AMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
MX vs. ATV: Untamed is a conglomeration of motocross sports from dirt bikes, dune buggies and, of course, ATVs. You race to the finish in your same class or mix vehicles for epic races over grass, dust and mud.

What's Hot
The success of any off-road game comes down to how well the sense of adrenaline comes across. Fortunately Untamed does a serviceable job at capturing that feeling through a mix of game elements.

The presentation looks like a broadcast of the X-Games. The way the menu is displayed with moving, geometric parts gives it that similarity. The music that accompanies the growling motors has everything from rock to punk that fit the style and culture of extreme motor sports. The inclusion of all kinds of motorized vehicles goes a long way at making a distinction between Untamed and other extreme motor sports games. There is simply more vehicles in the game, Rainbow Studios went as far as including Monster Trucks and mini-MX bikes.

On top of all the vehicles you can drive, there are an equal number of modes to participate in. Not only can you race your own class, you can mix and match classes a la MotorStorm. You can enter tournaments where you win cash prizes where you then can buy new vehicles, parts or colors to define your personal look. When you go in a map and "Free Ride" around, you can make your own game jumping off buildings or just see how fast you can crash into an oak tree.



What's Not
The thrill of being in the middle of a dirt storm only lasts so long. While Untamed has a good sense of adrenaline, the sense of speed can be lacking some of the time. What doesn't help are the graphics. While not terrible by any means, they just seem slightly-better-than-average for the powerful consoles with "billboard" objects and lackluster textures. The tournaments can also drag on as they tend to grind after you plow through the first couple.

Controls are a little off. The reset button is set too close to the trick buttons and when in the middle of some massive air, it is all too easy to hit the reset button only to ruin your momentum. This isn't game breaking but it can kill the excitement. There are some options to adjust the controls but default controls will could be an issue.

Untamed seems to have some sort of identity crisis. On one hand, the game has high-flying stunt driven gameplay but there is a limit on how crazy you can get. The gameplay ends up in limbo between extreme stunts and a run-of-the-mill arcade racer. Not to over exaggerate, by playing normal tournaments you won't encounter this ceiling but if you go hog-wild when you are exploring maps, you'll discover where the limitations arise.

Final Word
Untamed is a nice entry into the legacy that Rainbow Studios has carved out for itself. However, Untamed hasn't made the jump all that well onto the next-gen consoles after the impressive showing with MX vs. ATV: Unleashed. The best part of Untamed is all the modes and vehicles that are thrown at you to have fun with. There is quite a deal of presentation that comes with the package but the gameplay isn't up to snuff as past Rainbow Studio efforts. All that said, it doesn't get much better than logging on for an online game where you and 7 other people making your own fun with the Free Ride mode.