Interviews// MX vs ATV Reflex

SPOnG: One of the criticisms levelled at Untamed was that it had elements of simulation and elements of arcade play, but it was a bit unpredictable as to which you were going to get at any given point...

Ian Wood: We chose the worst bits, I feel. I mean, we (put in some that were) out of our control, some in our control. I don't think that we presented the best product we could have, in many ways.

We'll go into arcade and sim in a moment, but one thing I think was that the art, as well, was for me... we feel we've improved it greatly. We feel that we've moved a couple of games on, rather than just the next iteration it's a couple of iterations.

Just looking at the art style now – all the resolution we have back to the height field system – here's some quick stats about how in the old game we were using up to eight to 10ft polys to describe a hill, where now we're down to 6 inches on some of those levels. We've just got so much resolution back that's reflected in the art, the driving, the road surface and that sort of thing.

As far as arcade and sim, we really wanted to make the game as accessible as possible but also still please the hardcore crowd. The hardcore crowd are always pushing for more and more and more. They talk about manual gear systems, front and rear braking, all this stuff that will just exclude a great number of players. And, what we don't want to do is create a sim. So, there's an interesting dynamic in the studio – we have the riders who ride all the time and (compete in) National races. They are actually playing for real, on real toys (grins), and there's also the objective developer people in the studio who are always pushing back, saying 'that wouldn't be fun'.

We feel we've really come to a good point with the rider control system, the wreck recovery – they really provide an engaging experience for all. It's as deep as you want (it to be), too. With easy AI on a really simple level it's just going to be a quick race and easy to beat and then, for the person who really wants to go the whole hog, it's the Nat(ional) that's got the two heats and the lost jumps qualifier and the gate selection and all that sort of thing. So, we really feel we've got as much appeal as possible.


SPOnG: The last game had other vehicles. Will we see that in Reflex?

Ian Wood: That's come forward too, with the physics system, with the deformation. Expect to see great improvements there, too. Some of those vehicles will be carried forwards, some we'll lose, some we'll gain. But we're really trying to focus so the vehicles in the game have a place in the game.


SPOnG: Has anything been done in terms of dual analogue control for those vehicles?

Ian Wood: No, we really wanted to separate this and be really strict with the fact that the rider's on the right and the machine, the vehicle, is on the left. And, to that point, there are advantages to being on a motorbike when you're against, say, one of those powerful pickups or buggies – you can get around a corner a lot quicker using a bike, but the advantage the (bigger) machines have is they can just blow everyone away in a straight line and probably run it off the road at the same time (laughs). So it's speed over handling.


SPOnG: So, multiplayer. What have you got?

Ian Wood: Just like the single-player modes – arcade and the career, which we've also put a lot of work in to making it a lot more accessible – the multiplayer will also have 12 riders. So there will be 12 AI riders or 12 online players. It will still feature all the things you see. Each of the modes will have a multiplayer mode. The career and the arcade will have their own specific challenges in there, too.


SPOnG: Is there split-screen, local multiplayer too?

Ian Wood: Yes.