PS3 Jeremy McGrath's Offroad

Jeremy McGarth is a motocross rider of some note, so you may be forgiven for thinking that this is a motocross game, but it is not.

This is a rally game, but with heavy emphasis on the buggy and truck racing popular with our cousins across the pond. There are no licenced vehicles as such, all are generic in type, the only difference being the livery you select.

Once you buy the game from PSN, getting a couple of coppers change from £9, and download it's 1.2 GB file, and fire it up you are met with arcade mode, career mode, and online multiplayer.

I chose the career option. You start off in buggys, and work your way through 23 races, across 7 tracks, and 5 vehicle types. There are 3 difficulty levels, the default medium level is ok to start with, but most players would probably find more of a challenge at the higher level.

When you first get out on track you are struck by how good the tracks look, they are excellently crafted, the only criticism for me is that the car sometimes appears to be floating above the track, rather than on it.

The cars handle well, and feel good from the outset, easy enough for a novice, a little on the arcade side, but enough control to reward a deft touch. There are 3 default tuning settings, which cannot be customised, although you will only use one.
Unfortunately there is little or no difference in feeling between the varying vehicle types.

Progression through career mode is swift, It is 23 races, which can be completed in less than 2 hours, with all wins, But even with this rapid progression the lack of cars and tracks make it a little repetitive. Everything you do earns xp, and xp can be spent on upgrades to your car, although this system is very basic, but it's effective.

The online mode would be a hoot, with a group of friends, and this is were any longevity in this game might lie, however when I tried out the online mode I was unable to find any rooms to play in.

So in short, this is a sweet looking rally game, with nice handling, but single player lacks longevity, with limited cars, but the killer is the lack of tracks

The official website is here