ATV Offroad Fury Pro
Climax gives PSP owners a massive update to the portable ATV franchise. First hands-on details inside.
Published: April 24, 2006
Sony isn't messing around anymore when it comes to the PSP. They clearly see current crop of games as lacking in the content department, or at least have mandated that all their first- and second-party studios start rocking games with a honest-to-goodness console-level amount of gameplay in them. Just looking at something like Daxter or especially the upcoming Gangs of London is enough to give a person overload; these games are loaded with content, so much so that we had to re-evaluate how much stuff you could pack onto a UMD.
64 tracks. We had to have that repeated just to make sure we heard it right. ATV Offroad Fury Pro has sixty-four tracks. Granted, some of these are repurposed tracks (dubbed Legends) from some of the earlier PS2 ATV Offroad Fury games, but that's still a mind-boggling number for a portable outing. It gets even better; any of the 30+ Ski-Doos, Rally cars (both of which are exclusive to the PSP), trophy trucks, motocross bikes, buggies and of course ATVs can ride on the courses in any combination.
If this sounds a little like what Rainbow Studios did with their MX vs ATV games, you're right, but what Climax has been planning since they took over work on the Offroad Fury games with the third outing and saw the PSP was a level of cross-compatibility that's unheard of. Yes, yes, it sounds like we're really pouring on the hype here, and to be honest, it's hard for us not to get a little excited when we think about how much can be shared between ATV Pro and ATV Offroad Fury 4. Let's dig in, shall we?
For starters, almost any track or vehicle in one game can be imported into the other. This extends beyond just unlocked vehicles (some of which you'll only be able to get if you have both the PSP and PS2 versions of the game) and continues right into tracks created in either game. You can effectively create a track on the PSP and import it into the PS2 version, or vice-versa, even sharing it online with other players if you'd like.
Furthermore, all of the online features for both games will be shared, and Climax is working to bulk up the kind of interaction you'll be able to have with other players beyond just leaderboards and multiplayer matches. That'll be there, certainly, but so will message boards and chat rooms that link across platforms. They've stopped short of allowing PSP vs. PS2 matches (that we know of), but everything outside of games can be done independent of the platform you're playing on.
So it goes without saying that ATV Pro brings back Wi-Fi online play. Both Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure modes will allow up to four players, and the first PSP game's Single Race, Lap Attack, Time Trial, Championship and Freeride modes are all returning, bolstered by Endurocross (which mixes ATVs and MX bikes in indoor courses) and Rallycross (set for buggies and trophy trucks in big outdoor areas), plus the aforementioned PSP-exclusive Rally and Snocross levels.
Mini-games will also make a return appearance; Bomb Dodge, Treasure Hunt and Graveyard Madness are all back, joined by Rings of Fire (where you'll have to jump through rings on the way to the finish) and Card Battle (which plays a little like a game of War and lets you win parts and gear from other players) -- both of which can be played online -- as well as the appearance of offline-only games of Pool.
Even in the game's insanely early pre-alpha state, it ran impressively well, with solid framerate, great sense of speed and plenty of trackside detail. A little of this was stripped out for the freeride mode, for obvious reasons, but it's rare to see a game this early running so smoothly. We'll have to see how things turn out when bikes, ATVs and baja-style trophy trucks are all running at the same time.
ATV Pro still has plenty of time before the October release date, and we'll definitely get more hands-on time with the game before then, but even early impressions are starting to show the level of interaction that's possible between the PSP and PS2 (and, even more excitingly, the PS3 and its wireless connection). ATV Pro has the dubious distinction of showing everyone just how closely PSP and PS2 content can be shared, but if all games can pull it off this well, you may not have to shelve that PS2 just yet.
64 tracks. We had to have that repeated just to make sure we heard it right. ATV Offroad Fury Pro has sixty-four tracks. Granted, some of these are repurposed tracks (dubbed Legends) from some of the earlier PS2 ATV Offroad Fury games, but that's still a mind-boggling number for a portable outing. It gets even better; any of the 30+ Ski-Doos, Rally cars (both of which are exclusive to the PSP), trophy trucks, motocross bikes, buggies and of course ATVs can ride on the courses in any combination.
If this sounds a little like what Rainbow Studios did with their MX vs ATV games, you're right, but what Climax has been planning since they took over work on the Offroad Fury games with the third outing and saw the PSP was a level of cross-compatibility that's unheard of. Yes, yes, it sounds like we're really pouring on the hype here, and to be honest, it's hard for us not to get a little excited when we think about how much can be shared between ATV Pro and ATV Offroad Fury 4. Let's dig in, shall we?
For starters, almost any track or vehicle in one game can be imported into the other. This extends beyond just unlocked vehicles (some of which you'll only be able to get if you have both the PSP and PS2 versions of the game) and continues right into tracks created in either game. You can effectively create a track on the PSP and import it into the PS2 version, or vice-versa, even sharing it online with other players if you'd like.
Furthermore, all of the online features for both games will be shared, and Climax is working to bulk up the kind of interaction you'll be able to have with other players beyond just leaderboards and multiplayer matches. That'll be there, certainly, but so will message boards and chat rooms that link across platforms. They've stopped short of allowing PSP vs. PS2 matches (that we know of), but everything outside of games can be done independent of the platform you're playing on.
So it goes without saying that ATV Pro brings back Wi-Fi online play. Both Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure modes will allow up to four players, and the first PSP game's Single Race, Lap Attack, Time Trial, Championship and Freeride modes are all returning, bolstered by Endurocross (which mixes ATVs and MX bikes in indoor courses) and Rallycross (set for buggies and trophy trucks in big outdoor areas), plus the aforementioned PSP-exclusive Rally and Snocross levels.
Mini-games will also make a return appearance; Bomb Dodge, Treasure Hunt and Graveyard Madness are all back, joined by Rings of Fire (where you'll have to jump through rings on the way to the finish) and Card Battle (which plays a little like a game of War and lets you win parts and gear from other players) -- both of which can be played online -- as well as the appearance of offline-only games of Pool.
Even in the game's insanely early pre-alpha state, it ran impressively well, with solid framerate, great sense of speed and plenty of trackside detail. A little of this was stripped out for the freeride mode, for obvious reasons, but it's rare to see a game this early running so smoothly. We'll have to see how things turn out when bikes, ATVs and baja-style trophy trucks are all running at the same time.
ATV Pro still has plenty of time before the October release date, and we'll definitely get more hands-on time with the game before then, but even early impressions are starting to show the level of interaction that's possible between the PSP and PS2 (and, even more excitingly, the PS3 and its wireless connection). ATV Pro has the dubious distinction of showing everyone just how closely PSP and PS2 content can be shared, but if all games can pull it off this well, you may not have to shelve that PS2 just yet.
