ATV Offroad Fury 4 Review


Not many game series make it to the point where they get a “4” in their title, so ATV Offroad Fury must be doing something right. But when a game goes though so many iterations you have to ask whether or not there is enough new here to warrant another purchase by fans of the series. Of course if you’re new to the games, it’s all new to you and it’s a question of whether or not the game is for you. Good thing we have intrepid reviewers out there who can help answer these questions and more!

Buggies!
The first thing that you should know about ATV Offroad Fury 4 is that it has more than ATVs. It could have been more appropriately titled simply “Offroad Fury 4” if not for the need to tie it into the series. Motocross bikes, dune buggies, and trucks enter the fray, dividing the events between light and heavy class vehicles. These are more than just a collection of new graphics for similar vehicles, the control and handling of each vehicle type feels distinctly different. The Motocross (and ATV of course) racing is similar to that in prior ATV Offroad games. You have a variety of events such as supercross and rallycross, and your primary goal is to beat the other racers to the checkered flag. While racing you’ll also benefit from pulling off various tricks and stunts which if done right will reward you with extra cash that you can use to upgrade your ride. The stunt system remains the same as in previous games, which is a good thing since it works pretty well. You won’t find the number of tricks that appear in a typical game focused on stunts, but there are enough here to add some spice to the races without requiring you to contort your fingers into a variety of knots. The buggies and trucks also have a stunt point system, but rather than pulling off tricks to earn them you just need to catch air off a bump or powerslide around a corner. Since simply racing these vehicles requires powerslides and you’ll jump off of every bump you hit anyway, these stunt points are gimme points and very easy to rack up.

New to the series is a story mode, but to be frank the game would have been just fine without it. It tells the generic tale of a racer who quits just as he hits the big time and then returns to mount a comeback. The dull as dirt story isn’t helped by the acting in the cutscenes which comes off as if it were acted by high school drama students who didn’t make the cut for their school’s annual play. The story just serves as a way to glue a series of races together, so you won’t miss anything if you skip the story mode and just stick to the racing.

Speaking of the racing, it is pretty enjoyable and a variety of tracks help keep things interesting. The other racers won’t provide a stiff challenge to racing veterans, but to make up for it the AI tends to cheat. The game will ensure that you never run away with a race, “rubber banding” at least two other racers to you so that there will always be someone closing in on you in the stretch. This is typical of a lot of racing games, but the annoying thing unique to ATV Offroad Fury 4 is that these competitors invariably knock you off of your ATV or bike. I lost count of the number of times I hit the final jump on my sprint to the finish line only to be knocked off in midair or as a competitor landed on my head. Invariably this resulted in me sprawling to the ground while my competitor went along on his merry way unscathed by the collision. It’s as annoying as it sounds.

 

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