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Test Drive Off Road: Wide Open
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Graphics & Sound:
While not quite up to the level of other PS2 offroad racers, Test Drive Off Road: Wide Open is more than able to hold it's own in the world of next generation games. One of the first things that leapt out at me was that the licensed vehicle models from Dodge, Chevy, Hummer, Jeep and more look true to life. The levels also were as near to being flawless as possible. No pop-up, pixilation or drop in framerate. While there may only be three environments in TDOR Wide Open, there are plenty of different settings including jungle, desert, water, and even lava - all of which are rendered beautifully. Also as much attention was put into the props like fences and tumbleweeds. While the graphics are outstanding, the music and sound effects are at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. At this time I will now access my pocket thesaurus of negative words: boring, repetitive, bland, stereotypical, trashy, ludicrous, depressing, pathetic, without honor, a mockery to all that is music, the very..... Well, maybe not that bad, but I will put it this way - TDOR Wide Open features some big name bands like Metallica and Fear Factory, but the stuff repeats WAY too much and it doesn't quite fit right. I'm not saying that a nice Mozart would fit, but the MTV rock gets used in games too much and it's getting stale. As for sound effects, there are two - engine noise and screeching tires. The rev of all the engines are the same and are all pretty bland, but it was the tire screeching that caught my attention. Why in the name of Trip Hawkins would the tires screech around every turn on DIRT? I know that it isn't something that can make or break a game, but it just irks me. |
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Gameplay:
TDOR Wide Open is somehow able to pull off a near perfect combination of simulation depth and arcade like fun. It accomplishes this by offering a system of winning money and buying newer vehicles a la Gran Turismo, but the game still remains pick up and play, like ATV Off Road Fury. This by far is better than constantly having to meticulously upgrade the most minute of parts like in a simulation game, or having a bunch of static vehicles that all perform the same. Also instead of only offering a Free Ride, Two Player and Normal racing modes, TDOR Wide Open expands by including a Career mode that spans five seasons. Once inside the Career mode, the player selects a season, then selects a division which could include one of three types of races - Circuit, Blitz or Scramble. The Circuit race is a normal race with a certain number of laps and regular gates as checkpoints. A Blitz race offers a one way trail with five flags serving as checkpoints. Having five flags works much better than a gate because passing through any two flags counts, while gates must be passed through in a certain direction. Scramble races have 10 to 14 of the five flag checkpoints, and the goal is to pass through all of the checkpoints in any order. This proves to be the most fun because it allows the player to take whatever course necessary. One of the major gameplay hampers that brings TDOR Wide Open down is trying to maintain control when landing a jump. The minor jumps really aren't the problem, so much as the 20 story fall from the top of a volcano. Basically if the vehicle doesn't have all four tires parallel with the ground upon impact, it spins out of control - usually facing the wrong way. Fortunately, once in the air, the car can be tilted through careful manipulation of the R1 trigger and the left analog stick. While this can be hard to get used to, it is the key between placing first and putting the controller through the TV out of sheer frustration. The only other problem with the gameplay of TDOR Wide Open, is the computer competition. While some may call it advanced racing artificial intelligence, I call it a ruthless grudge that belongs only in Twisted Metal. It's one thing to be competitive, but at the start of every race I found myself either being run off the beaten path, or driving there on my own to save myself the humiliation of being run off the road. It wouldn't be so bad if the computer was bound to the same rules as the player, but anytime you attempt to spin them out, you might as well be driving yourself off the road again.
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Difficulty:
In the first season of Career mode TDOR Wide Open lures the player in by featuring fun but challenging races that usually can be won without any prior experience. The only problem with the first season though isn't that it's too easy, but that you can't win enough money to buy a good car for the second season. This means that you must either repeat the first season races for more cash, or be a natural born Dale Earnhardt (God rest his soul). After the second season, things prove a little harder still because even if you have enough money to buy the best car possible, the competition sometimes still races trucks in a class higher than you have access to, and at that point, there's nothing you can do but get better. While TDOR Wide Open may sound impossible, if you can aspire to having a car at the same level as the computer, it's actually quite fair. For the most part, cars don't run in packs - so if you fall behind, finishing the race won't always result in a last place finish. |
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Game Mechanics:
Menu interfaces in TDOR Wide Open are simple enough for anyone with thumbs to understand. Driving your selected beast of the dirt proves to be much the same, with a simple control scheme. Accelerate, brake and reverse are all on the face buttons, with steering on the D-Pad. But don't worry, everybody's best friend Mr. Analog is invited to the party. Just like in the other test drive games, left stick=steering, right stick=gas and brake. The loading of the game tends to be a compromise. Menus have close to no load time, while the levels seem to drag out like the wait for Metal Gear Solid 2. Saving, however, couldn't be smoother. Simply name a file in the beginning, and the game quickly and automatically saves and loads without annoying windows popping up asking if you really want to save over the existing file. Final Thoughts: The first time I lost a race at the final turn because of the cheap AI, I brushed it off. After the seventh time, the sheer rage I was holding inside almost blew. Luckily (for my roommates) I stuck with it and soon started winning races and realized how good it felt to beat the rubber off the competition. My advice: no matter how ticked you get, stick with it and when you get the upgraded cars, let out a victory grunt of power. |
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-Joe Guys, GameVortex Communications AKA Joe Labani |
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