The game was well received by the community (nary a BAD review) thus a sequel was released: Redneck Rides Again and then an add-on pak "Suckin' Grits on Route 66" by the puds over at Sunstorm. Someone produced some cheese redneck hntin' game but that deserves no more mention then I just did. The developer of the Redneck series (Xatrix) disappeared after the Kingpin fiasco and Redneck sank below the horizon never to be heard from again....That is until Off-Road Redneck Racing surfaced in 2001, or thereabouts.
I played the ORR demo but never saw the game for sale anywhere. It faded to black in my memory hole.
Well, wouldn't ya know....recently while nosin' roun' Amazon.com I found ORR fer a mere 4.89 plus shipping and said, "Speeed..yer Ma's werkin' agin at the concrete loading docks so she kin buy this game fer ya."
It arrived in a plain brown wrapper about a week ago and I have been enjoyin' it ever since. Lets git into the particulars, eh?
Test Systems
--- AMD 1700+, 512 MB RAM, Radeon 9500 Pro 128 MB RAM, SB LIVE Value
P III 800, 512 MB RAM, MSI GeForce ti4200 64 MB RAM, SB AWE 64 Value
Celeron 366, 196 MB RAM, GeForce 2 MX 400 64 MB RAM, Aureal Diamond Monster
Sound MX-300
The game ran slow on the Celeron even with decreased visual options. It was playable but compared unfavorably against my other computers. I think some could get by but not on a 266 PII
I also had a sound issue in XP with the SB AWE 64 Value. I could get no sound. Dxdiag reported back the AWE 64 didn't support hardware buffering. In Win 98 on that card I got ambient sound but no music. Be advised.
There are six tracks available, they are: Everglade Encounter, Back Water Chase, Slaughter Yard Run, Red Rock Canyon, Campy Crystal Lake and Dead Man's Drop. You can play in varying weather conditions, times of day and seasons.
I've been mostly playin' the Cross Country Championship mode (I'm still in division four, I guess I suck) where there are four off-road vehicles with Redneck soundin' names like "Polecat or Highrider." I doubt they exhibit any singular drivin' characteristics but you can change the outward appearance to suit yer likin'. They come in blue, red, greeny-blue and blue agin. Ya can change the body style also fer a hole slew of alleged preferences. As ya git better at drivin' you unlock fancier and perhaps faster off-road redneck racers. You also git three race view options: ride the bumper, just behind and my favorite....the so called helicopter view.
More to it...What's the racin' like? Well darn fine there boys. The tracks are about 1.5 minutes (that's about some folks attetion span anyhow) each. There are alternate routes such as thru crates, banners, pigs and chickens or over rather then around. It's perhaps a small thing but it does add considerable to the game. Along the courses you'll find folks in small bunches just millin' about perhaps talkin' pork or tobacco prices. I keep waitin' fer someone to wave....why hasn't no developer ever thought of that? In fact why not be able to pick yer crowd? Ya know, like nuthin' but a bunch a babes out there a cheerin' ya on. The scenery is top notch. I suppose some city fella could say it ain't got bivariate pixelation or twice aliased fecklegrubers but it looks clear as a bell to me....I can see real well what needs seein'....even that phony fog that hides the distance ....guess Interplay's afraid ya might see something that'll knock ya off the course or make yer framerates low. Ah didn't like that but it is a standard tactic. Now, as this is an OFF-ROAD game, there be a lotta bouncin' going on and that took some gittin' used to. If yer only familar with street racin' than better wear kidney and liver support til ya git used to it and go light on the coffee if ya have a small or weak bladder. There's a few puddle's ta drive through to so ya git the full offroad effect.
The sound is first rate. Music should add to the affect and waaayyy too often fer me it's crass. Perhaps you want to listen to the same junk over and over but I always turn off racing game music as it's mainly presumptive , repetitous and bad. The music herein though is well suited and unobtrusive. There's lotsa banjo...the tunes meander from a Petticoat Junction like theme (on steroids) to actual COWBOY music. I keep it low though.
The tracks ambient sounds mostly consist of the sheriff in his helicopter reminding you that yer his boy and he's gonna git ya and the classic dragsrtip funny car spittle. It's repetitive and becomes annoying soon. What I thankfully didn't hear were birds twittering and dogs barking at 150 mph as I have in some well known racing series. [HINT: NFS] Honestly! Kin ya hear that stuff above yer engine roar? Ah doubt it.
A nice feature was being able to look in yer car and see yer little drivin' pud shift gears and move the steering wheel. They didn't have to do that but they did.
There is LAN network play. I found it easy and straightforward to set up. My wife (Mary Linda Sue Betty) and I played a few geegoes(tracks fer you city folk) but she quit cause I whumped her. It was fun though. I have found little in gaming more intense than a close buggy race. Fraggins' fine but it ain't as drawn out as two minutes, neck n neck, at high speeeds. One cheese aspect was CPU1, CPU2, CPU3, etc over the heads of the computer racers. Hell, why not good ole boy names like Bufford or Red...somone was a sleepin' there. There is splitscreen racin' as well but I'll let someone else review that. I didn't feel like barfin'.
I do enjoy a good replay and ORR has the appearences of one. I couldn't make them VCR like controls werk. It appeared I could rewind or FF but they was busted. The one replay yer allowed had good angle selection, nevertheless. I did not have to view the replay from the way I drove the game. That's a good thang.
To conclude: This is
a fine game. Those familar with the Redneck Rampage stable of games with thrill
to hear and see the familarities. If you want a cheap game (ya know, if'n
yer Ma is laid off) to enjoy and perhaps spend some inoffensive quality time
racin' yer boy or wife I can think of no reason ORR shouldn't be on yer shorthair
list.
I give it 3 outta 4 stars....I cut it short cause that blasted VCR was busted.
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