[360/PS3] - Baja: Edge of Control Review

[AgtFox]

Baja: Edge of Control Review

Title: Baja: Edge of Control
Platform: 360/PS3
Developer: 2XL Games
Publisher: THQ
ESRB: Everyone
MSRP: $59.99 (360/PS3)
Editor: Loren 'AgtFox' Halek

What's Hot: Edge of your seat racing; fun online multiplayer; split-screen gaming; once past early vehicle classes things open up quite a bit

What's Not: Earliest levels in career mode are difficult even on easy; steep learning curve; if you’re not into simulations steer away; AI relentless almost to a fault

Some of you may have picked up the ATV racing game Pure recently. From all I’ve read it sounds like it is an excellent racing game with the over-the-top tendencies of the SSX games. On the flipside of the scale in the off-road racing genre comes Baja: Edge of Control, a game made by many of the people behind the ATV Offroad games. This game is rooted more in simulation than crazy fun, but the tweaking and simulation aspects are not so high level that a person looking for fun won’t understand.

First thing to talk about is the graphics. They aren’t going to wow you by any stretch of the imagination. As I was going through different tracks in the game I began to realize that the tire impressions you had created while driving are not there even if you go forward a bit and come back. In fact, the graphical tire prints that are there are just static to the track itself. The vehicle graphics aren’t fantastic either and the overall color scheme seems to be a bit washed out. I played this on the 360 and I have heard that the PS3 version has slowdown and bad textures, so if you are going to pick this game up you probably want to get it on the 360. The sound also borders on dull with the same engine sounds seemingly dropped across all vehicles. I found myself upping the sound of the music and putting the engine sound down, but after the relatively quick playthrough of the songs the repetition could get to you after a while. There are some nice tunes, but when in a long race you probably don’t want to hear the songs repeated multiple times.

This game gets its inspiration from the Baja 1000 race that happens in the Baja peninsula every year around this time. Much like that race, there is a variety of vehicles to choose from in different classes such as Buggys, VW class, half-trucks, full trucks, custom vehicles, etc. Each vehicle section, except the last special class, has three vehicles for you to use at any time, the rest have to be unlocked through the Career mode. On both the single and multiplayer side of things there are different options to choose from: Circuit Race, Rally Race, Hill Climb Race, Open Class Race. Baja Race and Free Ride. Most of those are pretty self-explanatory and can be fun against the AI, which is relentless, and human opponents as well.

One thing the single player gameplay has that the multiplayer does not is the Baja Career mode. At the beginning of the career mode I was all excited about what kind of fun it would be, but I soon found out the beginning class was quite difficult even on easy and the learning curve was quite steep if you went straight into this mode. The first class consists of Buggy cars, including rally versions of the Volkswagen Bug. The key problem while going through the 5 events in this class is that the vehicles just are not that good at anything and you can easily be beat even after tuning your car with every mod available. It took me a long time to get through the first area, but once done the game really opens up with cars that are more versatile and give you a better chance of gaining victory. It is sad that the beginning class is so hard because you have to make it through in the top three in order to unlock the other classes. The only other oddity in subsequent classes is that from the three or more vehicles you can choose from you have no idea which car is good at speed, turning, suspension, etc. There are no indicators, so you are really left to the luck of the draw. Playing with several vehicles made me see that there were differences in how the handled and I’m not sure why simple bars are not included.

The difficulty in the early part of the career mode should not turn you away from the game though because once you are through it the game really opens up. The key thing I learned to do while driving is not touching the brake at all and instead learned to use the handbreak (A button) and clutch (Left button) when going into 180 degree or sharp turns. For the most part the embankment of dirt on the turns will do the breaking for you while pulling off the handbreak going into the turn and hitting the clutch coming out of it. It takes a bit of time, but you can shave off serious real estate and time on the people ahead of you using that strategy. Also be sure to stay on the track as much as possible, the game will penalize you for staying off the track for too long and will also penalize you for trying to use a shortcut. This kind of sucks since you don’t have the freedom of movement that you may have in other game, but things are also more bumpy and uncontrollable when off the track which gives the nod to the title of this game..

Most of the fun you will find here comes from playing the single player options and certainly from playing spit-screen and online with other people. I had a ton of fun playing different race types online with people I have never met before in my life. While you are waiting for more players to join the group, you can drive around the course until the host actually starts the race. Once the timer runs down the game will magically teleport you to the start and off you go. If you are put into a Baja race that can take upwards of three hours, you can actually drop out and let the AI take control of your vehicle while you go and do something else. You can then come back at any time and take control of the vehicle again. Also be sure to keep an eye out for any mechanical problems while you are racing such as water levels running low, oil pan getting knocked out, tires going flat and many other things. In some races there will be pit stops that you brake at and get your car fixed. Then the longer races have a helicopter that you can call in to fix your car. If you happen to have a spare tire on your car (many even have two!) and you happen to blow one you can stop and fix it yourself. These kinds of things are usually reserved for the Baja races, but some of the Hill Races will see you trying to handle your water level efficiently.

It is quite interesting that the title Baja: Edge of Control couldn’t be a more apt one. There are times in this game where you will be flying through the air and wondering whether you will land fine or go into a roll by landing wrong. There are times where you are literally driving by the seat of your pants. You will find a lot of fun playing online and playing with friends via split-screen gameplay as well as the career mode once you get past the initial vehicle class. This game may be grounded in simulation aspects, but there is plenty of fun to be had..

Score: 3.5 out of 5 CoGs


Loren says, "Buy it if you’re into simulation racers or a fun online and local split-screen experience, rent it if you’re not sure"

- Review this title yourself over at Play It Review It, part of the CoG Network

*Note - Review based upon 360 version of game

[MalReynolds]

I dislike THQ

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by MalReynolds

I dislike THQ

Why's that? They aren't necessarily the best gaming company, but they do have some good games out there.

[Karak]

Great game.
I found it too easy but it sounds like the difficulty may be set a bit hard for others. Its fantastic fun and free ride is a joy.

[AgtFox]

It's relatively easy once you get out of that initial class in career. It's just kind of weird that things are so hard right off the bat. I'm pretty good at racing games and this one had me on the edge in that part.

[CptTripps]

I am enjoying this game, it was a tossup between this and PURE but I figured baja would have a more play time and split screen is always welcome.

[Norse]

AgtFox, have you played Pure? If so, which one is more fun?

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by Norse

AgtFox, have you played Pure? If so, which one is more fun?

I will hopefully be playing Pure soon (with a review forthcoming), but I have not played it as of yet. Had other games to rent from Gamefly at the time it came out. If I were to guess, I'd say Pure is the more fun since it seems to be more about that than simulation aspects here.

[Karak]

Originally Posted by Norse

AgtFox, have you played Pure? If so, which one is more fun?

Not that you asked me. But I own both and Pure is instant fun but wears out WAY before Baja. Baja is constant and with the courses being so long its going to be hard or impossible on some modes to memorize everything. Its just insane.
But Pure is a DAMN good rental.

[Tayaya]

Nice little write-up. Thanks for putting this game back on my radar. I wanted to try it out when I saw it on the store shelf. I used to play the old Super NES Off-Road: Baja game when I was a kid and was really upset that no other game company wanted to tackle what is truly an awesome spectacle of auto racing, especially given the hardware advances we've had in the last 12-14 years.

When i read the press about it through, all the reviews I could find were pretty negative, so I quit being interested. I should have remembered that F1 did the same thing - bad press, but a truly awesome, if not niche, racing title.

I'll check this out after regaining financial stability following this week's insane release schedule.

[RandoM51]

Why was this game reviewed? I'm not giving shit, I'm just curious how out of all the fall titles currently out there that this one made the cut.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by RandoM51

Why was this game reviewed? I'm not giving shit, I'm just curious how out of all the fall titles currently out there that this one made the cut.

If you look at the date of the review it was a week before the major releases came out. We are working on doing reviews of those. As for how this one made the cut, THQ provided the game to us and a review had to be done in my opinion.