Jeremy McGrath's Offroad Review

Jeremy McGrath's Offroad sounds like a title waiting to be finished—like "Offroad Racing" or "Offroad Anything"—but while the title sounds unfinished, the game is anything but unfinished and full of a hefty amount of content for only $10. Offroad is an off-road racer—not too surprising—and features vehicles ranging from buggies to rally cars and tracks in numerous locations—like California, Netherlands, and Ecuador. And when you're ready to race, you can take your vehicle and drive in a career mode, an arcade mode, or against friends and foes over Xbox Live or PSN.

There is a surprising amount of content in Offroad—career mode alone contains twenty-three different races—and every vehicle class controls well with the game's more arcade-y feel, but the problem is the game eventually becomes repetitive, leaving the gamer playing the same handful of courses over and over again with vehicles that look different but don't control particularly different. The game never gets overly difficult or frustrating, but simply becomes somewhat robotic in its "been there, done that" nature.

I think I'm doing the whole "off-road" part wrong...

"Been there, done that" can be said for almost everything the game has to offer—the visuals are solid with a decent amount of color and variation, but nothing that hasn't been seen before;  the audio is fine but a bit bare with no music or much ambience;  and the multiplayer is fun but offers nothing more than a traditional race. The one thing I do love is that the different difficultly levels offer a varying challenge without ever reaching controller-throwing moments of frustration, making the game accessible for the most casual of racing fans.

Jeremy McGrath's Offroad is a solid racer but it doesn't take any chances or do anything unique or memorable. I had fun with my time, but I've seen all the game has to offer and don't see myself playing much more in the future. The multiplayer is nice if a bit empty, but the lack of offline multiplayer of any kind is a real disappointment. There's even a simple XP/leveling system—which I love in theory—but it lacks depth and didn't do much to satisfy my love of such systems. Offroad is a good game and great for a weekend—a good enough experience for the price—but don't expect to be playing it a month down the line.

Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad (800 MS Points/$9.99)