ATV Offroad Fury 4
Climax's final PS2 ATV game is good, but not great.
Published: December 18, 2006
Luckily, the racing makes up for it. The shift from a more technical memorization of specific jumps to a more all-out racer was a little jarring for the Rainbow faithful, but Climax seems to have finally opened things up to the point where it fits. Literally, some of the new point-to-point races are absolutely massive, and are peppered with vehicle-specific shortcuts. You always have the freedom to take a particular route, but the color-coded guides are a strong suggestion, lest you try to take a huge jump on a bike that was meant for a sturdier baja truck. Thing like pre-loading (forcing weight onto the suspension to get more air off a jump) and clutch popping (for more strategic corners while on bikes) take a back seat to more pedal-to-the-metal racing. Your love of the game will likely stem directly from this transition in tone for the series, but it's not like Climax skimped on reasons to like the new direction.
It's not perfect. The game's points system is nearly identical to the PSP version in that the bigger vehicles basically bank points by just driving - almost automatically - while the Freestyle event requirements for bikes and ATVs are a mess of trial-and-error runs that have you figuring out what sequence of tricks on a given jump will net you the most points. You're not forced to compete in these events as you move through the game (at least not all the time), but it seems a shame that there's a serious balance issue.
Likewise, there are some fairly deep flaws in the AI, highlighted by the game's rival system, which really just logs the little shunts and bumps between racers in a given competition. Because you'll spend more time watching your opponents, you'll notice they're fairly rigid in their racing lines and really don't have a ton of awareness in races, yet they can magically take jumps or corners while rubberbanding all over the place. This is remedied by the game's extensive online races with up to seven other guys -- and the selection of options from sports-themed mini-games like the throwaway Bowling and more entertaining Treasure Hunt and Hockey further thicken up the online play - but it's no excuse for lame offline AI.
One of the bright spots to having to deal with some of the weaker parts of the game is that you'll experience more than enough great races to balance things out, along with some great variety in the vehicles. Your ride is important because wins get you credits which in turn buy you new engine, suspension, tires, brakes and clutch. It's nothing new to racing games, but the depth of options and very real changes to performance help give the game more hooks.
I can't help but use the whole hook thing for a transition into talking about the game's soundtrack - and audio as a whole - especially considering there really isn't much of a hook aurally. Yeah, sure, the engine sounds are both clean and varied (there's even some modest use of Dolby Pro Logic II's surround-ish effects), but the soundtrack is a weird mélange of semi-painful hip-hop and angst-fueled rock. Now granted, both probably have their place, and it's not like the PSP version is any better, but it does feel a little like the game isn't quite getting the audience musically.
Visually, it's another story. The move from the slower, more jump-by-jump rhythm-based game to more flat-out racer has meant the engine needed a little overhaul. Rainbow can, if nothing else, craft themselves a respectable outdoor engine, but Climax's work is built for covering distance and creating scale, and it does it both indoors with arenas pockmarked by the flicker of flashbulbs and in the outdoor tracks, which happily embrace nature. Best of all, the outdoor tracks are replete with dense foliage, some great variety and it all runs at a great framerate most of the time. You'll even see little touches like dirt starting to build up on the vehicles and riders, which is a nice touch.
Maybe it's just that, for as much as the series has done to reinvent itself as a pure racer rather than a technical "rhythm" racer, it's still a fairly predictable formula. Whether this is just the series starting to run out of steam or just the limitations of the hardware is something we'll know for sure if the game makes the jump to the PS3. For now, though, thanks to some great, smooth online play, solid new additions to the race types, vehicles that feel great and continue to improve with upgrades, and an engine that happily pushes the PS2 hardware along, there's enough here to entertain just about anyone looking for a dirty good time. If nothing else, Climax can rest comfortably in the fact that Rainbow's passed torch was still burning when the series came to a close on the PS2.
