Helmets on, padding on, but will it be enough to save ATV Off-road Fury 3?

After playing many ATV and similar games before, my expectations for this little bundle of high octane action were very low and if I could make my way past the menus I would be very happy. But with relation to every video game it contains a force of addiction that no right-minded gamer can resist, and of course I am no different in that sense.

The developers at Climax had the luck against them to begin the game and with past installments failing; the chances of this game being a success were the same as Hendrix not being able to play guitar. The thought of a ‘quad racing’ game is attractive in stages of concept but transferring the ideas into motion seems to be the difficult stage, or the hurdle that most developers fall at. Most people share the same view that they would love to feel the wind in their face but if they tried they would end up with broken bones and broken confidence, so they turn to video games because this is the closest they can get to that sensation.

Patience Wearing Thin

Games should be quick and an ATV game should be faster than most, but once the game begins to slowly load, the excitement that you hold for the game slowly drains. These slow loading times exist all through the game and for no real reason as there seems to be no real end product after waiting. This could just be a trick by Climax rewarding people who tended to wait the longest but if this was only the truth, most of my confidence was already drained by the time of selecting a quad and rider.

“Woohoo, You Got Silver”, that’s not the most appealing commentary but at least the developers had the sense to only apply the exasperating sound guides in training mode. In a training mode all you want, is a quick guide to enable you to grasp the basics of the game and in my opinion and I never thought I would say this but the educational guide is too deep, deep enough easily to drown and penetrate your mind in. One of the other sounds that they try to interpret into the game is the rider’s yell of pain, which is way too generic to believe.  The game includes four sound recordings for each rider (male or female) for when they fall off or crash but for one of the sounds it is like the rider is enjoying some pleasure; not the pain of destructing their pelvis.

The only good things, in logic of sound, are the wide array of music that the game possesses and the sound of the quad’s engine. The range of music is played within most of the game, including menus and in-game, whereas the sound of the quad’s engine is as realistic as done in any other game, but this can only be clearly heard in training mode or with the music setting adjusted

Got Mud?

In the eyes of the developers, the graphical aspect of the game was by no means a priority but they still impress with well rendered, smooth character models and impeccable tracks/stadiums.  The backgrounds of stadiums and tracks are full of action, as skylines are filled with construction site cranes or deserted Amazonian rainforests; the list can go on and varies with each level in shape and size. The most incredible graphical achievement within the game is the way the appearance of rider and quad can be different by the end of the race, with mud the main culprit in smothering the motion filled objects.

Peace Offering

The game does not only excel in graphics; with the depth available also catching the eye. The game succeeds with many game modes, including amateur and pro super cross, but also playing sidekick to the success is the feeling of an unlimited amount of tracks.

If you get round the sluggish loading times, you will be greeted by at times easy to use menus and the ability to tune not only your rider but also the specifications of your quad. Whether the tuning of your quad helps you win races is a different matter, with difficult in game conditions only made worse with over the top ‘preload’ on jumps which adds complexity to make a good jump and an added stunt feature.

No-one wants to be bombarded by features of quads that only die-hards understand, and this is another hurdle that the game falls at. Menus become over-crowded with specifications that are not a necessity, mind you that’s from the helmet of a non-atv rider.

Missed the Jump

The game can only be described as a failure with many past installments covering the same institutes of the ATV culture. The two special highlights of the new Climax Racing ATV game are the much improved graphical engine along with added depth, although the priority was achieving successful gameplay. The targeted feature is neglected within the game and the main villainous aspect for the downfall is the long loading times.