MX vs. ATV Alive, the fifth game in the franchise, for PlayStation 3 is a fun racing game that allows the user to choose between Motocross and ATV races. Racing games can take a lot of practice to master and this one is no exception. There are several track and vehicle options to choose from and all will present both benefits and hindrances to increasing your racing skills.
MX vs. ATV Alive has both long and short races. Only a few of the tracks are available at the first level of the game, with additional tracks opening up as more races are completed. The longer tracks are much more interesting and more fun to play.
The 
scenery is quite detailed and provides quite a few challenges including hills and twists and turns. There are also a wide variety of vehicles to choose from. The bikes are much easier to handle and develop riding skills on than the ATVs. I found myself struggling to place in the ATV races, while after few go rounds on a bike I was finishing in first place.
The progression of the game is fairly basic. Players must compete in races in order for their rider to gain skills and unlock better performing vehicles as well as more advanced tracks. Riders start as “Weekend Warriors” with a small amount of slower stock vehicles. You then compete in races and the better you do the higher you can progress from the rookie to the pro ranks. New riders are mentored by Motocross champion James Stewart, though the mentoring is primarily just some short video clips that come on after a player does well in a race. The video clips might be cool for Motocross fans but the average player probably won’t get a lot out of them. They mostly just offer some words of encouragement.
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