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Review: Baja: Edge of Control has control conundrums
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The new title from THQ and 2XL Games, BAJA: Edge of Control is based on the Baja 1000 phenomenon. The Baja 1000 is an off-road race that takes place down in Mexico’s Baja Peninsula and features everything from motorcycles, VW bugs and 4x4 trucks racing across the Mexican desert. The 1000 refers to the 1,000 mile race. Baja: Edge of Control tries to capture that experience.
The game keeps it pretty simple when it comes to modes: Race, Baja Career and Multiplayer. Race allows you to just race or free ride any unlocked tracks and vehicles right away and Multiplayer allows you to do the same except online or with a friend. The meat of the game is with Baja Career.
You begin by choosing your VW bug and racing in the VW leagues. As you begin winning and finishing in the top three positions you earn money, which you can use to upgrade your cars or buy news ones, credits, which will help you get sponsors, and experience which will open up new levels, tracks and vehicles. It’s a pretty simple setup, but that’s pretty much where the simplicity ends.
Even on the “Easy” difficulty setting the game is hard. The game play seems to be a mix between a simulation and an arcade racer. You accelerate and brake with the triggers and steer with the left analog stick. The controls seem a bit too sensitive and along with the VERY bumpy and hill-ridden tracks, you’ll find yourself flying off the tracks all the time, which the game doesn’t like. If you take too long to get back on the track the game will “reset” you back on it where you left off, which will find you at the back of the pack. And if you’re in the third lap of a race, you might as well restart because you aren’t going to win. Plus it doesn’t help when the other vehicles and push you off the track with no effort and you can’t do the same to them. You’ll find yourself wanting to throw your controller across the room out of frustration. And don’t cut a track accidently either because you’ll get “reset” to where you cut it at. Yes, even if you were forced off the road by another driver.
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One of the ways to help through the very steep learning curve is upgrading your vehicle as much as possible. Starting with the engine and the tires help you improve the speed of your car and makes handling the vehicle a bit easier. But after you get the controls down after several races it can become fun, but it takes so long to unlock the new levels. You have to go through several different racing leagues for your vehicle class (there are a total of eight different types of vehicles), finishing almost at the top of every race to at least in the top three in the league to open up the next level of races and vehicle classes. Now, you can open things up quicker if you finish first in every race, but that’s WAY easier said than done. It takes some time to get through the game, even if you don’t do the three-hour race. That’s right; the game features an endurance race that will literally take you three hours to complete.
The look of the game is pretty good. The designers did an excellent job in recreating the deserts of Mexico plus other areas like Lake Powell and Canyon de Chelly. The cars look more arcade than simulation, but after you start getting some sponsors and getting stickers on your car, they’re start to look a bit more realistic. The sound is a bit disappointing in regards to the music. During the menu navigation, there’s great Spanish guitar music playing, but it nowhere to be found in the game play. Yes the game does allow custom soundtracks, but it would have been so cool to be able to race to that Spanish guitar. It would add an authenticity to the environment you’re racing in, or maybe this writer just wants to go on vacation.
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Regardless, the game feels like it targeted towards the hardcore Baja fan or the racing simulation fan even though the game is not as deep as other racers. While arcade off-road racers like Pure or Motorstorm are the hot item nowadays, if you’re looking for something more challenging and a bit more realistic you might want to give Edge of Control a quick drive.
Q’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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