MAT HOFFMAN'S PRO BMX 2 (PS2, GC, XBOX)


The Condor soars to new heights

By WILLIAM BARKER

Similar, yet at the same time different to Activision's usual O2 fare, Mat Hoffman 2 serves up something that's both entertaining, yet not completely void of originality.

Take Tony Hawk 3, or even the original Mat Hoffman title: You choose a player, pick the first level and basically have to unlock a handful of 'goals' before you can tackle subsequent levels in rigid order.

Slap me with a trout if Rainbow Studios hasn't thrown a digital spanner into the works, because this game makes use of a more novel approach: It's time to take a road-trip.

While many may be shaking their heads and labelling me as a Hawk-hater: Not true! I love the guy, in fact I just recently purchased Tony Hawk-inspired lederhosen direct from Germany-land.

It's just that the old 'level-by-level' approach is getting pretty tedious, and Mat Hoffman 2 presents a fresh new style, while keeping all the good parts from the original.

The road trip feature kicks off during the intro, and it should be mentioned that the video quality (on all systems) is very impressive. And get this BMX fans; there's more than 90 minutes of full-motion video to boot!

Anyway, the road-trip idea is integrated into the game by allowing the user to decide which level to tackle next. Not a bad idea, eh? The way in which the whole road-trip theme works is very charming too, with the Hoffman bus driving to eight different locations around America.

Interestingly, all the riders included in the game, such as Hoffman, Escamilla, Kowalski and Nastazio, feature in the video clips at the locations you get to play in the game.

This is because they all jumped on the Hoffman tour bus and actually went out to all the locations to film the segments for the game. Furthermore, you get a different video at each location with every rider -- cool or what?

Other new additions to the game include populated levels, which means you'll have to navigate around (or over) people, cars and even aircraft. Flatland tricks also make an appearance, which are great for bumping up huge grind/vert combos and are rather damned nice to watch, too.

There's also a new trick tweaking system that wouldn't be feasible on the skatey, which allows you to perform almost any move as a one footer or a no hander, for example. The number of tricks on offer in MHPB2 is massive to begin with, so by pushing the 'tweak' button and any direction on the control stick you can pull off consistently different moves.

Getting down to business is simple. You can't pick the first level - it's chosen for you: Hoffman's warehouse in Oklahoma city. Once you've completed the 12 challenges on this level, split into three stages or layers (as is the case in all levels) you have more freedom to choose where to go next.

As for the challenges themselves, which make up for the meat of the game, most are pretty cool and offer a good level of variety - boredom isn't likely to set in until you've clocked it with at least half-a-dozen characters.

There are a few that tend to get a little tedious, but in general the goals are a big improvement over the original Hoffman game.

Like all good O2 games, there's a special meter that fills up as you successfully perform and finish tricks, which enable you to do even more intense special tricks. In Hoffman 2 however, it's called an adrenaline meter. Go figure…

So, the gameplay has come of age and is worth a solid 85 per cent, with the new flatland tricks, tweak system and road trip all adding to the experience. But we're not finished here, no Siree!

The graphics are a very important aspect of MHPB2 for the simple fact that the extreme sports category is a contested genre, and often the most attractive title will reign supreme.

With this in mind, Hoffman 2 offers some very nice vistas, and while the levels are generally quite large, I feel that some of them could have been expanded more. Still, texture detail and object complexity are high, meaning this truly looks like a next-gen game.

On all three systems, Hoffman 2 is delight to watch, moving at a very stable 30fps. Watching a veteran go nuts with flatland tricks is almost as good as doing them yourself, such is the motion capture and lithe animation.

There are a couple of glitches with texture seams here and there, but on the whole, this is one very impressive showing from Rainbow Studios.

And then there was music… While music tastes always differ more widely than for, say videogames, I found the choons on offer were pretty spiffy, adding greatly to the experience of punting about on a BMX.

With the likes of Bomfunk MC's, Iggy Pop, LL Cool J, Fugazi and Ice-T all making the cut, you'll be well into your sixth time round before the music starts to grate.

Sound effects? Yeah, they made the cut. Lots of grinding, clunking sounds. They may not be awe inspiring, but they do the job.

For me, one of the best things about Hoffman 2, and other Tony Hawk-derived games for that matter, is the longevity factor. Even once you've finished the game, which takes bloody ages if you do it properly with 100% goals for all characters, the gameplay is still enough on its own to bring you back for more.

While I've always thought the physics were a bit out of whack (the amounts of air you get is physically impossible in the real world), it doesn't really matter as it's the gameplay that counts, and the gameplay rocks. My only real major gripe with the game is that it is sometimes too hard, which often stems from goals not being explained properly.

Even so, with the new flatland tricks making manuals more than just an afterthought, new multiplayer games - including the funky 'push' mode - and the 'road-trip' theme adding more immersion, Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 will provide fans of the two-wheeler with months of joy and stands tall in an increasingly crowded exteme sports genre.

And those who are thinking this is just Tony Hawk with pedals - not true. Sure there's the obligatory grind, stall and air tricks, but it plays differently and reacts differently.

At the end of the day, this is a huge improvement over the original and definitely worth investigating for those who like their sports games with more oomph.

ORIGINALITY 85%
SOUND/GRAPHICS 90%
PLAYABILITY 85%
ADDICTION 95%
ENJOYMENT 90%