Baja Edge of Control In Depth Review - PS3

I have been calling game stores in the Phoenix area for the past 36 hours pestering the staff for a copy of Baja. I first saw and played an early version of this game nearly 2 years ago and I have been jonesing for it ever since.

I got a copy today and rushed home to try it out. The intro movie is full of actual race footage, much of it familiar from the Dezert People and Bajaflo series among others. I was initially torn between being thrilled and disappointed.

I find I am looking at the game from two viewpoints. As a person involved in off road racing I love it. The developer has done a great job modeling real racecars we all know and love. It does not have one generic Trophy Truck reskinned with the various paintjobs, it has many individual trucks. Plus there are familiar cars from Class ½ 1600, Class 10, Stock Full, Class 3, 7 Open, Class 11, Class 8 and the driver names to go with them.

That’s not all, throughout the game you will see logos from Race-Dezert, Crystal Bay and Bullydog which gives it a homey feel. The audio lives up as well. Realistic engines sounds that vary within the same class, and well as detailed audio. When you drift through a corner on the gas you hear the dirt and rocks hitting the fenders, when you bottom out you hear the chassis smack the ground and you even here the sounds of the shocks on a hard landing.

The locations catch your eye also. When racing in Primm the rollercoaster cruises right next to the course. In Laughlin you drive across the river and you can ever pull into the hotel valet lanes that look like the real hotels there. The sections of the course where you are on pavement even have regular vehicle traffic you must look out for, or just nerf.

This is what desert racers, crews and fans have been waiting for. A realistic desert racing game, with real drivers, racecars and locations.

The old gamer inside of me takes a different view of Baja however. Once you look past the window dressing the news it not all good. To begin with the graphics quality is a letdown. Sony showed us what can be done with Gran Turismo 5 in 1080P. Sadly Baja’s graphics seem moderately above what’s capable on a Wii or PS2. However I can overlook so-so graphics if the gameplay is great, but it too, is missing several things.

Many of the cars are very hard to control and there is a fairly steep learning curve to them. The steering is sluggish and vague. At corner entry the car pushes which is often followed by the rear end oversteering. Combined with the slow and there is a lot of fishtailing about the course. This is especially true with the entry level class in the game. Whether it’s a 5-1600, a ½ 1600 or a Class 11 they all do it to a degree.

Not all of the vehicles are that bad though. The Fabtech Class 7, Jesse James Trophy Truck and the McBeath brothers Class 10 are some of the better more responsive vehicles. On the other side of the coin many of the open wheel cars cant wait to flip over like a commemorative silver dollar at the Superbowl after the slightest steering input. After a few hours of play you get used to the handling of the cars but it does need work.

The AI fairly good and still fun to race against, except on the start. All the AI vehicles seem to have F1 style launch control where you feel as if you have 700 horsepower on skinny bicycle tires.

There is an upside though. Many racing games start a car reset counter the instant you put one tire off course with a 3 second limit. Baja embraces the x feet within the marked course rule we all know. You can drop all 4 wheels and drive that way for awhile before you get a 5 second counter. This is a refreshing change for a racing game and it gives you some leeway in the lines you choose, just like the real thing. There is also a manual reset command for when you are in a heated battle for 8th place and you don’t want to watch your car yardsale down a cliff.

The controls need work as well. If you don’t like the standard button layout you have 10 presets to choose from but there is no option to customize them. Older racing game fans like myself who have years of muscle memory built up from the old Gran Turismo or ATV fury series will feel slighted. X is still the gas pedal but for some reason they made the brake the circle button which is to the right of the gas instead of the traditional layout of the square button (to the left) for brakes.

The online multiplayer is functional, barely. The lobby needs work and there needs to be a join friend’s game command. Chatting is missing as well which is a big letdown. Half the fun of gaming online is talking smack to your buddies. Once you get past those issues the MP experience is a lot of fun. You are not limited to a few gametypes, maps or vehicles as in Dirt. In Baja you get them all and races can be setup for same class only, competitive vehicle types only or free for all.

Despite my mixed feelings and split personality it is a pretty fun game that desert people will probably enjot, though the more serious gamers may be disappointed

Ratings

Realism: 8/10
Graphics 6.5/10
Gameplay 6.5/10