I’ll get right down to business, make my point, then move on to another review (by a newcomer to the track making field, no less). Surely Mal can appreciate that.
When I read the readme for this, I saw, “Buzzard Country by Malibu350, an MTM2 sequel to Vulture Canyon”. Since Mal has gone from doing straight EVO/EVO 4X4 to MTM 2 conversions, to hybrids, to using converted textures on original designs of his own…after I read the “sequel to Vulture Canyon” line, I wasn’t sure if “Buzzard Country” was a completely original concept using converted textures, a combination of several different tracks, or a conversion based on an EVO 4X4 number. Heck, I didn’t even realize “Vulture Canyon” was an EVO 4X4 track (ok, so call me clueless)! Well, it is, and as such, the words in his readme make sense. However…lol, I’m a bit more inclined to say this track is “based on Vulture Canyon” as opposed to being a sequel since the layouts are very comparable to one another. I can almost hear Mal now saying, “
Yeah, yeah Copey - I got your based on crap right here, pal!” lol.
By now I think everyone knows Mal adlibs quite a bit with his conversions. If something doesn’t quite fit right, or if he thinks he has a better way of doing a certain portion of the layout, he’ll go for it. Holding true to form he did the same thing here, and after running EVO 4X4’s “Vulture Canyon” I definitely prefer the layout in Buzzard. It gives you several different things to think about, to include the stones in the road that’ll trip you up as you head toward checkpoint (cp) 3, split just before cp 4, the broken bridge (it’s intact on Vulture Canyon), and the extremely sharp angle he threw in at the end of the lap, just before you get to the water by the finish line. If you’re not constantly thinking ahead, anticipating the next turn on this track, I guarantee you’ll end up in the side of a rock.
Technically speaking it’s the same ole story - the texture work is superb, and I mean really superb. The model placement and accuracy is topnotch, and he’s got two (yep, that’s right) mountain lions in the track, not just Lethargic Leo lol. I won’t disclose where the other one is; I’ll let people look for themselves. I will add that Leo is under water for an awfully long period of time before coming up for air. I’m thinking an SCBA* would’ve been a good idea for the poor guy lol. At any rate, I don’t know how hard it was to pull off getting those lions to move like they do, but it’s definitely impressive, and that’s an understatement.
Since I intend to keep my vow of brevity here, I’m going to wrap this one up by saying Mal is
STILL at the top of his game. I honestly don’t know how he creates tracks with such a very high level detail without missing stuff! Not only that, his flare for complimenting the conversions he makes with his own interpretations of what works best for MTM 2 racing is a quality I think few people appreciate…or even realize. Copey Rating? I mean, do I really need to even say it? Hehehe
Mal, awesome stuff, man. You’ve really elevated the art of track making to new heights, bud. Just when I start thinking I’ve reached the limit of being impressed by your work, you come out with another mind-blowing track! Great stuff, Mal…this one’s a beauty!
*Self-contained breathing apparatus
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COPE
So it went poof and now I am just going to sum the whole review up. 
