear, every team looking just like the real bikes....just like what MXGP did.
No full points series (till now with Supercross). And even now we won't get Heats and LCQs But at least with Supercross we will have something decent. Alive and Reflex had nothing but one off exhibition races and the little tournament in reflex but the main events were a lame 3 laps. Terrible.
I along with millions of others could care less about the ATVS. Its all about motocross and supercross to me. Look on the Nordic forums. SX and MX is all anyone talks about.
Random rider finishes. Too many times in MVA games Tarah Geiger gets 1st place and Ryan Villopoto (4x SX champ) gets 11th and James Stewart gets 13th. Ridiculous. Riders should be ratings based like NFL games.
AI crashes way too much in this series. Always has dating back to MM2. Reflex is sometimes a joke. You get taken out by a careless AI rider far too much. Alive was a little better but too goon like.
No career mode. Nothing. Crickets.
Game speed is too fast in my opinion
Hard to really race against the AI. Not much back and forth racing and battles for positions. Just crashing everywhere by the AI.
Tracks scaled too big (till alive). Jumps too long. Just everything exaggerated too much.
The focus should be MX and SX. There are plenty of ATV games out there. Be the only US game to focus solely on MX/SX
No full race replay mode. Highlights are lame.
Jumps too floaty in Reflex. Not enough traction. better in Alive but it had wheelie issues
Just doesn't have that atmosphere where you FEEL the Motocross love from the developers. Seems too watered down as they try to please everyone in offroad. needs to concentrate on Motocross and Supercross
That's just touching on the big pros and cons.
Here are MXGP's pros and cons.
Pros
First and foremost...its just all about MOTOCROSS!!! Nothing else. That is needed in video games. No one else does a MX game only. You can feel the passion in this game.
Complete authenticity! They must have a mega deal with Youthstream because every rider is there. Every bike looks identical right down to Tony Cairoli's last sticker on his 350 SX-F. Right down to his boots. They have every rider, every replica bike, perfect looking and riding REPLICA TRACKS which is huge, every team, rider's gear is perfect, every last sponsor. The amount of authenticity MXGP has is quite astounding...especially for a small company making only their 2nd MX game. Major props.
Great atmosphere. Horns blowing, fans waving banners of riders that say Herlings, 222 and DeSalle. This IS motocross! You may not be as familiar with Jeffrey Herlings and Tony Cairoli as you are of James Stewart and RV but they are the KINGS of the MXGP league and this is a game based off of the World Championship. You can't hold that against them, especially since the game was released mainly in Europe.
A real authentic MXGP weekend. This is a biggie to me. The fact you race on the replica real tracks...which Milestone did an amazing job of really getting them to look and feel right.....and that you can go thru the full weekend is so cool. Its cool to be in the pits on that screen where you can look at the timing and scoring or talk to your mechanic and make bike tuning adjustments, then race practice, come back and look at times, then go to qualifiers, then look at how times start dropping, make any adjustments...gearing does make a difference....then go into first moto, then back into pits...see your points updates, then 2nd moto and then overall finish results.
Full season points series mode!!! This again is huge! Imagine playing Madden with no season mode. that's what Reflex and Alive are like.
Bike tuning
Game speed seems perfect. Not exaggerated. I compared it side by side on 2 monitors with a real MXGP race and it is spot on.
Manual shifting ( I have a huge tip on this later that makes the game even better and harder)
Nice looking career mode. best ever career mode in any MX game yet. Period!
Full race replays with different cameras for viewing all the race. Very sweet! Best ever in a MX game.
Great atmosphere. From the track preview to the mechanics area with your mechanic and bike tech guy working on bike down to the little cut scenes and the menu screens and tip screens with all the real riders. Its just freakin nice and bleeds motocross.
You must brake on these tracks and let off the gas a lot. You must ride them like a real track. Slow down in the corners and ride realistically. You can't just pin it wide open all the time. Very well done.
front and rear brakes...nice
Excellent AI that rides smart and doesn't clean you out all the time.
Top tier riders seem to be near the top most of the time which in turn makes the points series make sense. Tom Brady should be at the top of the NFL games. same thing with moto and their elite riders.
REPLICA tracks....worth saying again. they did an outstanding job replicating the tracks. Beautifully rendered. Realistic!!
MXGP cons (so far)
Physics are somewhat primitive compared to Reflex/Alive. Bikes don't control nearly as good. Sometimes some really weird happen in regards to physics. No doubt Reflex/Alive are superior here.
Whips and scrubs are just basically an animation so not much control over that. Not that big of a deal to me though as I think people put too much emphasis on those any way.
Not much brake/gas gyro in the air.
Online is having issues right now. Milestone says they are working on it. I honestly don't play online so no issues for me.
Jumps are still a tad too floaty (like all Mx games)
Not much terrain deformation but the tracks do seem to get rougher as laps wear on.
Bike sounds not nearly as good (though atmosphere is better in MXGP than MVA)
No clutch...that's weak. Though with manual shifting I can understand why they omitted it. Would be a nice option though.
I wish it had an adjustable camera so you could pitch it to the side a bit where can see front wheel like MVA. Nice zoom feature though.
Honestly, so far. That's about it for cons. So you see what I mean. MVA does the core stuff great. Gameplay, physics, control.....but really misses the boat on everything else not having a full license, authenticity, points series, all the real riders bikes, career modes, atmosphere, full replays, motocross love and the biggee...replica tracks. MXGP takes a hit on physics and control but it is authentic to the core with a full license which makes you feel like you are in a MXGP race.
Look at for example when 2K sports lost the NFL license to EA. the next year 2K came out with All star football because they couldn't use any real players, any real teams, etc because EA had the license. 2K's gameplay was MUCH better than Madden but who the hell wants to play as Tom Arnsburger for a team called the trojans?? I want to play as RG3 with the Washington redskins at fed Ex field against Romo and the Cowboys. AUTHENTICITY is where sports games are now a days.
I don't know how many times I've heard people say I wish we had a Madden or NBA2K of Motocross or Supercross. Well MXGP is far and away the closest thing we have ever had to having that.
As it stands right now, I think MXGP is the finest complete MX/SX game on console we have ever seen. I plan on enjoying this game for a long time and look forward to their next game and of course look forward to the new MVA Supercross which I think will be a great step in the right direction with the best of the old team forming a new team. Trust me, MVA Supercross (and especially their full fledged sequel) has the potential to be another great SX/MX game with the team they now have on board. Just as long as they focus on SX and MX not trying to please the masses.
Btw, my tips for MXGP.
Turn on Manual gear shifting. Then re--map the upshift to L3 (where you have to click the L stick down) and the downshift to R3 (where you click the R stick down). That way you can shift without ever having to take your fingers off the analog sticks for your rider/bike control. This takes a bit of getting used to but once you do you will love it and it helps IMMENSELY and brings a whole new dynamic and advanced control to the game. It even makes the starts decent (though I, too, dislike the ready steady go thing) as you have to be in neutral then time it and pop it into gear and quickly upshift.
Trust me....manual shifting is better with this control scheme. I suggested this control scheme to both the developers of MXGP and MVA. At least in MXGP you can re-map anything. It makes the game much harder and for sure have a more advanced feeling of control.
Second tip. One issue with the game is when you crash that the game respawns too quickly. An average crash (nothing crazy) just a normal tip over...takes a rider about 8 seconds to remount and restart (unless he has issues starting the ol' hot 4 strokes). So when you crash, allow 6--8 seconds to run off before you pop it into gear and proceed. Sure it is helping the game out a bit but honestly I do this with a lot of games to even the playing field out.
With those tips I doubt you will be smoking the field. Just switching to manual shifting makes the game much more difficult. Trust me.
So that's it. My review, tips and comparison. And a LOT of love for what I think is the best console MX game to date....MXGP!
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