4x4 Evo - PC Games

This seems boring until the computer drivers get involved, happily ramming you out of the way to get and stay ahead. Manoeuvrability is the key; the trucks are more akin to rallying than F1 but the handling is accurate. As long as you make it through the designated checkpoints you can take any route you like around the course, hence going off-road at any given point. In the career mode the better you do, the more money you earn for a better truck. Sadly there is no real crashing visually shown in the game.

The other problem is that the game is choosy over which physics are realistic. On the levels where the checkpoint "goalposts" are just metal signs or wooden poles, smashing into them brings you to a dead stop instead of getting a time penalty, although hitting planks for example, catches them under your wheels and slows you down, as does ploughing through water.

If you hate the courses you can edit your own and 4x4 Evolution soon draws you in. --Kenneth Henry