From the demo version I felt that the game was pretty polished and the full version will bring nothing new in terms of production. But more game content. This time I was able to play on all three locations which feature various climate and weather conditions. Every location is represented by a quite huge area which is delimited by artificial obstacles (such as mountains) or by invisible walls. Unlike 1NSANE, they didn't use the rotation effect, of exiting the map in one point and enter on the other side of the map on the opposite point. The first location is a classic Alpine region with green woods and rocky trails, a prefect location for 4x4 vehicles. The second one gets extremely whitey, as snow is the main element on the map. Here the races become more difficult especially because of the low visibility caused by fog and falling snow. Races like Pathfinder (find and locate the next checkpoint only by the use of the GPS locator), can become extremely difficult if you start it when the artificial weather conditions do tend to get worse. Next location and unfortunately the last one, is the Canyon map present also in the demo. Sand and arid mountains keep the difficulty high especially in the Trial races, where the altitude differences in some places cause steep slopes to become real enemies against the chassis of the car.

Yes, the game does have a damage system, but as I have already mentioned in the preview, it doesn't get very spectacular from the visual point of view, but it can definitely influence your driving. The most interesting feature is the heating of your engine which is directly influenced by the climate and temperatures. While in the Alpine location the climate doesn't influence very much the engine status, in snowy mountains of the second location, the temperature can increase quite high. The result is the low temperatures that cause the engine oil to get thicker, so the increased viscosity will raise the frictional force in the engine creating a high amount of heat to be emitted. As hard it may sound, all these factors are implemented in the physical engine of the game giving an impressive simulation touch to the whole title. All these cumulated with a high RPM usage of the engine will get immediately to a totaled car.

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In case you manage to destroy your vehicle, you have the chance to get back to your garage and repair it (at a high price), or change it with another one. If you don't have another car, you have to buy a new one from the dealer, but only if you have enough money earned from winning races. If you are not pleased with your car performances, but you don't have enough money to buy a better one, then you can upgrade you current one with increased performance parts. Upgrade engine kits, racing tires, high performance suspensions, etc make your car to drive much better but also to look better. Unfortunately I hoped for a more in-depth approach of the customization part. But this is was not the case, as the full version of the game offers same upgrade parts as the demo.

An electronic map stands at your disposal which shows the new races available in the area, plus the location of your garage and gas station. Here the cars do consume gas, so from time to time you have to check your gauges and if necessary drive by to any of the stations to refill. If I had to describe the concept of the game, it would be another open sand-box driving-based game, where you have to navigate from one race to the other.  The good news is that you have once passed one of the races locations, you jump to it anytime from the menu. But the concept stops here, the rest of the game being a semi-simulation game.

In my opinion the classic races against other five A.I. opponents are the most annoying ones, not because of their difficulty but because of the A.I. which was programmed to hit you everytime it gets close enough to you.  They will either hit you from behind in order to make you exit the track, or push you sidewise. In any case they won't stop until they will stop you somehow, but they act extremely dump as long as you pass them.  Longrun is rally type of racing from one checkpoint to the other in order to obtain the best time. A co-pilot will assist you by giving you advises regarding the angle of the curves, slopes, other dangerous obstacles, etc.  Pathfinder is about finding the shortest route from one checkpoint to another only with the help of the GPS arrow, on long distances. On difficult sections you can gather yellow or red stars that will increase your time remaining and also bonus money. Trial is my favorite and it's the race that defines the 4x4 vehicles competitions. You have to complete an extremely difficult path between delimited areas. Big rocks, steep slopes, slippery surfaces will test at the maximum your driving abilities and the car you have just bought.  The reduction gear is a must here, otherwise you won't get too far on the racing course. Drag races are a copy of the NFS Drag Races. The key to success here is to change the gear at the right moment by observing the revmeter on the left of your screen. Off-road formula is a type of racing similar to the Scandinavian hill-climbing events, in which you compete on a one seat vehicle equipped with a high power engine. The goal here is to climb as high as possible on the hill, eventually to climb it all.

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Conclusion

MOTORM4X is a fresh taste of off-road racing. Without featuring any official vehicle brands (although the models in the game are similar to most popular 4x4 cars from reality) or commercial stuff that might attract the mainstream consumers. Is a straight forward product that delivers a nice simulation aspect and environmental design that not only looks good but also delivers an interesting relief where the physics engine is put to test.

Gameplay:  78

Short but nice game, with a couple of races never seen before (Trial, or Off-road Formula).  Though I was hoping for a more in-depth approach regarding vehicle customization and more than three locations. Anyway the collection of ten most popular off-road vehicles (although they won't feature any official names or brands in the game) will make you test them all, not only because you can, but because of their simulated handling which makes you dare to replay some of the races.

Graphics: 77

Animated grass, falling leaves and snow, damage system, dirt effect, and vast locations make this game to rise from the mediocrity. Although in some instances the game lacks of detailed textures, and diversity in some locations (Canyon where the desert looking-like environment gets boring fast), the car models do look authentic. I was deeply impressed by the physics of this game based on the ODE (Open Dynamics Engine), an engine that can simulate rigid body dynamics.

Multiplayer: N/A

Sound:  74

The game features a soundtrack made of songs from young artists and bands, most of them unknown for the large audience.  The tunes are quite catchy though, representing a good playlist for the long trips inside a car. As curious as it may sound, this game offered me the best smashed sheet-metal sound I have ever heard in a racing game, but who cares, as long as this is just detailed effect?

Hardware: 80

For what it offers in term of graphics and physics, this game doesn't ask for too many hardware requirements. I couldn't find any fps glitches, but I was bothered by the long loading times while entering for the first time in the game.