Do you like to race? Do you like the power of metal and 4 solid wheels beneath you? Well the Xbox finally has a Quad racing game available, ATV Quad Power Racing 2. You have the choice of 10 top pro riders, 15 massive tracks, 5 different globe-spanning environments, and 2 freestyle arenas. Tricks , tricks, and more tricks around 25 freestyle tricks that kick the competition’s ass.

Speaking about kicking, a major part of the challenge is to kick your opponents off their bikes, a nice touch to help relieve some of that aggression. This title is the follow-up to the original Playstation game ATV Quad Power Racing, but Acclaim has come a couple steps closer to doing it right this time. So fuel up and let’s check out ATV Quad Power Racing 2.

Gameplay

ATV 2 is a decent mix between motorcross racing, freestyle racing, and over the top action that has made a welcome entry into the library of Xbox titles available, filling a void that all terrain vehicle fans have been looking for since the release of the console. If you’ve ever dreamed of taking an ATV to areas such as swamps, dunes, glaciers, forests and construction sites then you’ll enjoy the wide range of landscapes available. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or an amateur still wet behind the ears, we recommend you take the courses offered in the ATV Academy which will teach you the basics of the game and reward you with a couple new bikes. Then you have a choice of modes, there is Career, Single Race, Arcade, Freestyle, Challenge, Time Trial, Multiplayer and Custom.

Career is the main mode of gameplay were you have a rider that starts out in the first level of the Career Championship as an Amateur. As you progress you’ll go through Professional and Superstar, but in order to get there you’ll need to place third or higher in the competition. The races aren’t totally about speed, rather it’s a combination of speed and tricks. Performing tricks during the race will rack up points, the points are cumulative throughout the championship. Winning a race earns you a gold medal, which will unlock new quad bikes, the ultimate goal is to come out number one in each race and have the highest trick points as well. We’ll discuss tricks, combos, and control in more depth shortly. Aside from Career mode there is also Single Race (self explanatory) and Arcade Race which is a series of two lap races in which you need to place 3rd or better to progress. Freestyle mode is an indoor arena filled with obstacles and trick objects such as ramps and loops where your goal is to get as many points as possible. Time Trial mode challenges you to get the best track time on any available track.

Challenge mode is one of the more unique areas of the title. There are ground challenges and towers challenges, both of which give you time oriented goals. The ground challenges are mainly used to improve your skills and can be quite helpful during actual races, tower challenges on the other hand are a bit odd when compared to the rest of the title. The tower challenges remind me of Tony Hawk Pro Skater challenges, where you ride up different platforms in a given amount of time and reach certain areas, not real helpful in actual gameplay except in teaching balance, but alot of fun. Multiplayer mode is where you race your friends via split screen, race up to 3 of your buddies on the Xbox version (Playstation and Gamecube are limited to two players total). Multiplayer has a few sub-modes as well. Single Race puts you and your friends up against the computer quad racers while Head to Head is just you and your friends, no quad bots. Championship is a complete seasons’ set of races. Freestyle gives you the same indoor trick challenges as the single player mode, but with friends to compete against. Custom mode is available once you have completed Career mode. You choose a rider and a bike, a series of tracks, number of laps, number of tricks vs. race points and the difficulty of your competitors. The custom mode can be played either in multiplayer as well as single player mode adding a bit to the replay value of the title.

Okay, that’s all well and good, but how does this title actually play? The first things that come to mind when I reflect on my times playing through ATV 2 are the awesome jumps and wicked terrains. These are by far the factors of the game that make it worth playing over and over, especially in multiplayer mode. Controlling your quad is very easy. While on the ground the A button acts an an accelerator and the B button acts as a brake, in the air the buttons double as trick/combo buttons when used in conjunction with the left thumbstick or directional pad, as do the X, Y, and triggers. The tricks are also dependent upon your skill level. For example; pressing up on the directional pad and the X button on skill level one will perform a scissor trick worth 1,000 points, but on skill level seven pressing up plus A plus B will perform a Surfer’s Flip for 10,000 points. Whenever you do a trick you will earn a boost, which can be used as soon as your boost meter is full to give you the extra speed to take over the pack. As you might expect the right trigger is used as a pre-loader for gaining height on jumps, the right amount of speed and preload can lend itself for some spectacular jumps, just make sure you angle your quad correctly for a safe landing. During races you can also use the B button to knock other races off of their quads, it can be difficult to do this but it’s definitely worth the trouble to see that racer hit the dirt and widen your lead a bit more.

Graphics / Presentation

ATV 2 Quad Power Racing graphically is done well, but does have some areas that could use improvement. The environments are conveyed realistically and you do get the feel that you are in the respective area and that the jumps and tricks you are performing could actually take place at that locale. The quads themselves are modeled fairly well and the jump animations and environmental effects add to the overall appeal of the title. The frame rate is very consistent throughout the races even while the full lineup of racers were visible on screen. Rider animations are lacking details which one might expect from an Xbox title, but clearly not enough to diminish the title’s merits. We did encounter a couple of rare clipping issues during gameplay (like getting our quad caught on the rail of a bridge for a moment), but the rarity of the issues we did have were not enough to downplay the overall fun factor of the game.

Audio

The audio in ATV 2 was done fairly well but seemed somewhat basic. You can hear the roar of the engines, the splash of the water, and driving over different types of terrain each have their own unique sounds. There was little ambient noise, such as birds or planes flying overhead, and races mainly consist of riders shouting at each other and the soundtrack playing in the background. They did include a decent soundtrack for this type of extreme racing title, consisting of tracks from artists such as Godsmack, Box Car Racer, Audiovent, The Reunion Show, Rollands Band, Midtown, and Bionic Jive. We did encounter an inconsistency when it comes to the issue of custom soundtrack support. The back of the retail box indicates that custom soundtracks are not supported, however the manual indicates that they are. Whichever is the case, we’ll just have to chalk it up as a no, since we couldn’t seem to figure it out in the options menu.

Replay Value

There are enough options available in the title to keep you entertained for several days, much longer if you have friends and take advantage of the multiplayer modes. Once you do complete the Career mode creating your own Custom circuit is a nice touch that can add substantially to the replay value of ATV 2.

Overall Score

Overall Score: 8.0/10 [Not an Average] Worth A Closer Look

Additional Comments

While ATV 2 Quad Power Racing has some graphical issues and a limited selection when it comes to sound, the fun, excitement and enjoyment you can get out of the title makes up for it’s shortcomings. This reminds me of the title Test Drive Off Road Wide Open from Infogrames, as it offers hours of fun, and what else do we play games for? The fun factor is there! Not to mention, there is currently no other option when it comes to quad racing for the Xbox, and I don’t mean that as a slam, hopefully Acclaim will continue to improve on this series with each release, I’ll be looking for ATV 3.

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