The latest title in the dirt-racing series is here and this time Rainbow Studios has had THQ Nordic publish a title worth playing. That said, MX vs ATV Legends isn’t without fault and it is definitely enough to really consider if this is the right version of dirt-racing for you. While you are given control over what you play with, how you race, and what mode you race in, the fun this game provides does have an overall feeling that it is earned entertainment rather than provided. Let’s drive into the details.

Gameplay

This game starts you off on a dirt bike to get started and sent through a quick tutorial. It doesn’t take long to get through it and you learn the basics of the game. You have your gas, brakes, steering, leaning, and challenging controls - as all dirt-racing machines have. Once you beat the tutorial, you will also need to complete one race before you unlock the ATV, which really shouldn’t have been locked for this but at the same time, it makes sense to knock one vehicle type down before going on to the next.

That first race should really show you what difficulty you should be playing the game on. This can be changed in the options menu at just about any time, so give the race a shot, and if you feel you have lots of work to do to build up your skill, lower it. This isn’t the type of game where the difficulty needs to be high to have fun - you will need to work your way up from being an actual Rookie if that is where your skill level is at.

Now that you have the game on Easy, because we all know you will unless you have been playing these types of games on a regular basis before now, you can claim a top 3 spot in the race and start unlocking more vehicles. Going through career mode on the different vehicles will unlock more, better vehicles of the same type you are racing with. As you unlock more cosmetics and vehicles, you can go into your settings and change up your rider’s style, your vehicle choice, and the decals on that vehicle. You can even pick the number on the back of your jersey which is great for those who have a favorite number.

Getting used to the controls is probably the most challenging aspect of the game. As I said in the beginning, this game delivers its entertaining aspect through an earned experience rather than a given one. This means that, at first, the game will be hard and you may end up going through the same race more than once before you are able to proceed in the career. It will take some time, but you will soon be able to master the turns, jumps, hill climbs, and more that will fling the dirt behind you and actually at your opponents since that’s where they will be!

After you make some progress, you should also look into the different play modes. You have exhibition, which is a standard race or time trial, the online mode that lets you race against other players, the split-screen mode that lets you play with another player locally - which you can actually drive around the overworld in if you are just looking to have some random fun, and then there is the trails mode that was added to this game and is worth trying out.

All-in-all, this game does give you all the options and settings you could ask for to play the game your way. The main issue is that you need to work on your skill level in order to make some real progress and enjoy the game fully, which can be a hindrance for some players.

Audio and Visuals

The music choice is definitely a great fit for the game and I can genuinely say I enjoyed the song list they added to the game. It was also set at a proper volume to be heard without overpowering the player as they also heard the sound effects from the revving engines and general sounds you would expect from a dirt-based racetrack with over ten racers on it.

As for the aesthetics of the game, it did a great job making beautiful scenery in both the racetracks and the overworld that you could travel through. That along with a large variety of cool decals to put on your bikes and four-wheelers, and of course, your rider’s various gear design options, made for a game that had a solid graphical style choice.

Replayability

As long as you are having fun and/or looking to improve your skill, there will always be a reason to return to this game! It’s a racing game with a ton of vehicle options and a bunch of tracks to choose from, not to mention the various game modes to play in.

What It Could Have Done Better

While I do like a lot of the track styles, I wish there would have been more race track options with big straightaways. I know that isn’t a general style for dirt-racing tracks, but when you can do some fun straightaway nonsense in the overworld, it just makes me wish there were more tracks with that feature in them. The constant turning, hill jumps, and usual track aspects are fine and should be included, but it is a video game after all so why not give us an unregulated map to race on that is strictly for the fun of racing on it?

I do like that the tutorial is short, but figuring out how to go up the hills quicker would have been nice to be broken down a little further for me. It took some trial-and-error before I could get that figured out and those hills are on a fair amount of tracks. There was a good period of time in my sessions on this game where I would just see my computer opponents fly up those hills and they were the biggest challenge moment for me. Aside from my personal experience, I’m sure there are some other aspects of the game that an in-depth tutorial would have been appreciated for. While I say keep the initial tutorial short like it is, add a section on the pause menu that lets players access the tutorials that break down the different parts of what makes this game challenging so they can work on it. I did find some extra tutorial aspects in the overworld, so I feel I missed some that would have helped, which is why I suggest adding it to the pause menu like it was done for the career mode.

Verdict

MX vs ATV Legends is definitely an awesome dirt-racing game that is worth playing! However, if you aren’t willing to put in the time to build up your skills and learn how it is best to play this game, it might not be for you. It isn’t really built to be the type of game you just hop on and can play decently enough right off the bat, which can be frustrating for some. If you are unsure if this game is a good fit for you, perhaps just wait for it to go on sale. But if you like dirt bike or four-wheeler racing and don’t mind a bit of a challenge, snag this one up!

MX vs ATV Legends is now available on PC via Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.