Once again, like a few other X-Box titles, 4X4 Evo appeared to be one of those "must-play" games sitting on the shelf at the rental store. Unfortunately, the reviews for this game in the X-Box magazines were more correct then I wanted to initially beleive.
Pro's:
1/ Nice selection of trucks to choose from means that the driving experience can change as fast as you can change vehicles.
2/ Upgrading said vehicles was also fun, although some upgrades (Such as the winch) seemed to be of questionable worth because they were either seldom used, or never used at all as far as I could see.
3/ Great graphics. No question, the actual eye-candy appeal of the game does satisfy, although when compared to other X-Box titles, it could be better. No general complaints, however.
Con's:
1/ Physics realism needs work. It's dissapointing to find another game based solely on a single premise (Driving) that doesn't have the physics to go with it. Compared to the Warthog Jeep in Halo (In which driving is only a tiny part of the game!) the physics don't compare. Why is the vehicle dynamics in a game of which driving only happens a few times, better then a game in which driving is the whole idea?
2/ Realism is mediocre.. I flipped off the track once and was surprised at the very real-looking view of the world doing barel rolls through the windshield of my truck. Ok, that was impressive, but what wasn't impressive at all was when I tried to drive back onto the track and discovered that my truck couldn't drive through a wimpy plastic fence. What's with that?
The "Drive anywhere" factor that would seem so fitting to an off-road driving game like this simply isn't there - I found that alot of objects that a real truck would just drive over, or right through, stopped the 4X4 Evo trucks dead. It's hard to feel like your "Ripping" through the woods when you can't drive through a fence to get back on the track. Very dissapointing.
3/ Controls and displays are a bit confusing. The joystick layout for flipping the truck into and out of 4X4, as well as several other features could use work. As well, the on-screen indicators for the 4X4 mode were confusing sometimes, not being 100% clear what mode you exactly were in due to their layout. It's not much fun to discover that your in 2WD mode while trying to climb a hill.
Overall, this is not a game that I would ever purchase, or even rent again simply due to the fact that it became boring far too easilly.
Renting a boring game is bad enough, but buying it and finding out afterwards is even worse, so if you are even remotely considering buying 4X4 Evo, spend the few dollars to rent it first and draw your own conclusions. If you don't find poor vehicle physics a big issue, you may enjoy this title, but if you are the type of person that wan't an ultra-realistic driving experience, you won't find it here.
It's unfortunate, but 4X4 Evo joins my ranks as yet another mediocre initial X-Box title that appears rushed, and will not help sales of the X-Box system whatsoever.
It seems that out of the first batch of games for the X-Box, however, this is a common theme. Read my other X-Box game reviews for details.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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