Game Review: Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad

OK perhaps not, myself included I am afraid, he is actually a very popular motocross/supercross champion, based in the United States who was in fact the “king of supercross” back in the 90`s, he was one of the originators of freestyle motocross, the doing mad acrobatics whilst hanging off the back end of a flying motorcycle.

Now he is known for his off road truck racing and off course there have been a number of Jeremy McGrath games in the past all of which are pretty forgettable, that is until now!

JEREMY MCGRATH`S OFFROAD published by REVERB and 2XL GAMES on XBLA® and PSN® is a refreshing look at the whole off road experience at a nice price (800 Microsoft points).

I was expecting something cheap and nasty at that price but couldn`t be more wrong, this game has nice graphics, reasonable gameplay and some full on racing , the other good thing about it is the accessibility for rookie drivers , controls are simple and you can jump in straight away and not feel like a useless idiot.

I used my MADCATZ WIRELESS RACING WHEEL with JEREMY MCGRATH`S OFFROAD, and it worked beautifully , and with the use of the B button allowing for power slides, and the X button for clutch boosting out of the corners, which is great fun.

If you haven`t a wheel to play with, don`t be disappointed, the controller does the trick just as well and still makes for an entertaining game.

If you’re looking for any off road bikes then you will be disappointed, this is all about full blown dirt kicking trucks and cars (the kind you see doing events like Paris/ Dakar) and it can be unforgiving but accessible.

There are a number of difficulty levels , different kinds of simplified vehicle set ups, so it`s not a daunting experience for any newbies to the genre , mind you the power slides and clutch boosts can take a while to master, with some spectacular jumps to get right, it’s an all-round cheap and quality game.

Upgrading is easy and straightforward, with XP points being awarded after every event, and during gameplay even if you keep coming in last place on a regular basis, these are little tweaks and adjustments you can make to your vehicle, the usual stuff, acceleration, braking, handling, and speed.

The graphics are nice but not stunning, and then what do you expect for the price, as with the cartoony obstacles appearing every now and then like giant snow balls and rolling hay bales, this element I thought was just too distracting and the dynamics just weren`t good enough to give it a “real” feel, OK I get what they are doing here but please guys make the objects act more realistically!

Summary

JEREMY MCGRATH`S OFFROAD is a great little downloadable game for the money, and newbies will enjoy the easy controls, what lets this game down is the silly things like the objects rolling across the track, which I think personally spoil the feel of the game, otherwise if you fancy an off road game that’s reasonably good to look at, and easy to play then JEREMY MCGRATH`S OFFROAD is the one for you

I give JEREMY MCGRATH`S OFFROAD 8 out of 10 because it’s a great game for the money, but it could be better.

• JEREMY MCGRATH`S OFFROAD

• Developers: 2XL Games

• Publisher: Reverb Publishing

• XBLA®

• PSN®

• Genre: Racing