ATV: Quad Power Racing 2 PS2 Review @ Gaming Target

Written by Matt Partington on February 18, 2003

Review: Because the word quad just had to confirm the fact that there's four wheels.

ATV-based videogames have never really been big in the market. Although we've seen a few decent ones, none have them have truly outdone the rest of the racing genre. ATV: Quad Power Racing 2 is no exception. Even though it provides a well-rounded racing experience, it fails to present grandeur in any area. Regardless, the game is surprisingly better than you might anticipate it to be, and may actually be an adequate addition to your library.

ATV2 is immediately gratifying once you pick it up. The vehicles are easy to the steer, the courses are simple to navigate, and there's plenty of big jumps and good competition. This also means that it's quite funЦthere's nothing that leaps out at you as Уdifficult.Ф The game obviously appeals to those who aren't looking for a deep experience, one that you might see in a Gran Turismo title. The casual gamer will be able to pop it in and play without much thought. But this comes at a dear priceЦATV2 is quite a shallow game.

Just like many racing games, the driving force behind ATV2 is unlocking characters and vehicles, earning stat points, and gaining new levels. Problem is, there isn't all that much to unlock. Different game modes let you reveal new things. In Challenge mode, you'll be faced with mixed objectives that are split into two categories: Ground Challenges and Tower Challenges. Ground Challenges will have you perform things such as pulling the longest wheelie or steering in between cones at the fastest speed. Tower Challenges are more like races against time where you have to drive across high platforms and bars. These aren't always easy, and often they're amusing and you'll try them time and time again to beat your previous record. Other times they'll just be frustrating and you'll wonder if it's even possible to beat the past time or length.

Career mode lets you use your created character to go through the ranks as a professional driver, get new levels and earn stat points (such as strength, speed, and so forth). There's three degrees of difficult, and as you move on to the next step everything is taken up a notch. The courses vary all the way from a beach to a dumpster and an arctic tundra with a total of 15 in 5 different locals. Although you can tell they were laid out with plenty of thought, there just isn't enough individuality between the courses to keep you coming back to modes such as Single Race and Time Trial simply for the levels themselves.

There's an adequate abundance of modes in ATV2. Other than the basic ones such as Time Trial, Challenge, Single Race and Career there's Arcade mode which is based off two lap races where you must pass timed checkpoints. Freestyle is simply what it says and allows you to tone your skills. Later on in ATV2 once you've finished the Career mode progression you uncover Custom mode which permits you create your own racing tournament from the racer of your choice to the track selection and opponent difficulty.

Setting the goal to unlock every object in the game might at one point be overwhelming, but it actually doesn't take that long in retrospect. Some Challenges will take you up to ten times to complete, and you'll have to tune your skills to beat Career on the hardest level, but afterwards it leaves you with the feeling, Уnow what?Ф Like I pointed out before, there isn't all that much to unlock not to mention items and objects that differ all that greatly to make you actually determined to attain them.

Tricks do play a role in ATV2. Some extreme sports games coming from companies such as EA Big (the publisher that sprouted the idea of AKA Acclaim) feature tricks and maneuvers as a vocal point. ATV2 doesn't focus on tricks as much, instead this element mingles lightly into the gameplay. The further you advance, the higher your skill level becomes which reveals more tricks. If you hold down R1 while racing, you'll build up a boost that allows you to jump higher for stunts. On the largest of jumps you might be able to thing such as a backflip then a double superman. There's a very limited amount of things to do, which is the reason why the trick system is so lackluster and boring. You can repeat a move time and time over without it ever decreasing in point value. It's as if the developer saw an opening for the addition, then just slapped it in at the last moment and let all the moves work with a single button plus a direction on the joystick. Nevertheless, you'll need to use these stunts to get bonus points in Career or try and beat records in the trick attack mode and Freestyle. Honestly, if the trick system weren't so flimsy in ATV2, the game could have been considerably better.

Fighting moves have also been wedged into the mix. It's nothing spectacular, you merely have to press R2 next to an opponent and you'll either kick or punch them off their vehicle. Er... that's it...

ATV2 isn't not nearly eye candy, but it is almost certainly not below average when it comes to graphics. The game doesn't get shot down from bad aliasing or flat textures, instead everything looks satisfactory yet nothing's stellar. Many of the courses have a nice deal of atmosphere and flairЦothers are the opposite and lack these two things. You'll see physical alterations in environment such as dust blowing up in the air from the tires and a very bad recreation of water spraying out to the sides when driving through a stream or puddle, but ATV2 doesn't support weather effects hardly at all. I can't see why someone would pick this game and actually be stunned by the visuals, but it is a good looking title despite it's inability to outshine the competition.

It's almost become a rule that an extreme sports game supports a solid, rock or punk-style soundtrack. ATV2 followed in the many footsteps taken before it and provides a nice musical collection of primarily rock songs. For the most part the music compliments the levels and racing, but you start to recognize how many songs there really are, or rather the absence of considering there's only seven licensed tracks. As far as sound effects go, ATV2 furnishes exactly what you might expect, nothing more and nothing less. Once again, the game borders average without offering something to truly boast about.