The Playstation 2 seems to of had a rush of games being released over the past few weeks. One of the better ones to make the final cut is ATV Offroad Fury 4.

Having never played the first three titles of this franchise I had no idea what to expect, what I can say is that I was really surprised at how well this title represents the extreme sport of motocross, and may well be one of the final reasons to plug in your PS2.

As soon as you load up the game you will notice that there is a wealth of options available on this title, single race, story, where you race for the Fury team and make your way from amateur to pro, Classic mode where you have a group of 4 races to win over varying vehicles and race types and finally training which explains itself.

The game includes 4 vehicles to race, motorbike, ATV, buggy and a truck, which is nearly identical to the buggy but a bit heaver. The ATV is most fun but also the most difficult to master, you can hurl this thing all over the place, get some great speed and also pull off some amazing air stunts. The Motorbike, is a tough cookie to corner with, and like the ATV, you can pull off stunts. The buggy does things slightly different. You are able to gain air points just by flooring it and hitting the ramps at full speed, and also slide points, where you use the clutch turn to gain points, these can be combined to make a higher combo score.

As you play through the varying race styles, you will earn more cash to upgrade your vehicle. You will also be offered sponsorship deals, and be able to alter the appearance of your rider.

As expected, the control of each vehicle will take some time to get used to, this is down to the fact that you are driving on loose dirt, so put too much steer and speed into a corner and you will spin out and loose valuable places. There is a training mode to help you through the basics of each vehicle, but this will wind you up at points, especially when you cant make the jumps with the ATV. Not only do you need to learn how to handle the vehicles, but the tracks can also be dangerous, put too much gas into a jump and you may well end up in a billboard. With over 70 tracks to race on you will be at this title for a while, most of the tracks are located in the same few stadiums but with alternative routes and racing styles, this makes for a great variety.

Graphically this game is visually impressive, it throws up plenty of dirt and dust during races, you are also treated to vehicle debris when you collide with another racer, all with absolutely no slowdown. The main screen is a bit busy, once you have the map, position, score, speed, player list, time, best lap and total time dealt with there is not much space left for the actual action. There are points where the map and player list will get in the way, making it hard to see bollards when taking a tight corner.

Also worth a mention is the AI. Your competitors will race dirty at times and also make some massive mistakes which adds another element to the race, however no matter how well you are driving, when you are leading they will always be right behind you, waiting for a mistake. After a few races you will start to earn rivals, these are racers that are playing for the title, and they will play mean if necessary to win that gold.

ATV OffRoad Fury 4 is a really enjoyable racer, if you like your action off road then you certainly won’t go wrong with this.