ATV Quad Power Racing 2 – GC – Review

Upon game start-up, players will choose a rider from a corral of available riders. Each rider’s stats and skill level is displayed, with ratings on Technique, Strength, Skill, Ability, and Aggression. There are three bikes to choose from at first, more will be unlocked later if racers are successful. Players can then choose to race in either Career, Arcade, Freestyle, Single Race, Challenge, Time Trial, or Multiplayer. There is also a special Custom mode which is available after completing the Career Mode. A training mode in the ATV academy is recommended in order for players to familiarize themselves with the various button controls for movement and tricks.

Career mode is designed to be progressively harder, as riders improve in skills and tricks, unlocking harder tracks and tricks. There are three championships to be won: Amateur, Professional and Superstar. Finishing in third place overall for each championship group of races enables players to advance to the next championship. Arcade mode features the same type of skill progression, but in a slightly different format. Freestyle takes place in a special indoor stunt arena, where tricks are the total focus of the gameplay.

The main brunt of the gameplay is, of course, the tricks. As players progress to harder tracks, more vehicles become available, which enables riders to do more tricks. In order to be successful in the career mode, tricks are a necessary component because of the points awarded for good tricks, but many times the tricks will slow the rider down and cause him to fall behind, unless performed exactly right. The preload button will enable riders to jump higher and further, and is powered by the successful racing of the bike. Each trick causes more boost to be added to the racer – boost can also be taken from other riders by kicking them as they draw abreast, in a pretty funny manner. Our family kept getting the biggest “kick” out of watching those ridiculously long legs reaching out and kicking the other riders off their bikes. We must need to get out more.

The buttons for the beginning tricks that are available are fairly simple to master, but more advanced tricks require more complicated combinations of button mashing. I had a difficult time pulling off later tricks because one, it was hard to remember all the different combos, and two, I am not very coordinated, anyway. My teenage son, though, had no problems at all and was soon pulling off xtreme stunts with pizzazz.

As the stats increase, the riders’ abilities increase correspondingly. These mostly have to do with the riders’ skills in handling the bike, but the aggression factor deals solely with eliminating the other riders and stealing their boost. This is really easy from the get-go, as the computer generated opponents don’t really offer much in the way of competition aside from speed. Aggression isn’t their forte, it seems.

The tracks are fairly interesting, and are good representations of their respective terrains of dirt, beaches, glacier, etc. The dirt tracks looked especially nice with realistic mud and rain splatters, plus the trees looked pretty cool. The tracks did seem a trifle overlong, though.

The bikes and tracks are drawn nicely, and while not outstanding, are pleasing to the eye and more than adequate. The racing “feels” like racing, with the realism of the natural elements found on the tracks adding to this effect. The riders aren’t as crisp appearing as the other game elements, and are a little blurry and indistinct. The rider my son picked looked more like a Martian than anything else, as the suit and helmet were all the same pea green shade, giving an overall otherworldly effect.

Multiplayer mode is a lot of fun, and I garnered much amusement from watching my son and husband race each other around the tracks. The screen is split screen, of course, but with a decently large screen the screen size is adequate, although the bottom half gives an optical illusion of cutting off the head of the rider, which is really not the case. Players can either race just each other, or have the other computerized riders join in. The freestyle arena is also available for multiplayer mode, as is championship play. My guys preferred the Head to Head (without other riders) and Single Racing, with the other players, over the freestyle or championship modes.

The music is mostly of one genre, metal, with songs such as “Bad Religion”, “Gravity” and Your Number is One”. It fits the ATV theme, but it would have been nice if more music tastes had been catered to. The songs are fairly innocuous for the most part in language and tone, except for “Bad Religion”, which does have one profanity. The music is performed by well-known groups, and fans of metal will enjoy it.

The interface is a little cluttered, but mostly because of the tremendous amount of information it tries to impart. While the various gauges and meters are somewhat helpful, I would rather have done without some of them in order to have a more clear screen. It didn’t seem to bother anyone else in my family, though. There are stats onscreen for preload, rpms, boost, progress, position, score, lap and player assistance (location indicator). Helpful racing hints are given from time to time, which do come in handy, especially when just beginning the game.