Hardcore 4x4

No, hardcore porn has not come to the Playstation, but off-road racing.

Judging by the number of 4x4 vehicles on Britian's roads these days, you could be forgiven for thinking that this is a game about picking up the children from school or reversing into a parking place at Tescos. But no, there are 4x4 vehicles the wheels of which do get to drive on terrain more rugged than tarmac and do get more dirty than a bit of Labrador dog-hair in the back.

This is a racing game which involves taking a monstrous four-wheel drive vehicle around various tracks - muddy, woodland, rocky, snow etc. I always love the idea of a new racing game, in the same way as I like walking or driving somewhere I have never been. It's about exploration, man. The idea of hacking around a virtual track I have never seen appeals to me a lot. But the trouble with racing games is that the satisfaction derived from the game depends so much upon your knowledge of the track. The first few times around, inevitably you go too fast and oversteer, which means, until you get to know the track, you spend as much time crashing as racing.

Once you know the track, you get the satisfaction of racing around it without crashing so often and taking bends at the limits of adhesion. But then what? You can go around again and see if you can shave a few tenths of a second off your time, but unless you are that obsessive, racing games are best played against another human.

Goldfish can swim round and round inside a six-inch diameter bowl all their lives because they have a memory of only about two seconds. They don't get bored. Perhaps they would like to play Hardcore.

Hardcore isn't a bad game, but I've played better racers, such as Road Rash, which is odd, because I'm no great bikes fan. It's got a style which Hardcore lacks.

All racing games are better with the right kit - you can buy a steering wheel and pedals for the Playstation which takes the ache out of remembering which key of the keyboard controls what; it makes driving more like driving and less like mastering a radio-controlled shopping trolley with a typewriter.

Check out Sony for more info.

Reviewed by Andrew Charlesworth