Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2

"Fun for all the family!!"

INTRO:
a few years ago,about 2000,a game for the playstation came out,dave mirras one,and it enjoyed moderate success.a few years later,and this fantastic game was released on the ps2,gamecube and X-box.

GAMEPLAY: Score:8.5/10
the gameplay on this game is pretty good,but very sloppy at some sections.the controls are quite responsive,but a little jerky as well,and the game acts very slow and sluggish at some bits.otherwise,the controls dont stop you from exectuing killer moves.the game has several challenges on each level,and each stage of the challenges [the standard challenges,the hardcore challenges and the even harder challenges] these get harder as you progress with each level.the trick editor is great on this game.say,if you do a no-hander,then a superman,you'll end up with a no-handed superman. This style leads to over 1,200 tricks just waiting to be used.the levels are huge, and will take some time to find all gaps and explore them fully.

GRAPHICS: Score:8/10
the graphics on this game are very nice,if not a little simplistic.everything looks like what its meant to be,but they look a bit bland,not very realistic.they look too generated,as if the developers didnt try to put in realistic enviroments. the bikes look great, and so do the respective riders, who each have an individual clothing style and competition outfit, for competitions, natch. tricks are nicely animated, but crash, and the rider acts like a ragdoll, screwing up the graphics if he's near something which the rider will get glitched into.

SOUND: Score:7.5/10
the sound is very nice,as everything has a respective sound,eg.trees have bird noises near them,water has rippling sound etc.the game has a pretty good soundtrack,with tracks from Ozzy Osbourne,the Cult,Sum 41,Fenix Tx and many more.the bikes tire noises sound great too,as they sound different on different enviorments,so there a different tire to ground noise for tarmac,gravel,mud,offroad and many more.

PLAYTIME/REPLAYABILITY: Score:9/10
I could probably spend hours on this game on freeride,just perfecting tricks and tricky gaps.getting all the challenges completed on the game is tricky too,especially against the strict 3:00 minute clock.getting the competition outfits and every bike for EVERY character takes ages too,and theres also two secret characters to unlock.every rider in the game [except the two secret riders,plus one other rider] has a movie of them BMX'n to unlock,so you'll probably spend ages on this game.

FINAL RECOMMENDATION:
hmm....a tough one this.to buy,or not to buy?? i would rent it,and if you get used to the slow gameplay,you would probably love the game,so renting is probably a good idea.if you really take a shining to the game,buying it is definitly something to consider.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/12/03, Updated 02/12/03