Real Racing has found an off-road partner for simulating racing on the Iphone in 2xl’s ATV Offroad.  This showpiece dirt racer drops you into the driver’s seat of an ATV with an unbelievable first-person view that has to be experienced to be appreciated.

In some ways ATV Offroad is a more impressive achievement than Real Racing, which only had to simulate flat tracks.  The vertical movement as you take huge jumps over hills and ramps is realistic, jarring and especially thrilling in the open air first person view.  To  play a game with this much realism on a cell phone is remarkable.

ATV Offroad contains six great outdoor National tracks at different locations with two freestyle stunt areas or if you prefer, 8 Supercross stadium arenas with tighter courses.  There is a career mode where you must advance through both indoor and outdoor races.  There is also an arcade mode where you can run races on any of the courses without having to unlock them which is nice.  The outdoor courses in particular are beautiful and fun with console quality graphics and well-designed tracks that can be run repeatedly without getting tiresome.

  

Tilt is the optimum steering method but 2xl offers every control method known to man with eight presets and adjustments for tilt sensitivity and dead zone, steering sensitivity,  brake assist and auto acceleration to individualize the controls.  Stunts are performed by the side buttons. The thought and work that went into the controls for ATV Offroad is commendable. There are four camera views; behind, ¾ side, over the handlebars and the killer open-air first-person view.  There are also 3 difficulty settings.

The A.I. is rock solid with riders who aggressively fight for the best racing line and who will knock you off course or off your ATV.  If you go off course for too long you’ll be reset back in the pack.  Running into signs, course barriers or trees will either slow you down or knock you over most of the time.  On my Iphone 2G there are moments of stuttering but nothing that cripples the game.

  

You can choose from 13 rider outfits and ATV’s but there is no tuning as in Dirt Moto
nor do you have the ability to power slide.  There is no online play but there is local WiFi multiplayer.  The sound is adequate but seems a tad underwhelming when compared to the visual punch and great racing that’s offered. These are all minor bumps for a title that lifts the Iphone to new and exciting heights in off-road racing and gets 4.5 stars.


goyami@comcast.net