We’d bet a year’s wages that Epic never thought a fellow developer would use their Unreal 3 Engine to create a simulation of competitive off-road racing. Yet that’s exactly what 1C Avalon have done, and to their credit, Off-Road Drive is a really enjoyable, albeit unashamedly niche racer.
By utilising differential gear locks, tyre pressure control, four/two wheel drive and the ever-dependable winch, players must make their way through 42 devilishly designed tracks across North America, Russia, Africa and more. This is a racing game that isn’t only about driving fast, instead it’s about learning how you can use your 4×4′s capabilities to get through rocky underpasses, shallow rivers and 60-degree inclines. It takes real effort to get through most of the courses, let alone top the timing charts, and you’ll need patience and restarts to do so.
The modes on offer are fairly basic, with the career mode simply consisting of time-trial based challenges over short and long distances, but there’s plenty of track configurations and different fictional cars to unlock as you progress. Oddly this dearth of different play options doesn’t neuter the impact of the action, as the simple joy of tackling these courses and seeing the deep tracks in your wake feels thrilling at times. Occasionally problems do arise when it comes to collision detection and there’s the more worrying phenomenon of certain retail copies not including a serial code necessary to play four racer multiplayer, but these issues put neatly aside it’s hard to see ORD as anything other than a pleasant surprise.
We will point out that the experience is vastly improved with a force-feedback steering wheel setup, especially one with a clutch/pedal, as gameplay doesn’t translate too well to either a keyboard or gamepad – it just doesn’t feel as authentic or interesting.
It’s worth noting that we have no knowledge or love of the off-road racing discipline, yet this interactive recreation held our interest for longer than we ever imagined. Off-Road Drive is one of the most unique racers to come along in years and if you’re looking for something different you’d do well to check it out.
Verdict: 76%
Tags: Off Road Drive
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