BAJA: Edge of Control Hands-on Preview

What, Bayjer, Baiya… Badger? Oh. It’s Baaaaha. Like 80’s pop starlets Aha with more B. Yeah. I still don’t know what kind of game it is though.

What it is, in fact, is a serious contender to the off-road racing throne, one that PS3 exclusive Motorstorm currently sits on with its legs resting on a footstool and its arms swung nonchalantly behind its head. Unconvinced? Perhaps I was too, as I ambled towards the booth that was making the most racket at THQ’s recent Gamers Day in San Francisco. I left thinking that, actually, Baja could end up being a lot of fun.

So, now that we know how to pronounce it, what does it mean? Baja is actually the Northernmost state of Mexico, and finds itself neighbouring the US state of Arizona. So, it’s a dusty, desert type place which will no doubt give tourists a serious case of face burn if they don’t wear enough sun block. The perfect setting then, for an off-road racer.

Baja is also the name of a real-life, eye-bleedingly long off road race, which winds its way throughout the Mexican state for about 1000 miles. That’s like driving from London to Edinburgh and back twice. Developer 2XL Games would never put in a race that long… would they?

Of course not. But they have put in a race that lasts three real-life hours. Sounds pretty harsh, for one race. But that’s OK, because 2XL has added some nice tech which means you can hand over control of your vehicle (only four wheel cars will feature in Baja, of which there are 50 basic models, so no bikes or quads) to the AI, a bit like Michael Knight handing the Nightrider car over to Kit while he kicks it in the back with some hot chick. Unlike Kit though, Baja’s AI isn’t particularly good. And that’s deliberate. The game wants you to play.

Baja is pitching itself as more of a simulation compared with Motorstorm’s more arcadey approach. To this end there are tonnes of tuning options, with enough upgrades and upgrade subsets to please even the most anal of grease monkeys. Gran Turismo in the desert? Perhaps.

Right now, the graphics are superb – the environments and terrain are wonderfully detailed and whiz by at a spectacular pace. Yes, much of it is orange brown and dusty, but there’s some variety in there. Baja doesn’t follow the real life Baja to the letter – you’ll see much of Southern Nevada as well as Northern Mexico on your travels, so expect some grassy, lush backgrounds as well as plenty of water to sink your tyres into. But the vehicle models themselves look, at this early stage, like they could do with some work. Right now the first-person view makes Baja look much better, as well as feel more adrenaline pumping.

Expect to take some serious vehicle damage as you battle for supremacy with other drivers. Bits of your car will fly off as you smash into walls and rivals. Vehicle damage will affect the way your car will handle, too, including speed slowing flat tyres and chassis damage that will cause you to drag. Nothing revolutionary going on here – plenty of games have vehicle damage, but it’s a reassuring inclusion nonetheless.

When you are nearly fatally damaged, you can call in a repair helicopter with a simple button press, and it will start hovering somewhere in the distance, eventually landing to provide a mobile repair shop. Drive into the zone and your vehicle will be mended as if by magic. Nice.

There are some interesting game modes in Baja, including the near vertical Hill Climb mode up a mountain. The Open Class Challenge sees a slow vehicle start ahead of a fast vehicle, and it’s a race to the finish. Up to 10 players can play online, four players split-screen on the same console.

There’s some open world bits and bobs in there too. The Free Ride mode, which can be taken online, includes little hidden activities like finding a secret jump over a golf course, which leads to a real golf game with giant balls. Interesting. Gran Turismo meets Burnout Paradise meets Motorstorm? Perhaps.

Off road racing tends to have less of a following here in the UK than it does across the pond in the US. For this reason Baja may struggle to have its voice heard over the din created by the Forzas, Gran Turismos, PGRs and MotorStorms of this world. But that doesn’t mean that fans of the genre shouldn’t keep a close eye on it. There’s three hour long races – what more could you ask?

BAJA is scheduled for release on Xbox 360 and PS3 in August 2008.