Toxic Grind


One has to admire what THQ is attempting with its brand of extreme sports offerings. First, Dark Summit, a title that combines an intriguing storyline centered on aliens and a whole lot of snowboarding freestyle, and now Toxic Grind, a BMX racer meets The Running Man. Originality is definitely not a problem here. And indeed, if developer Blue Shift can successfully merge futuristic storyline and intuitive BMX trick controls, gamers everywhere could be in for a real treat.


  • Advanced 3D engine developed specifically for GameCube and Xbox
  • First ever BMX game with a storyline
  • Mission based objectives
  • 14 different levels through different time periods
  • Dozens of in-game tricks and freestyle moves
  • Four unique gameplay modes for gamers to explore
  • Seven different mini-games
  • Possible unique levels to GameCube

Toxic Grind, due out for GameCube and Xbox (and not PS2) in the second half of 2002, tells the story of Jason Hayes, a rising BMX rider who is unsuspectingly zapped from his stardom and sucked into the year 2097. Here, he meets the evil Dixon Von Blass, the greedy host of a futuristic television game show that injects BMX bikers with a deadly poison and has them ride across deadly obstacle courses to save their own lives.

"Rider, I hope you're ready," declares the sick and twisted Dixon Von Blass, "because it's time to ride!" And boy is that the truth. From the moment Toxic Grind starts, players are thrust into a futuristic landscape filled with looping pipes, lasers, and swinging blades that would like nothing more than to dice and slice riders into pieces. It's anarchy, but luckily it's not just a gimmick -- there's really something to enjoy here. "This can't be happening," says the hero of the game, Jason Hayes, as he blazes about.

Hayes is controlled with the analog stick and made to grind and bunny-hop with, we assume, the Y and A buttons respectively. There are various special tricks and moves that can also be performed. He can flip, kick out, no-hand, or swing the bike around at his discretion. The control, a little loose, but still defined, feels similar to Dave Mirra 2 for GameCube, except much of the actions are made easier in Toxic Grind. For example, grinding -- a key part of the game, is simplified so that it's almost impossible to fall once it has started. This makes perfect sense given that many of the pipes and obstacles that can be shredded loop upward and around, and therefore so does the player. It's gravity-defying stuff and it feels very solid.

Toxic Grind on Xbox

Probably the most appealing aspect of the game, though, is the level design itself. Bear in mind that we thus far played only one of the scheduled 14 areas of the title, but it was an immense thing, not only impressive in length but also scale -- as in, it stretched up and up and up still. Filled with grindable objects, ramps, and death traps (blades that swing out of walls, sharp boulders that crush riders, etc.), it's laid out in a totally non-linear fashion so that players can go and come as they please. At first, riders may only notice the first level and its many obstacles -- there are quite a lot of them, we admit. But either by accident or on purpose, they will soon discover that if they catch enough air on a ramp, they can propel their bikes upward to the next level -- and the next, and the next, and still the next after that. And when it's all done, it's possible to bunny-hop onto a spiraling pipe and grind five floors down -- simply beautiful design. THQ promises that some of the levels will be placed in such areas as the Sherwood Forest, the ancient Roman Coliseum, and an Underwater Cave, among other locales.

In Toxic Grind, there is a time limit and there are clear goals per level. In one area, for example, the objective might be to drain pools of water and gain access to a previously hidden part of the stage. In another, it might be to search out keys and free members of the Underground -- teams of ally BMX riders who have been captured by the game show. Other goals still have riders knocking out cameras and satellites used by the station to monitor the activity or players, finding keys to deactivate bombs, and sinking a battleship or destroying a helicopter. Above everything else, there are enemy riders -- kind of like the Sub-Zero character from The Running Man -- who challenge gamers every so often. It's all about trick and objective points and whoever gets more wins. The loser -- well, he dies.

There are four modes of play: Underground, a ride for one's life against the evil game show; Treads of Death Circuit, a competition against computer-controlled characters for score; Arcade, a free ride through all of the levels; and Multiplayer, which features seven different mini-games such as horse, turf wars and king.

Toxic Grind has a lot going for it technically. Developer Blue Shift has created a unique freestyle environment brought to life with loads of sprawling geometry, highly detailed and varied texture work, and a host of effects including real-time lighting and fantastic model shadows. There is also a wide selection of gory particle effects; blood sprays out of the player's body when he's diced by an unavoidable blade, or as he's knocked over off a ledge, etc. The animation is, for the most part, very fluid, though it is sometimes hampered by the project's framerate -- so far it's only visible shortcoming -- which drops below 30 regularly. Two things to remember though: we have only sampled the Xbox version, and of course the game is far from finished.

So how will the GameCube version stack up? According to Blue Shift, it will look identical thanks to a new rendering technique it has recently mastered, but would not detail. In addition, the software house is debating on whether or not to add two exclusive new areas to the Nintendo version of the title, which it hopes to do, but may axe if time runs thin.

Toxic Grind is an interesting idea. Mixing a storyline with the play mechanics of a BMX bike game is certainly a refreshing change from the same old, same old, and if developer Blue Shift can bring everything together nicely the end result should be a lot of fun. We were fairly impressed with the time we spent with the Xbox version of the title. Our only gripe regards the framerate, which proved sluggish and in need of serious tweaking. Assuming that's corrected, there's no reason Toxic Grind won't prove a worthy alternative to Dave Mirra later this year.

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