ATV Offroad Fury Blazin' Trails - PSP Previews


	Platform PSP Genre Racing Publisher SCEA Developer Climax ETA Spring 2005
Newsletter
Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly. Enter E-Mail Address Below: Subscribe \| Unsubscribe

ATV Offroad Fury Blazin' Trails

This is the time when portable gaming comes of age. With Nintendo’s DS and Sony’s PSP (and to a lesser extent the N-Gage), gamers are really getting the full benefit of some exceptional technology. But with every hardware launch there’s the inevitable rehash of successful franchises that appeared previously. While the title might be original, the general gameplay doesn’t change.

So, here we have ATV Fury being ported to the PSP with the “Blazin’ Trails” moniker to distinguish itself. Here’s the official word:

Multiplayer Gameplay – Gamers can compete locally against friends or other race fans from around the country in head-to-head play via Wireless Multiplayer Connectivity.

Six race modes including: Practice, Lap Attack, Single Race, Championships, Freeride and multiple Multiplayer games.

Practice – Players may ride any available course for an unlimited duration. The game will also include a training course and waypoint editor.

Lap Attack – Players turn in their best time and race against the clock to better it while mastering the track before race time.

Single Race – Players compete against each other or the artificial intelligence on any available course.

Championships – Players compete in a variety of championships to earn a gold, silver or bronze trophy and unlock new ATVs, tracks and other goodies. Mode includes a new short track and One-day events.

Freeride – Players drive anywhere, as long as they want, on any available environment without lap count or time restrictions.

Mini-games – 10 mini-games including: King off the Hill, Treasure Hunt, Tag, Hockey, Soccer, Basketball, Rings of Fire, Ghost Chasers, Bomb Dodge, Graffiti.

Advertisement

KEY FEATURES

24 highly detailed ATV’s

Vehicle tuning system allowing players to change tire type and gear ratios.

Up to 20 customizable component parts for both your bike and rider along with color designs and logos to place on panels and rider liveries - showing rider experience in events.

Advertisement

New Trading Card System – With an all-new Trading Card System, users will be able to win, trade, or share new ATV’s, Riders, Rider Gear and more.Garage mode – stores a player’s complete progression and unlocked data, including vehicles, component parts and rider liveries.

Tricks – Gamers can pull off 34 freestyle tricks including combos and linkers.

Visually stunning backgrounds with water and mud effects and fully interactive objects and instances such as ramps, tires, cones and trees.

Six distinct terrain types – Snow, Dirt, Mud, Ice, Water and Grass – each with distinct handling properties.

There’s nothing innately wrong with rehashed games at the launch of a new platform – coming up with completely new intellectual properties every time more powerful hardware comes out would be pretty tough. There’s nothing with Blazin’ Trails that we haven’t already seen on the Playstation or PS2 except for wireless connectivity, which should make the multiplayer a hoot.

The development duties are in the hands of Climax, the house that produced ATV Offroad Fury 3 on PS2, which took the series into a realm closer to arcade than realism and – according to Gamerankings.com – was the least critically acclaimed title of the series. But all bets are off for the PSP. That’s the great thing about new hardware: you get a clean slate to work with.

- Omni

(February 7, 2005)