Reviewed: November 8, 2006
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer
Climax Studios
Released: October 26, 2006
Genre: Racing
Players: 1
8
9
8
8
8.4
Supported Features:
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
In 2005 Sony and Climax gave us ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin’ Trails, a near-perfect PS2 port of the ATV Offroad Fury 3. Well, guess what? A new year is upon us and while ATV Offroad Fury 4 is tearing up the PS2 Climax delivers ATV Offroad Fury Pro so PSP gamers can play in the mud as well. And if you are lucky enough to own both systems and both games, you can even do some cool data exchange between the two titles, but more on that later.
What started as primarily an ATV racing game has evolved into something where you can drive just about anything with tires that work in dirt and mud. MX bikes, buggies, rally cars, and…yikes…snowmobiles are all fair game in this latest installment. Better yet, all of the glitches and presentation issues from last year have been addressed creating a fairly polished second installment.
Racing such a variety of vehicles leads to numerous variations in controls and physics, so just about the time you figure out the turning radius of an ATV you have to adjust your thinking for a buggy or MX bike. While not so realistic as to be considered a simulation, there is a great deal of physics and weight to these vehicles, especially the rally cars and buggies that achieve realistic momentum as they slide around corners, while the lighter bikes bounce over moguls and catch massive air on the larger ramps.
Track design is not only a visual feast, but you are going to have to learn every curve and bump and know approximately how fast you should be going at any given point. If you don’t have the right amount of speed and preload in those shocks you are going to impact the facing side of the next hump and either slow or stall, or even worse, fly off your ride.
There is some surprisingly good computer AI. These racers make full use of the track and will even bust their own tricks while flying through the air. Expect some serious competition where even one spill can send you to the back of the pack. There is no detectable rubber banding AI, so if you dump your ride on the final lap you probably won’t be winning that race. The computer seems to know every detail of every track extremely well, so until you learn them with equal proficiency you will always be at a slight disadvantage.
The game is structured around a Championship mode that provide you with an amazing amount of events based on vehicle types. You’ll earn credits to unlock new vehicles and vehicle parts. One of the more interesting features of this mode is the use of sponsors. At any time you can have up to three sponsors who will give you bonuses for finishing the events, usually with some restriction or goal in mind. Sometimes sponsor goals actually conflict with each other so you need to choose your sponsors carefully and even drop them from time to time.
You can also learn the ropes in Training mode or just jump into any Single Event of your choosing. For those with a knack for design, you’ll want to check out the Track Editor where you can design your own courses for racing and stunts and even exchange them with the PS2 version of ATV Offroad Fury 4. The editor is fairly robust in functionality, but you are severely limited with the pieces you can use to actually construct the tracks.
Another cool feature is the Card Content, which is much like trading cards. You obtain cards that represent items either by winning them or trading them with others, then cash them in for vehicles, gear, and other game items. There are special cards scattered about all the game modes including multiplayer via Ad Hoc and Infrastructure.
Speaking of which, ATV Offroad Fury Pro supports up to four racers in both of these modes, so if you can’t find three friends with PSP’s and copies of the game, you can always head online where you will certainly find anxious racers looking for some competition. The online functionality is excellent and you even have support for email, messages, news, polls, and surveys.
Visually, Offroad Fury Pro makes huge strides in technical achievement over last year’s game. The draw distance is nearly to the horizon with only minimal pop-up, which is surprisingly given the amount of landscape texture and detail that has gone into these tracks and course designs. You’re going to be seeing graphics that are remarkably similar to the PS2 in complexity and probably shine a bit more in quality thanks to the crisp screen on the PSP.
There are a few framerate hiccups on some more complicated tracks or when you get several cars all battling for the lead position. Textures are detailed but can get blurry at times, but we can always attribute that to motion blur, can’t we?
Expect a lot of whining engines, so you might want to notch the volume down otherwise the tedious droning of your engines harmonizing with the rest of the pack might wear you down. There is some minimal speech, mostly in the training, but nothing much else in the sound effects department.
There are more than 30 licensed tracks that make up the energetic soundtrack for Offroad Fury Pro. You’ll either love it or hate it, or maybe a little of both. I found none of the tracks particularly memorable but none offended my ears either. It’s pretty much the same rock and alternative rock I’ve come to expect from these racing games.
The Championship mode will easily keep you busy for several weeks of casual play or about 20 hours. It’s fun to mess around with the sponsors to find just the right mix to maximize your profits for each race. The track editor is fun for a few minutes and might appeal to somebody with more design ambition that I possess. I did enjoy the ability to exchange vehicles, tracks, and other upgrades via a USB connection to the PS2.
The online (and offline) multiplayer modes are quite enjoyable with hardly any lag and plenty of functionality for finding people wanting to race. Combined with a smattering of enjoyable mini-games and you have a title that will keep you racing for months to come.
ATV Offroad Fury Pro is a great racer and certainly a huge improvement over Blazin’ Trails. There is a great selection of vehicles and some interesting and challenging track designs and while not perfect, the AI will give you some stiff competition.
If you are already enjoying the PS2 version of ATV 4 then this is the perfect way to take that same racing fun on the road, or even if this is your only version of the game, there is plenty to like in Offroad Fury Pro. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for some good and dirty fun.