Unlimited Military Hummer Racing For $30

A military Hummer rides by, a Jeep Wrangler passes by, and Land Rover flies over, and a Chevrolet K15000 Z71 flips over. Now imagine being in one of these vehicles.

Now you can, and you don't have to pay more than $30 for the whole bit. Don't believe me? Well, think again. You have now being introduced to Test Drive Off Road.

If you have ever wanted to race a game setup for off-road racing, now you have your chance. I will tell some about the game in the below editorial, and try to answer all the questions that you might have before you purchase this game.

Object of the Game:

The object of this game is very simple. You have a choice or four 4 X 4's that will navigate through the different types of off-road tracks available to you. You can race many different types of races including Single Race, Multi-Player, and you can even play across the NET or a Network. The whole point of the game is to be the first one to cross the finish line. That's not hard at all.

Cars:

As with any other racing game, there is some type of vehicle that is raced, whether it be bikes, cars, trucks, boats, etc. In this game it uses trucks, and not just regular trucks, but 4 X 4 trucks. Trucks made for off-road. This game has only four vehicles which can be considered slouching, but the vehicles stand for themselves. The vehicles include the Hummer, Chevrolet K1500 Z71, Jeep Wrangler, and the Land Rover Defender 90. Each has its' own characteristics that sets it apart from the others. Each handles turns, jumps, and speed differently. This make the game interesting.

Realism:

Scenery:

Well, it has to be said. The scenery in this game is really poor. Almost everything is copied and pasted all over the place. The trees look exactly the same, the rocks don't change that much either. The landscape looks like it was drawn by a cartoonist, rather the looking like a picture taken by a professional photographer. This doesn't really draw away from the gameplay, but if you're like me, you like it to look real, so that you can really drive head first into the game.

Driving Physics:

The driving physics of the vehicles could be better. The handling could also use a slight boost. What do I mean. Okay, here goes. For the most part the trucks do handle as if they would, if they were really in the driving situations that you are involved in here, but some don't. Ex. The trucks slide the same on dirt, as they would on snow, or mud. I don't think so. Take a truck for a ride through a mudhole, then take it for a ride through the snow, see if they perform the same. I don't think so.

Another downside, the trucks don't handle exactly as a real truck would over jumps, and turns. Most trucks that are lifted up, tend to lean a lot, when they turn extremely hard. Well, these don't. So, they don't really turn over in the turns. Another point, is the fact that over jumps, trucks get real antsy, but these trucks tend to hold the terrain almost flawlessly, I just don't see how that is possible. Maybe, I'm just too picky.

Damage Physics:

Another great flaw. There is absolutely no damage done to the vehicles in this game. No matter how many times you wreck, the vehicle is still in perfect health. No broken axles, no clutches dropped out the bottom, no bogging out. Nothing. These trucks obviously last forever. No where near even being realistic. I want to play a game, that has some type of challenge to it, other than making it to to the finish line first. If you run into a fence, well, needless to say, it doesn't break, or move, even it is made of wood and you are moving a 50 MPH. Not real at all.

Real Life:

I you were to say that this game is close to real life, then you would be lying. This game walks pretty far away from real life. The vehicles don't damage, the driving is almost exactly the same no matter where you are on the course. The vehicles just flip over after a wreck. The game is based on just being a racing game.

Gameplay:

Age Level:

This game is rated for everyone, young and old. This can be said to be true, as well as not. First, it can be true for the fact that it has no violence in it. No guns, no beating each other up, just pure racing. But that is where the false part about it being okay for all ages comes into play. Would you want your child playing a game, and growing up believing that if they have a wreck that their vehicle will just flip back over and keep on going, without anyone or anything getting damaged or hurt? I'm guessing no. So I don't see this as fit for everyone. I see this as a game for those who understand that there are consequences for everything that you do. Otherwise, they should find another type of game.

Skill Level:

This game does not require much skill. You just load up the game, load a track, select a vehicle, and go. It is really simple. I have never come across a racing game so simple. It is already preset to work off of your keyboard, and all you have to do is use the arrow keys. You do have to learn a little bit about how the vehicles handle, but most are very quick to learn these, so again I state, that this game requires very little in the way of skill.

You do have to be strategic in the harder levels, but for just playing around, you don't have to worry about it. The levels do get progressively harder, therefore invoking the ambition to try harder to beat the others. The game is based for both beginners, and advanced PC Racing Game Fanatics.

Fun Level:

This game does have a level of fun, which can only be describes as fantasy style fun. Why do I say that? Because, this game is not based solely on real life, and well, that is a fantasy world. I don't really enjoy games that don't have some type of realism to it, but hey, I might be different. On a scale of 10 for the fun level I would have to give it a 4.

Graphics:

Details:

The trucks show the most in details, and they still lack defined details. You can tell the vehicles because of their shape if nothing else, but they do put in enough detail to let you know that the truck you have is really the truck you want. The scenery, again, lacks, and to me, draws away from the gameplay. The trees, bushes, and rocks, look cartoon-ish, and well, I don't like the cartoon style fantasy racing that this game has become. If Accolade ever really makes one game that has details were looking at, I will be suprized. I haven't seen one yet.

Choppy/Fast:

The graphics in this game are fairly smooth. They could be better. Every now-and-then, the graphics do tend to skip, and I'm not exactly sure why, they just do. The gameplay is kind of fast, but I rather consider this game to be slow, and drug out.

As long as you have a good graphics cards, enough RAM, and a good processor, you shouldn't have any trouble. I'm still on an seven year old computer, and well, I don't have much trouble. Although I have some slight modifications to the internals, they aren't much from the original setup.