When Midway announced Freestyle Metal X, our ears immediately perked up. The game sounded intriguing, but would it be:
A) a motocross racing game
B) a Dave Mirra-esque stunt game
C) a title rife with outrageous mini-games, or
D) a one-trick pony that lets you ride around on player-created tracks?
As it turns out, Freestyle Metal X is shaping up to be
E) all of the above, minus the “one trick pony” bit.
DailyGame recently spoke with the game’s associate producer, Nico Bihary, who enlightened us about all that the game will offer when it ships this June.
DailyGame: What sorts of gameplay modes can gamers expect in Freestyle Metal X?
Nico Bihary: Freestyle Metal X has several different types of game modes. There is a deep Career Mode that is loaded with numerous events. Each area in Career Mode has a group of Challenges, a Freestyle competition, a Big Air competition, Hill Climb and a Race. The Challenges are a series of task assigned to the player by the Info Chicks. These Challenges or missions are designed to help the player familiarize himself with the bike and its controls. You can also earn some extra cash for successfully completing the Challenges. Freestyle mode is an event where the player must score more points then his competition. Learning the subtle nuances of the levels, finding all the best trick areas will be a must. In Big Air, the player will have to take his bike off a huge jump and do as many stunts as he can. Again, scoring the most points will enable the player to move on. In Hill Climb the player must climb the side of a steep cliff, finding the proper balance of speed and balance to reach the top. Fastest to the top wins. Finally, Race mode, where the player competes head-to-head with the area boss in a point-to-point race through the level. If the player can defeat the boss, he will become the new area champ and that boss will be unlocked and can now be used in the game. Each level has a boss, and they must all be defeated in order to become the MetalX champion.
Metal X also has a Daredevil course. In the Daredevil arena, the player can bet money in a series of crazy events: bus or car jumping, tunnel of fire, wall of death, and the insane loop de loop. The more the player can do, the more money he can earn.
There is also a Quick Play section that allows the player to quickly jump in and play if he desires. And we?ve included a Track Editor so the player can create his own worlds.
DG: How does the seamless level system work? Will new levels be unlocked by exploration, achieving objectives or a combination of both?
NB: Our seamless level system allows the player the freedom to do what they want, when they want by moving between each level one at a time without experiencing any load times. However, the player will start with only one world available. By earning cash, the player can unlock new worlds. Each time a world is unlocked, you can then access it in ?Freeride? mode. Also, at the end of the game, the player will have to run an Enduro race against the main boss character to become Metal X champ. The Enduro race is a 20-minute race through every level, no load times. Winner take all!
DG: Tell us more about the Freeride mode.
NB: This mode is in the game simply to allow the player to roam around the massive environments to familiarize himself for future events. Again, as mentioned above, the player will be able to go from world to world with no load times (assuming the levels have been unlocked in Career Mode). We allow the player to be anti-establishment by breaking windows, running people over and ride where you normally can?t ride?and get away with it.
DG: So will the laws of physics be ?enhanced? at all, or do you plan to keep the action extreme yet based in reality?
NB: The physics system is grounded in realism, but it does have its fantasy elements. We had to allow the player to get more air than you most likely would in real life, because we wanted the player to be able to do pull off numerous stunts per each jump. Also, the game being fun is more important than it being completely authentic and I think we have struck a nice balance between the two. After all, we wanted the player to be able to perform stunts off the top of buildings, get air over the Vegas Strip and shoot themselves out of a cannon onto the Marina streets. Besides that, the physics are very real. The rider physics, how he pulls off stunts and how he reacts with his environment, look and feel very genuine.
DG: With the number of real-world riders in the game, did you do any motion-capture sequences with them, or how did you animate the riders and tricks?
NB: Because Freestyle Metal X has an unlimited stunt system we thought that it was necessary to do motion capture with our licensed riders. We had our guys do some basic stuff on bike and we had them do their introductory poses. To motion capture the actual stunts, however, would have been near impossible to pull off. We had an artist create frames of our riders in their main positions, then our IK system interpolated the frames between the different poses, giving the animation system a fluid look.
DG: How many players will Freestyle Metal X support for multiplayer?
NB: Freestyle Metal X has a Party Mode that allows for up to 8 players. Metal X will have two party games, Human Darts & Duck Hunter. In Human Darts, the player takes his bike full speed towards a small wall. When he hits the wall, the rider is launched into a giant dartboard. Depending on where the rider lands, he will score a certain amount of points. The player with the most points wins! In Duck Hunter, the player drives his bike towards a group of ducks moving from one side of the arena to the other (much like the old carnival attractions). The player will have to hit as many ducks as possible to win.
DG: Will Freestyle Metal X include any online functionality?
NB: Unfortunately there will be no online functionality. It?s something we definitely want to put in to the next iteration.
DG: You mentioned the Level Editor. Will gamers also be able to create and save their own sub-games?
NB: Unfortunately, gamers will not be able to create their own sub-games. Hopefully we?ll get to that in the sequel.
DG: How will gaining money affect gameplay?
NB: Money is used for two main purposes in Freestyle Metal X. The first is the ability to use money to unlock the different worlds. Once the player earns enough cash, either by finding it in the worlds or earning it by competing in events, he or she can use that money to unlock another area. As area?s become unlocked you will be able to ride seamlessly between each level without any load times. The player will also be able to use money to upgrade their bike?s engine, brakes, tires, and/or suspension. Each has a direct affect on how the player?s bike will handle during gameplay.
DG: What?s the craziest sub-game you?ve created so far?
NB The craziest sub-game created was the Human Darts. Here the player has to ride his bike towards a giant dart-board, jump off the bike and try to land as close to the center as possible. It?s kind of funny to see the rider do a face plant into the ground. It really shows off our crash animations.
DailyGame will have hands-on impressions of Freestyle Metal X from E3. Until then, check out the exclusive new screenshot below and head on over to the game’s official homepage.
Special thanks to Nico Bihary and the team at Midway for speaking with us about Freestyle Metal X.
