The winner of dozens of two SCORE world championships, Ivan "Ironman" Stewart is responsible for Toyota's dominance of the desert truck-racing circuit. He's also inspired quite a few off-road-racing video games, running the gamut from the NES to mobile phones. His latest outing, Ivan Ironman Stewart's Off-Road Racing 3D, is available on Verizon's V Cast service, and it pits players against Baja stadium series racers, including the Ironman himself. However, this is one oeuvre that Stewart will want to leave off his résumé. Broken physics, unresponsive control, and woefully unrealistic damage modeling keep this game from being anything more than a 3D gimmick.
You can play the game in two modes: arcade or championship. While arcade races are one-off exhibitions, Ironman's three championship modes will have you bounding over obstacles in a total of nine tracks. The completion of a championship mode wins you three tracks for use in arcade mode.
It's only fitting that players are rewarded in this way, because playing Off-Road Racing 3D feels like work. Whenever you endeavor to turn your two-ton truck, you'll endure a waiting period of about half a second before the wheels grind into place. Your natural reaction will be to compensate by oversteering, but this will eventually (when the command resolves) send you hurtling into the arena boundaries.
All the game's tracks look similar, which is probably realistic. Sand dunes and ridges are the primary obstacles, and deciding at which angle to bound over them is part of the challenge. The help file makes a big to-do over the fact that you can't steer in midair. After all, this isn't a first-person shooter; it's a Baja racing circuit simulation, starring Off-Road legend Ironman Stewart. Indeed, you shouldn't be able to perform such anti-Newtonian feats. In this spirit, the game shouldn't assume that four collisions--regardless of the severity--will total your car. Don't worry, though; this simulation includes the health power-ups that litter tracks in Baja, California.
Graphically, Ironman is on par with other Swerve 3D-powered games on the LG VX8000. We've seen this engine a lot, and it seems to model characters and vehicles much better than it does environments and lighting. Ironman is no exception. The game's trucks are passable, but its tracks look pretty poor and are painted with muddy, unremarkable textures.
While browsing Ironman's menu screens, you'll hear some MIDI metal riffs that could very easily be used as WWE entrance music. There's no music in-game, however--just engine noise, and a honking sound that plays every time you collide with an opposing vehicle.
Ivan Ironman Stewart's Off-Road Racing 3D is yet another V Cast game that doesn't benefit from its polygonal visuals. Responsive control and fast action are the most important factors in any racing game, and they're not present here. Off-roading fans should steer clear of this game.
