When does a 4x4 cease to be a 4x4? When it launches itself through the air to fly over a stream. Then it does a pretty fair impression of a wounded duck heading to ground because its wings can’t support the weight.

Infogrames has packaged some nice off-road racing action into Test Drive Off-Road Wide Open for the Xbox. Couple it with solid graphics, and a blood-pumping soundtrack (which features Metallica, among others) and you have the ingredients for a driving adventure that tackles terrain most vehicles avoid.

There are several ways to play the game. In the single player mode, you race against computer opponents. The career race allows players to compete for cyber money to buy newer vehicles or upgrade older machines. Stadium racing features head-to-head competition on a manmade course. Free Roam allows you to traverse the mapboard, no rules and no competition. It is just you and your vehicle roaming across chosen terrain. Multiplayer can entertain up to four players in a single race, free roam or King of the Hill.

Of course, there are different types of races you can partake in. The Circuit Race is a checkpoint-driven affair with obstacles and temporary barriers guiding your course; the Blitz Race is also checkpoint-driven, but you can get to the next checkpoint any way you want; the Scramble Race allows you to pass through any checkpoint in any order, but you must hit them all to win. Courses, in addition to the stadium, include Moab, Utah, Yosemite National Park and Hawaii. There are 53 legendary vehicles you have the choice to acquire during the game, including a Humvee, Shelby Durango S.P. 360, Dodge T-Rex, a Chevrolet Avalanche or The Monster Truck.

This is an options-rich program. You can change your view, and the display manages to incorporate a lot of information into a user-friendly format.

The controls have been kept simple. You steer with the left thumbstick or directional pad; the A button or right trigger is the accelerator; the left trigger handles the braking or reverse gear action; white button is shift up while black button is shift down; Y allows you to look back; B pulls up a map; and the right thumbstick controls midair pitch.

The graphics are a little blocky, but otherwise well done. There seems to be a polygonal overlay on the environments, which does not translate into exceptional graphics, but nonetheless, this game conveys the attitude and altitude of off-road racing.

Soundwise, the music is great, and the announcing conveys some of the excitement indicative of this sport.

Test Drive Off-Road Wide Open is entertaining, features very nice graphical elements and has a sound track that will get your foot tapping, and push you faster. Though it has mild lyrics, this program is rated for Everyone.

Gameplay: 8
The tracks are seamless, and the action is nonstop from one race to the next.

Graphics: 8.4
The environmental graphics are well done, and though the truck graphics may be a little blocky, still a nice job as been done to emulate the different vehicles.

Sound: 8.4
The music is pulse-pounding. The announcer also does a solid job in expressing the excitement of the sport.

Difficulty: 8
This game is well designed. The control elements are easy to grasp, the player interface is on a par with most driving games.

Concept: 7.5
4x4 off-road racing is nothing new. Developer Angel Studios has coupled the stadium race courses with the adventure posed by the great outdoors in a nice fashion.

Multiplayer: 8
This game does a very good job in giving players a sense of racing, and the different options for racing are nice.

Overall: 8
The overall feeling of this game is one of tough driving in environments that are challenging. The pitch control (sounds like a flight sim, but when you are airborne, that’s what it feels like) is a nice touch, and coupled with solid graphics and sterling sound, makes this a solid driving simulation.