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Motocross Mania (Reviews)

Eat Dirt
Well, a motorbike game, and an off-road one at that. While I've never been a devotee of participating in motocross myself (not since I had a rather nasty accident aged 5, and several near-misses aged 16 that is) the opportunity to immerse myself in virtual mud was somethinsg worth taking. And very quickly I discovered how much fun this game is, and the diversity built into the single package. Once the game had been installed for the first time and had gone through it's little settings tester to determine the best mix of graphics tweaks for your system, I was up and running in next to no time, blasting my way along a straight and then totally failing to make the turn. Then I tried Supercross, and bounced my way straight into some hay bales. Still, that's to be expected when you first play a game. The sound the player makes when you introduce him to a tree at 100 kilometers an hour is funny, too.

Graphics
The graphics in this game in places leave you wondering how they managed to fit so much detail in without hitting the game's frame rate. Each track has it's racing component, but then there is the rest of the world - freely accessible if you are not in race mode. Each track is developed using 3DS Max, with the actual race track usually taking up only a small portion of the entire terrain. If you venture off track far enough, features start appearing, such as natural halfpipes that can be used for stunt riding, small villages tucked away in odd places, vehicles parked on the sides of roads. You really get the feeling that there is more to the game world than just the track.

The track editor for Motocross Mania is due soon, comprising a plug-in for 3DS Max if you want to create your own maps from scratch, and the actual editor itself which allows you to add the additional objects to each track that bring it to life, such as barriers, trees, rocks and so on. The various textures applyable to the terrain also have the additional property of reacting differently when you ride over them, so creating ice sheets that you slide sideways across is very simple. Objects from within the world can be used in custom tracks, as can objects imported from external modeling packages. You also have the option of changing the skin for both bike and rider, and you can even create your own custom skins should you feel artistically able.

If you don't have 3DSMax or the soon-to-be-release GMax (a cut down version of 3DSMax that will hopefully still support the Deibus Track Editor Plugin) you can modify existing tracks using your own track layouts, or modify existing tracks with different surfaces and additional items. The sheer size of some of the levels will allow a vast amount of customisation even before creating your own from-scratch tracks and maps. Expect the editor package to be released some time in January.

Handling
The bikes are very easy to control, and this is also the only motocross game where you can actually use the brakes and leaning forward to get the bike up on it's front wheel alone. With a little practice, you can perform some rather neat maneuvers using this, as well as adding to the control this brings to the game. performing stunts, something always worthwhile has been made much easier from Extreme Biker, with all stunts made up of a small combination of keys. In addition, there are modifiers, such as landing a trick backwards, or doing a complete back flip.

To keep interest up, there are also a couple of absolutely ludicrous stunts that you can unlock, but we'll let you find those on your own. You also have the option of modifying most of what goes into making a bike handle, such as gear ratio, brake sensitivity and balance, suspension, tyres, and the gyroscopic effects of engine revving/braking whilst in the air. In Championship mode you can use your prize money to by more powerful engines, better brakes, better suspension and a new chassis, should it take your fancy. Speaking of adjustments, if you have a look at this press release and follow the instructions, you'll be rewarded with a new bike - one that can not only do more than 300kilometers an hour, but can also fly. So how do you use it? Well, ride as normal, but use your pre-jump (or bunny hop) key to add height to your leaps. Once in air, use the brake key to extend the wings, allowing you to glide long distances. Playing Baja with this bike is a brand new experience.

On the subjects of cheats, since this is technically what this new bike is, Deibus have taken the trouble of ensuring that if a player uses this bike in a game (or any other cheat that may be released) the marker icon on the live map changes from red to green so you can see at a glance if anyone's using a cheat function and kick them from the race if necessary.

Sounds
Motocross Mania sounds like you're on a motocross bike, from the revving of the engine to the slight squeak of the suspension, to the groans of the rider when you land a little hard, to the painful 'ow' when you crash. Each sound is in the right place at the right time and really add to the experience. When racing in Championship mode you can hear the other riders coming up from behind you, as well as their own painful grunts when they crash, or the crump of a bike hitting a tree. Each of the stunts is accompanied by an appropriate sound effect too, adding to the effect of completing it.

Gameplay
There are several modes you can play around with, the most obvious one being Championship mode. There is also Freestyle mode, Baja mode and practice. And on top of that, Motocross Mania support multiplay through peer to peer networking, allowing you to go up against one or more of your friends. The AI controlled opponents you go up against in the Single Player game are very good at first glance, although they are just as likely to go flying off the track as you are until you get used to the tracks and how the bikes handle. Racing against the AI opponents can be very daunting at first, although once you learn the tracks and the correct lines, beating the other riders becomes fairly trivial, as long as you don't become over-confident.

When you're first learning a track, there is an option which will display yellow arrows on the track to show you the correct path, and if you should come flying off the track for whatever reason during a race, a helpful arrow will show you which way to go, although if you spend too long off the track you'll be placed back in the correct position, if you're racing. Otherwise if you crash or fall off, you'll be restarted in roughly the position you were in when you crashed, or went flying off into the ether.

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- posted by cro on 18.11.01
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