Posts
2827
Joined
7/1/2008
Location
Castle Rock, CO
US
Edited Date/Time
1/24/2012 7:33am
So I posted up a few thoughts a couple of days after I purchased the game. My overall review was that I was pleased with the game, but there were a couple of issues. After extensive play time on the game, I thought I'd update the review:
The Good:
-Graphics - Great, detailed bikes, riders, and environments.
-Proportions - Gone are the days of flying 1,000 feet over a triple. The tracks are closer to scale than they've ever been.
-Customization - It's is back! Sure, I'd like to see a bit more customization (ie: ability to select frame color, glove color, etc...), but I was thrilled to see the ability to change my wheel/hub combo at will (though the color wheel is stupid difficult to work), and very excited to see new number plate colors come into play.
-JS7's compound - Best environment ever. Hands down.
-Sounds - I think the 250's sound better than 450's, but both are improved.
-Traction - Thank God! I can now rail around a corner without being afraid that I'm going to slide out as if I'm riding on ice. Reflex took time getting used to because you had to tiptoe around in order not to lose the back-end. Alive took some time to get used to to break that Reflex habit.
-Ground Physics - For the most part the ground physics are good. Bike reaction to bumps, ability to hit ruts, etc...
-Terrain Deformation - Muuuuuuch better. No longer am I riding over jagged rocks on sandwick.
Good ideas, poor execution:
-DLC - Let's be honest, the DLC has been incredibly poorly executed. I was very excited about the prospect of getting new tracks on a regular basis, being updated with the freshest threads, and getting other misc. goodies. But, between the total cluster fuzzy that is the PS3 situation, download issues like the CRF450R, and the incredibly slow rate of release, this idea just didn't blossom like I thought it would. Day one with the JS7 compound issues seemed to be an indicator of future DLC experience - less than stellar.
-OEM bikes - YES! OEM bikes are in the game! Nooooo! I have to waste 20 minutes of my life on a short track to level them up. Somebody punch me in the face!
-Bar Banging - I'm stoked that I can rub elbows with other riders, but there are a couple of problems: My rider goes into seizure when I do. It seems that every time I throw a strong block pass I'M the one that gets the reflex arrow as that rider I just stuff zips along. Don't get me started on the gestures either.
-Physics - I wasn't sure where to put this. Some are good, some are bad, and some are downright ugly.
The Bad:
-Physics:
-The whip/scrub physics just aren't good. If there was one thing you guys nailed in Reflex, it was the whips/scrubs. In Alive, when I do a quick scrub I end up just kind of awkwardly flopping over on my side in the air. The whips pretty much all look the same, too. Sure, I can throw a pretty good one every now and then, but they all look about the same. They don't ever come all the way back either. I've had to get used to the fact that landing a little bit crooked means I'll actually continue to go straight, but if I have my sticks cranked upon landing to correct for this crooked landing, I will fly right the ef off the track.
-When I really rail a rut, my rider dies of a heart attack. I've noticed this a lot on Edgerock. There are two really good ruts - one right after the triple, double, step-up section that you make a 180 left-hand into a step down; and the one that's just two corners before the finish line (another 180 left-hander). Both ruts are fantastic, except for the fact that if I get down into them and really start railing the rut hard I just... die. What gives? What's the point of terrain deformation if I'm scared to use it?
-Every single time that I go into a rogue stoppy I want to throw my controller through the television. I literally spent about 4 seconds on my front tire yesterday rotating very slowly until my back tire finally touched back down and I could take off. No matter how I hit the throttle or wiggled my rider around, I was just stuck there spinning on my nose.
-Short tracks - This, in my mind, is the biggest epic fail of the game. Words do not describe my utter disdain for short tracks.
-Rider position - I've seen videos of the patch, but the only thing that looks different now is that the rider's elbows are way up, instead of pinned to his sides. I think it's interesting that James was the model for the game (the man who pretty much pioneered the aggro, over the bars riding style) and the rider position in the game is still like he has a pole up his butt.
-Career mode - Or should I say, lack thereof? I understand that you wanted to give the players the opportunity to play the game how they wanted, but I'm not sure how robbing us of a points series accomplished this.
-Perks - This isn't CoD. We don't need perks. I should be able to scrub, we should all start the same, and nobody should be a tank or a wrecking ball because that just makes the game annoying. Beyond that, the perk that allows you to get up from a crash 10 minutes later instead of 12 minutes later is how long it should take to get up anyways. I stare at my unconscious rider far too long after a crash. I understand that there has to be some penalty to crashing, but a brief hold-up, and then having to rebuild my momentum is plenty of punishment.
-Minor issues:
-Why, if I'm in a lobby of 5 riders, 4 of which have voted for the same track, do I spend the entire hour and a half waiting for the 5th rider to vote (which he won't), even though his vote doesn't matter? When the majority has ruled for one of the tracks, let's go racing!
-When the race ends, I am stuck staring at my back. Why? At the very least let me watch the battles going on behind me like a normal spectator. However, I'd prefer to be able to ride around like in Reflex.
-Take a look at ANY guy out on the track (except for maybe a Metal Mulisha wanna be tool, and Mike Alessi), and you'll see that his jersey does in fact extend all the way to his gloves! Why does my rider have to wear a size small jersey and half of his forearm is exposed? I know that you wanted just one more way to show off how you can change the race of your rider, but I'd prefer that my rider's jersey not look like it belongs on a T-Rex.
-Where's the Thor Force helmet? I'm sure that you're planning on doing the Force for DLC, but the game has been out for quite some time and we still don't have one of the most popular helmets on the market? On another note, why are my Tech 10's 3 years old?
The Truth:
You've created a game for a niche market. Let's really be honest here - maybe 2% of the people that are still playing this game and buying the DLC are not moto enthusiasts. I understand that you're not going to make bank off of a game that only moto-enthusiasts buy, so you're trying to cater to a wider market. That's business, and I understand that.
That being said - stop. Stop trying to cater to 2% of your crowd at the expense of the 98% of your other players. The only reason that I'm even still playing this game is because I love motocross. If I didn't love it, I wouldn't have made it past level 15 because I would have been pissed that I only had 4 maps to ride initially, and only a handful after I unlocked the rest. This game takes FAR more work than it should. I think my 2% metric was actually a bit generous - because the only people that are willing to put the work into making this game enjoyable are moto enthusiasts. My thought process behind buying an OEM bike is this, "Well... if I buy it I'll have to level it up. That means 20 minutes spent on a short track going around in circles. You know what... I'd rather have my pinky toe cut off with a rusty spoon than run those short tracks anymore. I already have the Suzuki, I think I'll pass on the other ones."
I've been a bit disappointed with the fact that the OEM limited availability was only made known after people had purchased the game - that's shady and dishonest. Obviously, I haven't had the problems that non-Americans have had, nor the problems that the PS3 users have had, but it's just leaving a bad taste in people's mouths in general. This game seems like one let-down after another. The launch of the new site with the countdown timer - postponed a couple of days. The content that's on the new site - crap. Big trailer debut at A1 - the trailer is TERRIBLE. JS7 compound at release - fail.
The game itself has some seriously glaring issues, but it has a LOT of potential burried under a mound of crap. Ultimately, I don't think it's the best in the series - I was more excited to come home and play Reflex than I have been to play Alive.
However, I will keep playing because, like I said before, the game has a ton of potential.
The Good:
-Graphics - Great, detailed bikes, riders, and environments.
-Proportions - Gone are the days of flying 1,000 feet over a triple. The tracks are closer to scale than they've ever been.
-Customization - It's is back! Sure, I'd like to see a bit more customization (ie: ability to select frame color, glove color, etc...), but I was thrilled to see the ability to change my wheel/hub combo at will (though the color wheel is stupid difficult to work), and very excited to see new number plate colors come into play.
-JS7's compound - Best environment ever. Hands down.
-Sounds - I think the 250's sound better than 450's, but both are improved.
-Traction - Thank God! I can now rail around a corner without being afraid that I'm going to slide out as if I'm riding on ice. Reflex took time getting used to because you had to tiptoe around in order not to lose the back-end. Alive took some time to get used to to break that Reflex habit.
-Ground Physics - For the most part the ground physics are good. Bike reaction to bumps, ability to hit ruts, etc...
-Terrain Deformation - Muuuuuuch better. No longer am I riding over jagged rocks on sandwick.
Good ideas, poor execution:
-DLC - Let's be honest, the DLC has been incredibly poorly executed. I was very excited about the prospect of getting new tracks on a regular basis, being updated with the freshest threads, and getting other misc. goodies. But, between the total cluster fuzzy that is the PS3 situation, download issues like the CRF450R, and the incredibly slow rate of release, this idea just didn't blossom like I thought it would. Day one with the JS7 compound issues seemed to be an indicator of future DLC experience - less than stellar.
-OEM bikes - YES! OEM bikes are in the game! Nooooo! I have to waste 20 minutes of my life on a short track to level them up. Somebody punch me in the face!
-Bar Banging - I'm stoked that I can rub elbows with other riders, but there are a couple of problems: My rider goes into seizure when I do. It seems that every time I throw a strong block pass I'M the one that gets the reflex arrow as that rider I just stuff zips along. Don't get me started on the gestures either.
-Physics - I wasn't sure where to put this. Some are good, some are bad, and some are downright ugly.
The Bad:
-Physics:
-The whip/scrub physics just aren't good. If there was one thing you guys nailed in Reflex, it was the whips/scrubs. In Alive, when I do a quick scrub I end up just kind of awkwardly flopping over on my side in the air. The whips pretty much all look the same, too. Sure, I can throw a pretty good one every now and then, but they all look about the same. They don't ever come all the way back either. I've had to get used to the fact that landing a little bit crooked means I'll actually continue to go straight, but if I have my sticks cranked upon landing to correct for this crooked landing, I will fly right the ef off the track.
-When I really rail a rut, my rider dies of a heart attack. I've noticed this a lot on Edgerock. There are two really good ruts - one right after the triple, double, step-up section that you make a 180 left-hand into a step down; and the one that's just two corners before the finish line (another 180 left-hander). Both ruts are fantastic, except for the fact that if I get down into them and really start railing the rut hard I just... die. What gives? What's the point of terrain deformation if I'm scared to use it?
-Every single time that I go into a rogue stoppy I want to throw my controller through the television. I literally spent about 4 seconds on my front tire yesterday rotating very slowly until my back tire finally touched back down and I could take off. No matter how I hit the throttle or wiggled my rider around, I was just stuck there spinning on my nose.
-Short tracks - This, in my mind, is the biggest epic fail of the game. Words do not describe my utter disdain for short tracks.
-Rider position - I've seen videos of the patch, but the only thing that looks different now is that the rider's elbows are way up, instead of pinned to his sides. I think it's interesting that James was the model for the game (the man who pretty much pioneered the aggro, over the bars riding style) and the rider position in the game is still like he has a pole up his butt.
-Career mode - Or should I say, lack thereof? I understand that you wanted to give the players the opportunity to play the game how they wanted, but I'm not sure how robbing us of a points series accomplished this.
-Perks - This isn't CoD. We don't need perks. I should be able to scrub, we should all start the same, and nobody should be a tank or a wrecking ball because that just makes the game annoying. Beyond that, the perk that allows you to get up from a crash 10 minutes later instead of 12 minutes later is how long it should take to get up anyways. I stare at my unconscious rider far too long after a crash. I understand that there has to be some penalty to crashing, but a brief hold-up, and then having to rebuild my momentum is plenty of punishment.
-Minor issues:
-Why, if I'm in a lobby of 5 riders, 4 of which have voted for the same track, do I spend the entire hour and a half waiting for the 5th rider to vote (which he won't), even though his vote doesn't matter? When the majority has ruled for one of the tracks, let's go racing!
-When the race ends, I am stuck staring at my back. Why? At the very least let me watch the battles going on behind me like a normal spectator. However, I'd prefer to be able to ride around like in Reflex.
-Take a look at ANY guy out on the track (except for maybe a Metal Mulisha wanna be tool, and Mike Alessi), and you'll see that his jersey does in fact extend all the way to his gloves! Why does my rider have to wear a size small jersey and half of his forearm is exposed? I know that you wanted just one more way to show off how you can change the race of your rider, but I'd prefer that my rider's jersey not look like it belongs on a T-Rex.
-Where's the Thor Force helmet? I'm sure that you're planning on doing the Force for DLC, but the game has been out for quite some time and we still don't have one of the most popular helmets on the market? On another note, why are my Tech 10's 3 years old?
The Truth:
You've created a game for a niche market. Let's really be honest here - maybe 2% of the people that are still playing this game and buying the DLC are not moto enthusiasts. I understand that you're not going to make bank off of a game that only moto-enthusiasts buy, so you're trying to cater to a wider market. That's business, and I understand that.
That being said - stop. Stop trying to cater to 2% of your crowd at the expense of the 98% of your other players. The only reason that I'm even still playing this game is because I love motocross. If I didn't love it, I wouldn't have made it past level 15 because I would have been pissed that I only had 4 maps to ride initially, and only a handful after I unlocked the rest. This game takes FAR more work than it should. I think my 2% metric was actually a bit generous - because the only people that are willing to put the work into making this game enjoyable are moto enthusiasts. My thought process behind buying an OEM bike is this, "Well... if I buy it I'll have to level it up. That means 20 minutes spent on a short track going around in circles. You know what... I'd rather have my pinky toe cut off with a rusty spoon than run those short tracks anymore. I already have the Suzuki, I think I'll pass on the other ones."
I've been a bit disappointed with the fact that the OEM limited availability was only made known after people had purchased the game - that's shady and dishonest. Obviously, I haven't had the problems that non-Americans have had, nor the problems that the PS3 users have had, but it's just leaving a bad taste in people's mouths in general. This game seems like one let-down after another. The launch of the new site with the countdown timer - postponed a couple of days. The content that's on the new site - crap. Big trailer debut at A1 - the trailer is TERRIBLE. JS7 compound at release - fail.
The game itself has some seriously glaring issues, but it has a LOT of potential burried under a mound of crap. Ultimately, I don't think it's the best in the series - I was more excited to come home and play Reflex than I have been to play Alive.
However, I will keep playing because, like I said before, the game has a ton of potential.
My biggest questionis why does the 250fs seem so much faster then the 450s while racing and by lap times?
There are some really fast on line players, I wish I could hang with them but I can't and admit it. I'll play once in a while but not like reflex, it just is not worth it at this point in the series progression. I'll wait a year and get the next generation and hope for the best. THQ did a good job of fixing the on-line issues and making the AI riders faster, but the physics on Alive are not very good. Get the corning fixed, add lighter faster physics and have an adjustable controller set up and you will have a winner THQ. The way it stands now is a good arcade / novice game set up.
GAY AS AIDS.
Whats frustrating is that THQ will completely ignore them and continue on in their bamboozled ways in what they think is acceptable.
The Shop
In regards to the bikes - it looks like they may have got their power curve maps mixed up. The OEM 250f's are more along the lines of what you'd expect from the OEM 450's. Instead the OEM 450, though perfectly ridable, is slower than almost everything else in the game. Obviously something has gone wrong here.
Physics are a mixed bag. I totally agree.
DLC has a been a shambles so far. If there are certain countries that can't get various bits of dlc content despite the teams best efforts, well then fair enough. But it should've been made clear from the start. To this day I still haven't seen neither hide or hair of a Honda CRF or Suzuki RMZ, and I don't hold out out much hope for doing so either. Neither have I received any patch or update related to adding a gyro effect to the physics (though judging by some of the patch reviews this may be a good thing).
Alive is flawed, but I think the positives addressed by THQ outweigh the flaws. No trucks/buggy's. The online mode is EONS better than Reflex. The terrain deformation is not only improved, but more functional (bike seems to stick in ruts better). OEM bikes are available. The collision deal is better, but has introduced some other minor issues (the right "skills" setup remedies most of these problems). I personally like the leveling system but wish it went deeper, with prestige modes signified by background colors or special graphics. My biggest gripe is the game-play since the patch; they over-cooked the gas gyro IMO. That being said, I still play the damn thing every night. Perfect game? Nope. Fun game? Yes. Turd? I don't think so.
That said, Reflex had tons of potential as well and both are great games on their own. Will THQ scrap Alive like they did Reflex and make a completely different game for Alive2? That is just it, they had a great game a could have tweeked it and made new tracks. Will they continue with Alive and tweek it and make more tracks? We need some continuity here.
good write up Grieby, and you did it without sounding like a whiny little bitch
i HATE the gas gyro.
still really like the game, but damn, the gyro is horrible
I also still really like the game. Despite my moaning over this and that, I keep coming back because overall it's good.
Had a blast online last night - which is thankfully a lot more stable than Reflex.
I don't understand the dislike of the gas gyro (that everybody was asking for). Ride like you would in real life - keep the front end low in the air until you're about to land, then rev it out.
when i hold the clutch in the air with the gas pegged to tear ass when i land, it drops the rear of my bike.
the rest of the gyro doesn't bother me, only when i'm clutching to try and build the clutch meter.
will just take a different style to play now, for me at least
Pit Row
Should I? I am trying to find a used copy at gamestop so that if, like I am expecting, it is a complete turd, I can then take it back and exchange it.
What do you guys think.
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