4x4 Evolution Preview

This game will, if for no other reason, go into history because of the multiplayer possibility of players on all three platforms. We are of course talking Internet. The whole project was integrated with GameSpy "peer to peer" code, which will finally allow PC guys to kick some ugly console playing ass. The PC supports 8 player game, whereas Dreamcast, for example, has a max of 4. But then again, PC wont have the 2-player split-screen mode, while the console players will not only be able to mangle each other on the same machine, but play together against other online fans...cool.

The game will have 3 modes, and I don't think you would have ever guessed them (Yeah, right...).: Fast Race, Career Time and Time Mode. Fast Race is a version of the Quick Race, which means you quickly get in the car and don't pay attention to the points you accumulate. It's different with in the Career Mode, because you go from race to race, and the number of points is very important, since who has money, he can select from Bevy of Enhancements, including heavy-duty off-road enhancements, brush guards, performance exhaust and special off-road racing tires, etc. The third mode is also pretty clear-the so called Ghost Race, the race for best time on each track. The player can, after 5 days without sleep and jerking the joystick, upload his best results on the Internet, and compare them with other "colleagues".

The game will altogether contain 16 tracks, each with its characteristic design, soundtrack and of course level of difficulty. The courses are checkpoint based, but that doesn't confine you to a certain route. The developers tried to contribute to a livelier atmosphere by adding a great number of shortcuts and adding some randomness. Trains, traffic, ships, tractors in junkyards, cranes in construction sites wont appear at the same place each time. The dynamic objects are very challenging and enhance the racing's strategic aspects. People will be able to set up their game pad, steering wheel or other input device (keyboard, Rumble Pack or VMU) in many different ways. There are some algorithms that on less steer able devices (read keyboard) mimic the fine degrees of control a steering wheel or game pad gives.

W hen the game finally becomes available, it will come together with a course editor, and it will be the same one that the Terminal Reality designers developed all the locations in the game. Also, there will be a lot of information on how to build your own models or skins. From time to time, the developers say, they wont be lazy and promise a new track on the Internet.

So, there you have it. If you are encountering Evolution 4x4 for the first time and think that the game has appeal, you're lucky, because it wont be long and the game will be available on the CD store racks.