The Playstation 2 launch has certainly seen it's fair share of racing games, from Midnight Club to Nascar 2001. Wild Wild Racing finds itself in the middle of the pack in terms of playability and value. The premise behind WWR goes something like this: there is an unknown organization financing a series of International Off-Road races. This organization is searching for skilled drivers in order to make their races more viable and ultimately profitable. Thus, as a driver you will enter the competition and make your way up the ranks to win the ultimate championship.

WWR features the following game modes: Quick Race, Championship, Time Attack, and Challenge. To win the entire game you need to work your way through several of the game modes. Therefore your objective has three tasks: 1) to achieve first place in the 3 championship seasons (Beginner/Amateur/Pro). Completing championships yields a trophy and opens the next championship level, including all that level's Time Attacks and Quick Races. 2) To win the 5 Time Attack Trophies. Beating the records on one circuit for all of the 3 Time Attack races (uphill, downhill, flat) gives you upgrades to existing cars on Beginner and Amateur mode. Beating these levels at Pro gives you a Trophy for that country. 3) To win all 5 Challenge Trophies. All new cars are gained in the Challenges.

While WWR displays some of the best-looking cars and most realistic looking ever to grace a console, the in game engine suffers from some noticeable draw-in and annoying slow-down. The latter only occurs when there are a lot of cars on the screen at once but the draw-in is inexcusable considering how bland the course visuals are to begin with. I can only assume this one of those cases (and we are going to have a lot over the next 6 months) where the developer is coming to grips with the PS2 working environment. Get over these two issues and the game looks nice. Accompanying the visuals is a generic soundtrack complete with what we have come to expect in sound effects in Off Road racers.

The controls are quite slippery and will get some getting used to. However, once you have been accustomed to the control mechanism and have started to progress through the game you will discover that WWR has a number of short-cuts and extras to keep you glued to your controller. Replay value is quite high when you consider the number of tasks set out to complete the game. Many will complain that there are not enough tracks. True, but the sheer size of the ones present, plus the many routes that open up, gives more than enough challenge to be content with. Add to this a pretty credible two-player split-screen mode and you have a game that is worth a look at.

At first look, WWR appears indifferent from the Off Roading games of the past. It is when you spend some time with it, you realize that it can be hard to put down. Certainly the game has great potential for improvement for future installments, but as it stands now WWR is an above-average racer worth a spin.