There seems to be no shortage of racing games on the app store these days, and 2XL ATV Offroad’s developers, 2XL Games, Inc, have made another addition to the ever expanding collection.
The game starts off with a rather impressive introduction sequence, featuring shot after shot of quad bikes performing stunts and jumps over muddy bumps, it’s hard not to be impressed with the level of production. Needless to say this sequence is not actual game footage, but its a nice little taster of what this game is about – quad bikes.
The game gives you three different modes to play. The first is the standard arcade mode, where you select your racer, bike and track. From here you take part in the race and do you best to come first. That’s about it for that mode really.
The Career mode is a little bit more involved, encouraging you to take part in a league before each race.
With multiplayer you can play against other friends who have the game via a local wireless network. Sadly, theres no online multiplayer.
Graphically the game is as solid as an iPhone/iTouch game can get. The environment is rendered well, along with the drivers and quad bikes. Whilst there is the odd bit of clipping here and there – particularly on the edges of the screen – this sort of thing is to be expected on this format.
On the audio side of things the game does its job. The quads sound like quads and the drivers scream out in pain when you run straight into a tree. The game menu’s are accompanied by some suitable guitar rock music which wouldn’t be out of place on Eurosport or Dave TV.
At times the game does stagger and brings the proceedings to a grinding halt, leaving the player waiting for it to load. This can be quite frustrating considering the game is all about speed and quick reactions.
The game also suffers from its chosen control standard – tilt the iPhone/iTouch to steer your quad in that direction.
The sensitivity can be amended, but it would of been nice if the developers included the option of a virtual joystick for those cack-handed gamers like myself.
Having said that, 2XL ATV Offroad is a fine little title from the app store, and whilst its controls are a slight hindrance for some there is a bit of fun to be had with the game. Here’s hoping the developers release an update which will address its flaws.
Verdict: 7 out of 10
The Good
Good graphics
Great attention to detail
Lots of tracks
The Bad
Tilting controls
Suffers from lag occasionally
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