4x4 Evolution Review

6.0

Format Dreamcast

Developer Terminal Reality

Publisher Take-Two Interactive

Genre Racing / Driving

Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads. STEVE KEY is the man behind the wheel and headed out into the sticks

For most of us, the term 'off-road' will mean nothing more than bumping on to the pavement after swerving to avoid a cat, or that short cut you used to take to get to school in the mornings. There's very little chance of actually getting behind the wheel of a 4x4 jeep and thrashing it over some marshlands.

Luckily 4x4 Evolution is here to cater for any such desires. It's got some stiff competition in the excellent

4 Wheel Thunder (ODM #8, 8/10), and, er, the rancid Buggy Heat (ODM #2, 4/10), which both offer the same type of 'everywhere is a road' experience that comes with the territory.

Your main task in 4x4 Evolution is to compete in a lengthy career mode to earn yourself cash that, in time, upgrades and buys you new vehicles or parts. There are two main race types - the Series and Special Events - to try and grab yourself some dollars. The Series is a set of races over four or five tracks with a pot of cash divided among the competitors at the end. The higher you finish, the more money you collect. Winning races isn't essential, but obviously pockets you a greater share of the prize money. The Special Events are one-offs that have a larger winning bonus, but also a more challenging set of opponents. Both of these game modes are linked by the type of car you happen to be driving at the time, however, as a certain class of race is only open once you own a specific car. These might simply be a manufacturer's championship or a class challenge, like a two-wheel drive competition. In order to see all of the tracks and vehicles, you need to win handsomely in these races to earn the money to buy different cars, thus opening new challenges.

You start with $30,000 in the bank to buy a car and get racing. It's entirely up to you how you spend this money, but there's an extensive upgrade section that is begging for a bit of cash to be thrown its way. Everything from whether the car has mudflaps up to complete new parts can be tinkered with, improving the look and performance of your vehicle. And you may be thinking that having a car that's aesthetically pleasing is not important at all, but for earning respect with fellow online punters, your motor has to look the part as well as being a beast on the tracks.

It's also important to pay special attention to the circuits and conditions you're about to race in. Your tyres must be changed if the weather takes a turn for the worse. Studded wheels have to be fitted when an arctic level appears, otherwise your car can never get a grip of the snow and simply slides backwards. It's most annoying to spend ages getting everything set up, joining a game server in America, building yourself up to be this awesome driver and then having to quit out after ten seconds because the wrong tyres are fitted to your car. The same also applies to harder surfaces, as they don't need as severe a tyre to give you grip. The under and over-steer can be changed too, although this only starts becoming a concern after several hours of playtime have elapsed.

The cars themselves are all actual models. Ford, Dodge and Chevrolet are just a few of the manufacturers represented. Each comes with at least four different cars, some with Super Trucks that'll cost you anything up to $850,000. Owning one of these is your ultimate aim, but it's a task that's going to take some time to accomplish.



THE BOT IS MINE

As a package, 4x4 Evolution is a decent one, but it's not got enough variety to really make it a challenger to 4 Wheel Thunder. Once you've raced the first four or five tracks, the rest become a little tedious. The computer-controlled drivers in the single-player mode have very strange artificial intelligence - they think nothing of driving head-first into an oncoming juggernaut (see the screenshot above) and are quite happy to sit behind a snowplough as it trundles across the track.

Despite the fact that this is an off-road racing game, there's very little scope to actually drive where you like and still be in the race. Checkpoints have to be hit in the correct order if you want to win, so cutting corners becomes very limited. The places where taking a shortcut is possible, however, are more likely to be essential sidetracks that will catapult you down the rankings if you don't take them. Watching the computer cars is the only way to spot the decent secret routes. Bizarrely enough, some of these shortcuts are actually shown as the correct route on the map. For instance, you can be happily chasing an opponent along a motorway when they suddenly turn off and start to drive up a ridiculously steep hill. You continue along the road and before you know it you're completely off the circuit, despite still being on the motorway. We thought that the idea of shortcuts was to make them hidden so that players can find them by themselves. All rather weird.

The handling of the cars is also very strange. Most of the time they feel like they're floating around the track rather than really biting into the dirt, so controlling them turns into a bit of a lightweight affair. If you hit any kind of ramp at speed you sail through the air over quite a considerable distance. These jumps are usually placed next to checkpoints, so you end up sailing past and having to drive back and go through them properly. This happens on lots of occasions, and soon becomes extremely frustrating.

emergency stop

Colliding with objects is also very annoying and unrealistic. You can drive straight through bushes and other small bits of foliage, but the moment you even clip a tree the car slams to an immediate halt. You then have to reverse back and edge away as the other three competitors trundle past you. Hitting the posts holding up the checkpoint signs is no better either. They can be no more than a metal pole in the ground, but the second you touch one your speedo hits zero. It's very, very annoying to say the least. You do have the chance to drive wherever you like if the race is getting too much for you, as certain stages seem to run on for a lifetime. There's a completely hidden airport on one stage with 747s taxiing about on the runway. But there's nothing to do there. It's just an airport, and that's it.

When you throw everything together, 4x4 Evolution is another interesting, but fairly average, game. It's clear that a lot of thought has gone into it, as is obvious when you notice some of the small details such as the dirt that flies up when you slide through mud (replaced by smoke when you drive on concrete). Yet, conversely, if you look at the construction site vehicles moving about, there's nobody piloting them.

It's a decent enough game to play in short bursts, but the continuing frustrations of collision detection and the general repetitiveness ruin any chance there was of getting more than a few days' play out of this - other than in the surprisingly smooth online modes, that is. Ultimately, if you want a 4x4 off-road racing title, then 4 Wheel Thunder is still the best one to get.