Top 1 Xbox 360 Site

In Baja, players will conquer more than 100 square miles of the toughest terrain Mother Nature has to offer, including the steepest mountains, thickest mud and deepest canyons ever created. With more than 40 vehicles in eight classes, including Trophy Trucks, 4×4s and buggies, Baja features a full array of upgradeable options with hundreds of authentic parts that affect each vehicle’s performance. Players will put their off-road machines to the test in near-vertical Hill Climb challenges, head-to-head Open Class races, circuit races and the ultimate off-road endurance challenge: the Baja. Baja’s open worlds extend thousands of miles across all landscapes in races that can last up to four hours. The game’s revolutionary vehicle physics deliver unprecedented life-like handling, and a support management system allows gamers to monitor and repair realistic vehicle damage as fenders fly, tires are blown, suspension is stressed and engines overheat. Baja supports four-player split screen multiplayer capability, 12-player online and LAN as well as multiple-screen panoramic view.

Genre: Racing

Publisher: THQ

Developer: 2XL Games

Online Play: 12 Versus

Local Play: 4 Versus

September 22, 2008 –
For fans of real-world off-road racing, the Baja 1000 is legendary for being one of the most brutal and dramatic endurance motorsports events in the world. Every year, racers descend on Baja California to put trophy trucks, VW bugs, buggies and bikes through a grueling thousand-mile race full of bumps, hills, jumps and bruises.

With its multiple vehicle classes, numerous side-events and largely unexplored potential, publisher THQ and developer 2XL Games saw the Baja series as fertile ground for translation to the videogame world, and the two teamed up to turn that experience into a game geared heavily toward the hardcore set.

The developers at 2XL are no strangers to the world of off-road racing games, and some of them came directly from Rainbow Studios, makers of the MX vs. ATV series. But instead of sticking to quads and dirt bikes, 2XL went big for its first project, taking on the vast environments of the Baja and the complex machines that run its races. The resulting game, Baja: Edge of Control, is an ambitious effort with some solid components. However, there are some issues under the hood that prevent Baja from stepping into the winner’s circle.

One of Baja’s most striking features is its collection of vast racing environments. There is more than 1,000 miles of rugged country to tear through in Baja, and each collection of tracks has been carefully sculpted to provide the most maddeningly bumpy terrain imaginable. From the lonely red dirt of Canyon de Chelly to the sand and sun of Cabo San Lucas, Baja keeps it real from the beginning and never lets up.

At the beginning of Baja, you’re restricted to the Baja Bug class, one of eight vehicle classes available throughout the game. As you bank wins in the lower classes, you’ll gain experience points, which will allow you to enter the more prestigious classes, such as Class 1 Unlimited and Trophy Truck. Provided, of course, that you have the money (earned from wins and sponsorships) to buy yourself the right vehicles. A lowly VW Unlimited can be had for as little as 40,000 credits, while the top-of-the-line trophy trucks can easily set you back a half million.

But getting to that elite level takes a painfully long time, and the early hours of Baja: Edge of Control are taken up instead by one of the steepest learning curves you’re likely to find in a console racing game. The Baja development team took great pains to imbue the vehicles in the game with the most realistic suspension and tire physics possible, and it’s safe to say they succeeded in that goal. Wheels grip when they should and slip when they can’t. Front ends take dips hard, and uneven surfaces wreak havoc on steering. Land a jump wrong and you’re likely to bottom out and destroy your oil pan, deflate a tire or find yourself tumbling end over end into the vastness of the Mexican desert.

It’s a technological achievement, but it can also be frustrating as hell, especially when you’re flailing about in the first stages of the game in a lowly VW bug. If you’re used to arcade-like controls in your off-road racing games, prepare to be surprised with Baja. Standard off-road controls, including clutching and pre-loading, are here, but the sim-like physics and handling on these vehicles make staying on the track a tricky endeavor. By the time I finally racked up podium finishes in the four multi-race league events in the Baja Bug class, I was altogether frustrated with Baja: Edge of Control and didn’t relish the thought of clawing my way through seven more classes.

Part of that frustration came from the steep learning curve (made worse by a poorly implemented tutorial system), and part can be attributed to the maniacal artificial intelligence imbued into every computer driver in Baja, a problem that’s especially apparent in the earliest stages of the game. Even with the A.I. difficulty pulled down to its lowest capacity, I found the leading computer opponents to be virtually flawless in most races. Although some A.I. drivers do take jumps wrong and crash, it’s nearly impossible to force them off the road in most races, while their ability to knock you off the track seems almost godlike at times.

This can be especially demoralizing in one of the Baja endurance races, which serve as one of Edge of Control’s unique draws. Hundreds of miles in length, they can take 1-3 hours to complete. Enduring the same reddish brown environments for 90 minutes, only to be knocked off a cliff by an A.I. driver, is enough to make you hurl your controller at the nearest pet (sorry, Fluffy).

• 1
• 2
• Next
  

September 22, 2008 –
For fans of real-world off-road racing, the Baja 1000 is legendary for being one of the most brutal and dramatic endurance motorsports events in the world. Every year, racers descend on Baja California to put trophy trucks, VW bugs, buggies and bikes through a grueling thousand-mile race full of bumps, hills, jumps and bruises.

With its multiple vehicle classes, numerous side-events and largely unexplored potential, publisher THQ and developer 2XL Games saw the Baja series as fertile ground for translation to the videogame world, and the two teamed up to turn that experience into a game geared heavily toward the hardcore set.

The developers at 2XL are no strangers to the world of off-road racing games, and some of them came directly from Rainbow Studios, makers of the MX vs. ATV series. But instead of sticking to quads and dirt bikes, 2XL went big for its first project, taking on the vast environments of the Baja and the complex machines that run its races. The resulting game, Baja: Edge of Control, is an ambitious effort with some solid components. However, there are some issues under the hood that prevent Baja from stepping into the winner’s circle.

One of Baja’s most striking features is its collection of vast racing environments. There is more than 1,000 miles of rugged country to tear through in Baja, and each collection of tracks has been carefully sculpted to provide the most maddeningly bumpy terrain imaginable. From the lonely red dirt of Canyon de Chelly to the sand and sun of Cabo San Lucas, Baja keeps it real from the beginning and never lets up.

At the beginning of Baja, you’re restricted to the Baja Bug class, one of eight vehicle classes available throughout the game. As you bank wins in the lower classes, you’ll gain experience points, which will allow you to enter the more prestigious classes, such as Class 1 Unlimited and Trophy Truck. Provided, of course, that you have the money (earned from wins and sponsorships) to buy yourself the right vehicles. A lowly VW Unlimited can be had for as little as 40,000 credits, while the top-of-the-line trophy trucks can easily set you back a half million.

But getting to that elite level takes a painfully long time, and the early hours of Baja: Edge of Control are taken up instead by one of the steepest learning curves you’re likely to find in a console racing game. The Baja development team took great pains to imbue the vehicles in the game with the most realistic suspension and tire physics possible, and it’s safe to say they succeeded in that goal. Wheels grip when they should and slip when they can’t. Front ends take dips hard, and uneven surfaces wreak havoc on steering. Land a jump wrong and you’re likely to bottom out and destroy your oil pan, deflate a tire or find yourself tumbling end over end into the vastness of the Mexican desert.

It’s a technological achievement, but it can also be frustrating as hell, especially when you’re flailing about in the first stages of the game in a lowly VW bug. If you’re used to arcade-like controls in your off-road racing games, prepare to be surprised with Baja. Standard off-road controls, including clutching and pre-loading, are here, but the sim-like physics and handling on these vehicles make staying on the track a tricky endeavor. By the time I finally racked up podium finishes in the four multi-race league events in the Baja Bug class, I was altogether frustrated with Baja: Edge of Control and didn’t relish the thought of clawing my way through seven more classes.

Part of that frustration came from the steep learning curve (made worse by a poorly implemented tutorial system), and part can be attributed to the maniacal artificial intelligence imbued into every computer driver in Baja, a problem that’s especially apparent in the earliest stages of the game. Even with the A.I. difficulty pulled down to its lowest capacity, I found the leading computer opponents to be virtually flawless in most races. Although some A.I. drivers do take jumps wrong and crash, it’s nearly impossible to force them off the road in most races, while their ability to knock you off the track seems almost godlike at times.

This can be especially demoralizing in one of the Baja endurance races, which serve as one of Edge of Control’s unique draws. Hundreds of miles in length, they can take 1-3 hours to complete. Enduring the same reddish brown environments for 90 minutes, only to be knocked off a cliff by an A.I. driver, is enough to make you hurl your controller at the nearest pet (sorry, Fluffy).

• 1
• 2
• Next
  

September 22, 2008 –
For fans of real-world off-road racing, the Baja 1000 is legendary for being one of the most brutal and dramatic endurance motorsports events in the world. Every year, racers descend on Baja California to put trophy trucks, VW bugs, buggies and bikes through a grueling thousand-mile race full of bumps, hills, jumps and bruises.

With its multiple vehicle classes, numerous side-events and largely unexplored potential, publisher THQ and developer 2XL Games saw the Baja series as fertile ground for translation to the videogame world, and the two teamed up to turn that experience into a game geared heavily toward the hardcore set.

The developers at 2XL are no strangers to the world of off-road racing games, and some of them came directly from Rainbow Studios, makers of the MX vs. ATV series. But instead of sticking to quads and dirt bikes, 2XL went big for its first project, taking on the vast environments of the Baja and the complex machines that run its races. The resulting game, Baja: Edge of Control, is an ambitious effort with some solid components. However, there are some issues under the hood that prevent Baja from stepping into the winner’s circle.

One of Baja’s most striking features is its collection of vast racing environments. There is more than 1,000 miles of rugged country to tear through in Baja, and each collection of tracks has been carefully sculpted to provide the most maddeningly bumpy terrain imaginable. From the lonely red dirt of Canyon de Chelly to the sand and sun of Cabo San Lucas, Baja keeps it real from the beginning and never lets up.

At the beginning of Baja, you’re restricted to the Baja Bug class, one of eight vehicle classes available throughout the game. As you bank wins in the lower classes, you’ll gain experience points, which will allow you to enter the more prestigious classes, such as Class 1 Unlimited and Trophy Truck. Provided, of course, that you have the money (earned from wins and sponsorships) to buy yourself the right vehicles. A lowly VW Unlimited can be had for as little as 40,000 credits, while the top-of-the-line trophy trucks can easily set you back a half million.

But getting to that elite level takes a painfully long time, and the early hours of Baja: Edge of Control are taken up instead by one of the steepest learning curves you’re likely to find in a console racing game. The Baja development team took great pains to imbue the vehicles in the game with the most realistic suspension and tire physics possible, and it’s safe to say they succeeded in that goal. Wheels grip when they should and slip when they can’t. Front ends take dips hard, and uneven surfaces wreak havoc on steering. Land a jump wrong and you’re likely to bottom out and destroy your oil pan, deflate a tire or find yourself tumbling end over end into the vastness of the Mexican desert.

It’s a technological achievement, but it can also be frustrating as hell, especially when you’re flailing about in the first stages of the game in a lowly VW bug. If you’re used to arcade-like controls in your off-road racing games, prepare to be surprised with Baja. Standard off-road controls, including clutching and pre-loading, are here, but the sim-like physics and handling on these vehicles make staying on the track a tricky endeavor. By the time I finally racked up podium finishes in the four multi-race league events in the Baja Bug class, I was altogether frustrated with Baja: Edge of Control and didn’t relish the thought of clawing my way through seven more classes.

Part of that frustration came from the steep learning curve (made worse by a poorly implemented tutorial system), and part can be attributed to the maniacal artificial intelligence imbued into every computer driver in Baja, a problem that’s especially apparent in the earliest stages of the game. Even with the A.I. difficulty pulled down to its lowest capacity, I found the leading computer opponents to be virtually flawless in most races. Although some A.I. drivers do take jumps wrong and crash, it’s nearly impossible to force them off the road in most races, while their ability to knock you off the track seems almost godlike at times.

This can be especially demoralizing in one of the Baja endurance races, which serve as one of Edge of Control’s unique draws. Hundreds of miles in length, they can take 1-3 hours to complete. Enduring the same reddish brown environments for 90 minutes, only to be knocked off a cliff by an A.I. driver, is enough to make you hurl your controller at the nearest pet (sorry, Fluffy).

• 1
• 2
• Next