ATV Offroad Fury 2 (PlayStation 2)

Reviewed by

Ryan Davis

on 11/21/2002

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Page 2

It's cool that Rainbow Studios was able to include some online play in ATV Offroad Fury 2, but the mode feels hastily assembled. You'll start off with just two online gameplay types, race and freestyle, and though two of the minigames can also be played online, Rainbow Studios has frustratingly locked them up, forcing you to go through the single-player mode in order to fully enjoy the multiplayer aspects of this game, even if you have no interest in the single-player game. Also, regardless of which multiplayer option you choose, be it with a multitap, an i.Link cable, on a LAN, or over the Internet, you can have no more than four players in a game. Considering the massive size of some of the tracks and off-road enduro maps, it's disappointing that the developers were unable to include support for a few more riders. Also, once you've committed to online play, you'll have to reset your PlayStation 2 console if you want to play a single-player or split-screen multiplayer game--it's kind of a minor thing, but it's annoying. The actual online play itself is real smooth, and under optimal conditions, you won't give a second thought to the geographical locations of your opponents. Still, the game isn't worth picking up for its online capabilities alone, though PS2 network adapter owners should be pleased to have another game to play online.

The online play in ATV Offroad Fury 2 definitely could've used some more polish.

Though the online play in ATV Offroad Fury 2 definitely could've used some more polish, the lack of graphical enhancements over the original Offroad Fury is much more disappointing. The riders and their ATVs look slightly more detailed, but the regular rider animation and trick animation appear unchanged. The environments are big, though no bigger than before. Though the textures are generally bright and do a good job of conveying some realistic off-road environments, they don't stand up well to closer inspection, and even the most prominent first-string textures look pretty blurry. The frame rate is decent, but the aliasing is bad, and the game doesn't really make use of any impressive lighting or particle effects. Certainly, the old gaming adage "graphics aren't everything" rings true for ATV Offroad Fury 2, as the game is still completely playable, even with its slightly antiquated visual presentation, but this doesn't make it any less of a disappointment.

Though the trick system and the online features feel kind of half-baked, ATV Offroad Fury 2 still offers solid, enjoyable off-road racing action.

And what action sports game would be complete without a big licensed soundtrack? SCEA obviously put a lot of stock in this idea, as ATV Offroad Fury 2 features an extensive, expensive-sounding licensed soundtrack. The style of music included isn't surprising, with the usual mix of hip-hop, metal, and dance music, but the caliber of the acts and the number of tracks are almost on par with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. There's a total of 24 songs on the soundtrack, provided by the likes of Filter, Cypress Hill, Alien Ant Farm, Korn, Garbage, BT, System of a Down, and Jurassic 5, among others, and there's a surprisingly small amount of filler. And if there's something here that doesn't appeal to you, the game lets you customize the soundtrack to your personal tastes. While Sony was obviously willing to pay for the soundtrack, the same cannot be said for the in-game sound effects, which sound the same as those in the first Offroad Fury.

ATV Offroad Fury 2 makes a few incremental improvements to the existing ATV Offroad Fury formula, and it's not so radically different that it will alienate fans, but it also won't really draw in players that weren't impressed with the first game. Though the trick system and the online features feel kind of half-baked, ATV Offroad Fury 2 still offers solid, enjoyable off-road racing action.