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PlayStation Freestyle Motrocross: McGrath vs. Pastrana Developer: Z-Axis | Publisher: Acclaim Max Sports
Rating: FReno
Type: Action Skill Level: Intermediate
Players: 1-2 Available: Now

I honestly don't know how to put this gently; but McGrath vs. Pastrana is bad...real bad. Following the horror that was Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000, I thought that Acclaim may have been a little bit wiser and had given the McGrath license to Acclaim Sports, the guys who developed the outstanding Dave Mirra BMX. Unfortunately for gamers everywhere, Z-Axis is at it again, this time not only pulling Jeremy McGrath's name through the mud, but Travis Pastrana's as well.

I could literally start off on any aspect of this game and I don't think I could touch on one single aspect that was above 'bad'. The graphics in the game are not what you'd expect from a 5th generation PlayStation game, and maybe not even from a 1st gen title. Pop-up is abundant, so much in fact that you'll literally see the track popping up about 3 seconds before you're on it. The framerate is extremely choppy, not to mention the textures are so grainy and bland that it's sometimes hard to decipher what's part of the track and what's not.

The gameplay is just as bad. While the framerate obviously makes it difficult to control your bike, turning into sharp corners is extremely easy by pressing L1 or R1 to powerslide. Simply put, the powerslides in this game are money; you'll never miss a corner by powersliding. Ever.

Even easier than powersliding are the variety of freestyle moves you can pull off during your race to rack up your points. To pull off any move requires you to press a direction and any button, that's about it. There are no special "Gaps" like in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 to increase your score for pulling off crazy stunts, nor are there any modifiers to speak of. You basically do your couple of moves in the air and go on your merry way.

Aurally, the soundtrack to the game is half-decent; I wouldn't mind listening to this on the radio if it ever played, although I can't say the same for the sound effects. The motorbikes sounds like someone running a wooden stick down a handwash board instead of the 150cc beasts that they're supposed to be.

To conclude, I'm really disappointed in this title. I think that anyone who's had the pleasure (or displeasure, however you look at it) of playing the earlier Jeremy McGrath titles will know what to expect here, because the effort is exactly the same as the previous games: half-hearted.

 

Bottom Line: Stay away. Stay far away.

 

 

 

· · · Reno


 
Rating: C-Reno
Graphics: 3 Sound: 4
Gameplay: 5 Replay: 2
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