Jeremy McGrath's Offroad Review

Those who've been gaming since the days when it meant being tethered to a console by a wired controller (crazy, right?) might remember Acclaim's Jeremy McGrath Supercross series. If you don't, consider yourself lucky—they were awful. Thankfully, McGrath's latest video game effort, Offroad, has nothing in common with it, save for the supercross star's name.

The desert can be hell on your paint job.

The first thing you'll notice about Offroad is its lack of knobby-tired motorcycles. Yep, despite Offroad starring the “King of Supercross,” it's all about McGrath's newest passion: racing dirt-kickin' four-wheelers such as Sportsman Buggies, Prolite Trucks, Pro Buggies, Rally Cars, and Trophy Trucks. The second thing you'll discover is that Offroad's a refreshingly accessible, arcade-y romp into a genre that often keeps rookie racers at arm's length.

The streamlined controls, trio of difficulty levels, varied vehicle set-ups, and manageable amount of modes and content welcome anyone to start their engines. Additionally, players aren't punished while learning the ropes; even those who consistently place last in events will see their careers progress and new challenges and vehicles unlocked. Despite being approachable to those whose racing experience is limited to tooling around the Mushroom Kingdom in a go-kart, though, Offroad still packs enough depth and nuance to keep seasoned speedsters engaged. Easy-to-learn, difficult-to-master mechanics make moves such as clutch boosts and powerslides a pleasure to pull off, while carefully maneuvering jumps offers its own brand of eat-my-dust thrills.

They're just a couple hood-mounted weapons away from being in Mad Max.

On top of putting players at the front of the pack, these moves rack up XP which can be spent between events to tweak each vehicle’s handling, brakes, acceleration, and top speed. Our most adrenaline-amping moments came not from winning races, but from successfully powersliding into hairpin turns seconds before clutch-boosting out of them to simultaneously pass opponents and collect triple-digit XP. So, while anyone can cross the finish line, only the best will be able to properly pimp their rides.

Visually, Offroad's a bit hit or miss. From snow-blanketed mountains to dusty deserts, the track environments are drenched in postcard-pretty detail. Vehicles, however, are a bit bland, and their occupants could pass for crash test dummies. We also could've done without most of the “dynamic obstacles”; turning a picket fence into a pile of matchsticks is a fun, XP-earning affair, but having a perfect run spoiled by a wayward, cartoony-looking snowball or bale of hay only serves to break the pedal-to-the-metal immersion.



Source : ign[dot]com