Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX was doomed by Tony Hawk 2. Last summer we spent hours playing the Mirra demo — one rider (Dave), one level (Woodward), kinda buggy, and it was still so fun. But Hawk 2 raised the bar for game quality, and this one suffers from poor controlling and slow graphics. I got this game and Hawk 2 at the same time, and I can count on one hand the number of times I played Mirra in the first four months I owned them.
It works pretty much the same way as Hawk: perform different tasks and tricks to open up new levels and get better bikes. But this game feels sluggish, and sometimes in the middle of a trick the game slows down a lot. Controlling the rider is frustrating: you can't always go where you want to go — even just a straight line!). Going over a bump often points you in another direction, and if you accidentally bump into something you start rolling back.
The music, though overall pretty good (including Swingin' Utters, Rancid, Cypress Hill, Social Distortion), drives you crazy — where Hawk 2 (sorry, but it's impossible to avoid comparisons) randomizes the music while you're working on a level, Mirra plays the same song over and over and over. (If you don't already hate Sublime, you will...) Luckily you can turn the music off.
There are some other minor annoying things. Nepotism makes for an odd rider choice (Tim Mirra?), and the sponsor tie-ins are a bit much. I can understand earning better bikes to go faster and bigger, but who cares about earning a No Fear sponsorship? Completing every level with a character unlocks a video of that rider, but the video is way too short. And beating the game opens a secret character: the guy from the Slim Jim commercials (lame).
Playing the game opens signature tricks for each rider (such as Ryan Nyquist's signature no-footed cancans). Other impossible trick combos (no-handed decade air? barspin lookback?) are fun, and the levels are big with lots to explore, but the difficulty controlling it takes the fun out of the game. The good news is that you can download a demo and try it out first to decide for yourself.
» Official website
» Buy it at Amazon.com
