Racing games come in all shapes and sizes. While the most popular spin on the genre is the kart racer, there’s a different side that hones in on the realism in titles like Forza and Gran Turismo. Some people just like to mud it up, though, whether it be on a dirt bike or an all-terrain four-wheeler. There are two big dogs in the gaming world: Monster Energy Supercross, and MX vs. ATV. As June ended, we got a new entry into the latter series. How does it fare?

MX vs. ATV Legends starts you out learning the ropes in a bit of an open-world. It’s a nice way to get the feel of the bike, all the while learning the intricacies of how to handle it the fastest way possible. You’re not just going from point A to point B with smooth sailing. You’re going to have to learn how to balance the bike over bumps, maximize jump distance, and make sharp turns without bailing. When you do bail, though, there’s some hilarious ragdolling that will make just about any gamer laugh as their character plummets all over the place.

When you start your events, you’re definitely going to want to fine-tune the difficulty. The AI knows exactly what the heck they’re doing on just about every difficulty level, making sharp turns, rarely crashing, making huge jumps, and generally giving you a run for your money from the starting gate to the finish line. You’re stuck in the MX side of the career before you can unlock the ATV or the UTV careers, a bit of a frustrating lock that shouldn’t have to exist. I can’t imagine what the ATV fans think of this decision.

The graphics are solid in MX vs. ATV Legends, but some of the animations are locked to 30 fps, leading to a janky-looking affair whenever a driver revs the throttle at the starting gate, breaking the immersion before the race even begins. In addition, the characters’ mouths don’t even move. That’s something games have been doing for more than 20 years, so there’s no excuse for the lack of polish there either since this is a AAA game.

Thankfully, MX vs. ATV Legends isn’t all bad. The soundtrack is one of the best I’ve encountered in a decade. Long gone are the days where licensed music is in anything that isn’t an EA Sports title, but MX vs. ATV Legends has tons of songs from Rise Records/Sumerian Records bands like Polyphia, PVRIS, Born of Osiris, and Bad Omens, making for a metal paradise. There are even songs from up-and-comers like Dropout Kings and Sion. It’s bangers everywhere in this game.

This is a game in a very niche genre, but I’d imagine fans of it are going to get around to MX vs. ATV Legends at some point. At the time of writing, it sits at a 52% mixed on Steam’s reviews, but most complaints are nitpicking about sound design and difficulty complaints from those not accustomed to the learning curve. While it’s hard to recommend to players not attuned to the franchise, MX vs. ATV Legends is good for an eventual pick-up on sale for anyone that’s keen.

A PC review copy of MX vs. ATV Legends was provided by THQ Nordic for this review.

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MX vs. ATV Legends

39.99

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• Deep Control System
• Killer Soundtrack
• Variety in Vehicles

Cons

• Insane Difficulty
• Rough Physics