A New Challenge at Climax

ATV Offroad Fury 3, the latest installment in the popular quad-bike racing game has a new developer this time around--Climax--a company that has created titles in many different genres as well as one of my all-time favorite Xbox racing games, MotoGP2. The online demo of Climax's first MotoGP game was a revelation for racing fans, providing the first real hint at the capabilities of Xbox Live. MotoGP 2 only improved on that formula and still provides some of the console's best online racing.

The online component found in ATV Offroad Fury 3 (check out our review of the game), builds off the previous installment in the series, ATV Offroad Fury 2, which was the first to include networked racing. There's nothing earth-shattering here, just some solid, fun modes of play that are a bit off the beaten online path, and the ability for up to six players to race together (up from four in the previous version). Climax may be saving their next big batch of tricks for MotoGP 3, due sometime in late 2005. In the meantime it's nice to see that, with ATV 3, they aren't letting their online racing chops get rusty.