Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2

"A Good, not Great Game"

Well, I don't play many extreme-sports games, so when I booted up my PS2 to play Dave Mirra 2 I was in for a pretty unique experience. But now that I have played others(not as much as this one though) I have to say, DM2 suffers from some very noticeable issues.

Graphics
The graphics are a mixed bag. They're not stunning by a long shot, but the characters move very realistically and their crash animations will make YOU cringe. Couple this with a large draw distance and you get a game that's relatively easy on the eyes.
Score- 7.5/10

Sound
The music in this game is a blend of rock/punk/rap so if you don't like any of them, you'll be very disappointed. Most songs are good, but there's some stinkers. So music along gets a 8, and sound gets a 3. Yes, a three. For some odd reason game developers of this genre refuse to put any sound effects other than ugh and err. Sure, no one else does anything different, but why doesn't Acclaim innovate a little?
Score- 6/10

Control
If you've played any Tony Hawk game you'll be right at home here. While the default control setup is kind of funky, you can change it to Hawk-style controls. So, for those of you who have been living in a hole for the past 4 years, you hit strings of buttons in air(or ground) in order to do some tricks. You link them together with stalls and manuals. But they just don't seem as responsive as other games out there. Manuals are alot tougher to pull off, and connecting tricks is a little harder to pull off, which may or may not be good depending on the player.
Score- 6/10

Gameplay
I'll start with the basics here. You can choose from around 4 modes, each of which is pretty different form the other. You have the very typical Pro-Quest(i.e. Season) in which you guide one of many pros through the games many levels. Next up you have Session, where you ride around unlocked levels trying to score as many points as possible in three minutes. Then we got Multiplayer, where you and a friend play against each other through some not to fun minigames. Last but certainly not least there's the amazingly awesome track editor, which gives you the ability to create tons of very unique levels.

But the real meat of DM2 is Pro-Quest. You chose a character, and set off for the first level. Here, you go through a bunch of challenges, each tougher and more frustrating than the last. Completing them gives you Respect points, which help you get new bikes and levels. The most frustrating thing about this game, though, is the fact Respect points don't carry over to other characters. So in order to play certain levels in any mode, you have to select a character who's gotten to that level in Pro-Quest! Not good. On a lighter the levels in this game are HUGE, easily drowning many other games levels. The real problem is, there so big, it makes even simple challenges a pain. For instance, in the first level one challenge is to knock over four ladders. Sounds easy? It's anything but. I rode around for 20 minutes searching for the ladders, of course having to start over every 3 minutes when my time ran out. Not my idea of a good time.

Luckily,if you survive some of the tedious challenges, you'll get yourself some new levels. Most are pretty awesome, such as a Water Park, while others, like the Highway, make you want to puke. As I mentioned earlier, with more Respect points you'll get new bikes, which you need for some of the super tough challenges.
Score- 7/10

Pros and Cons
+Huge levels
+Awesome track editor
+Above average soundtrack
-Blah challenges
-Respect points don't carry over to other characters
-Sound?

Rent or Buy?
Despite how much I've bashed this game, it was enjoyable. It has some kinks to work out, but #3 has a bit of hope. If you're starved for extreme-sports action, and have played the THPS's, or you think stakeboarding is for sissies, you'll want to buy this, especially with it's cheap $20 price tag. Everyone else, rent.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/29/03, Updated 04/29/03