A Giant Evolutionary Stride
Written: Nov 23 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Monster Truck Madness Style Fun, Stunning Graphics, Great Career Mode
Cons: My Frontier Purrs Like a Catfish Under Water, Load Times
The Bottom Line: This is a great offroad racer, but not a real good racer.
|
|
|
| EdTeach's Full Review: 4x4 Evo 2 for Xbox |
The first 4x4 Evolution was a huge let down when I rented it for PS2 a few months ago. I barely played it. I decided to read some reviews on it, so that I could compare it to the XBox Version of 4x4 Evo 2, it's stunning sequel.
After reading a few lines from an old write up, I remembered exactly why I disliked the first version. The trucks were slow, and very floaty. And that made for some awfully dull racing. It played almost exactly like Monster Truck Madness 2, but those were actual Monster Trucks in that game. I expect them to handle like that. It's almost as if they didn't spend anytime tweaking the physics from their engine following Monster Truck Madness 2.
Physics
Well thankfully Terminal Reality made some serious adjustments for 4x4 Evo 2. There is still a hint of the low gravity physics, but it's only done to keep the game playable. If the truck jolted too much, it would be really hard to keep on track. And besides, your truck will probably feel like that if you put a 14" lift kit on it.
And on top of that, they've made some adjustments to provide the player with a good sense of speed. You really know when you're hauling, which is good, because it's hard to stop a heavy SUV on a dirt road when you're going 80 mph.
Graphics
Perhaps the sense of speed comes from the smooth frame rates. This XBox version is beautiful and fast paced. The only quirks that I noticed were some clipping issues with the images in the rear view mirror when I was in helicopter view. Which begs the question, why is the rear view mirror displayed in an out of truck view?
I'm not sure how these titles play on the PC, but the first installment for the PS2 was awfully plain. It really made the PS2 look rather primitive. I think the game could have been done on the PS1 and still look as good. But this second installment raises the bar quite a bit. The immense outdoor environments are reminiscent of ATV Offroad fury, but the level of detail is off the scale. The bump mapping was great, although I think I only noticed it on the water.
So How Does it Play?
I loved upgrading and tweaking my cars in Gran Turismo 3, but there were really no specific parts. They were generic items like Turbo 1, 2, and 3. Well if you're even the slightest truck enthusiast, then you'll notice the real world parts and their manufacturers in this game. The inventory is incredible. I even bought a winch for my Frontier. Sick! This game is a grease monkey's dream. Especially because they don't support damage to the vehicles. You ain't gotta fix nothin'.
The races are hard in this game. Maybe there's just a learning curve that I haven't made it around yet, but I'm struggling to win. Thankfully they've expanded career mode quite a bit, so there's much more to do. First they've implemented several missions that you can do to earn money without racing. They're a blast. One of my favorites was driving through some rural dirt roads and fire roads in Washington state looking for a couple of gangsters in a crashed plane that you have to drive out.
OK, confession time. I like the missions because I like driving through the woods, exploring in a truck. Does that make me a redneck?
Another great aspect to the career play is the Race Team affiliation. They've taken real like race teams and allowed you to try to build a reputation with them. Your goal is to get an invitation to join them. Lots of teams are sponsored by part manufacturers, so if you're on the team you have access to those parts.
Sound
The music stinks. They should have licensed something. Heck, I'd even listen to country...it's only fitting. :) But the lack of music means you can focus on the sound effects. But they're pretty plain too.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
EdTeach
|
|
Member: Ed Teach
Location: South, FL
Reviews written: 40
Trusted by: 7 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.