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I don’t know anything about Jeremy McGrath. I mean, I could Google him, but what’s the
point in even pretending? The only thing I really know about that name is that it was
revered among the kids in high school who wore Motocross t-shirts and drank Mt. Dew.
And I wasn’t friends with them, so I didn’t care.
Nonetheless, it’s nice to be introduced to something that has the name “Jeremy McGrath”
attached to it that isn’t annoying. In fact, this thing is pretty awesome. This is Jeremy
McGrath’s Offroad for the PlayStation 3.
No “extreme” in the title, no insults from me.
Just released to the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade, Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad
comes from the team at 2XL Games. They’ve only done a few major titles, most notably
the widely slammed 2008 racer Baja: Out of Control, but this one is an obvious step on
the right track.
See, because you drive on one. Racing puns. Do the Dew!
So I guess basically, this is a racing game based on four-wheel vehicles. So there’s
trucks and buggies and the races take place from this first-person perspective, which
can be a little awkward if you’re not used to those kind of racers, but you do get used
to it really quickly.
In terms of the gameplay, Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad fits somewhere between other racing
games. It’s not a realistic racing simulator, but it’s not as wacky and outrageous as
a kart racer. And that middle ground is actually where the game thrives. It offers an acceptable
amount of modes and complexity for veterans, but it never pushes more casual players away.
That’s what I love about it.
You have a career and arcade mode with six tracks and five vehicle classes, which seems
like just the right amount of content for its ten-dollar price tag. It’s also fun
to mess around with the game’s XP system, which gives you points for doing certain things
during races. Afterward, you can use that XP to upgrade your ride.
And who said safe driving pays off?
Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad isn’t a game changer for racers, but it is an addictive
game with the kind of presentation you get from the genre’s top releases. I mean, I
don’t even know what a Jeremy McGrath is, and I loved this freaking thing. It’s Jeremy
McGrath’s Offroad for the PlayStation 3.