"Castle Rock Too", like "Artic Wasteland 2" & "Treasure Bay 2", is better suited for those who are partial to one-on-one racing in my opinion. You’re not going to pile 6 racers on this thing in hopes of having the kind of race you would on say…“Ouka Trails” by SLO_Preacher. What you'll have is a mess, and maybe a few disgruntled MTMers! I suppose it could work if everyone was patient and waited for the person in front to miscue before attempting a pass, but hey…we know better than that!
The setting is reminiscent of the medieval time period, and if you’re prone to exploring, you just might happen across Sir Lancelot, King Author wandering around out there…or Queen Gueinvere doing a little sun-bathing (wooohoooooo). The graphics are nothing short of spectacular, which is status quo for all of Mal’s conversions. I normally run minimum settings graphics-wise, but for the tracks this guy has been putting out, I highly recommended cranking up your 3D-renderer to full blast. I’m not suggesting you race with it like that…I mean, you can if your system can endure the load, but what I am saying is it’s definitely worth a look-see. Visually speaking, these are not the same tracks your grandma used to make!
This marks the 5th track Mal has converted from 4X4 Evo II over to MTM 2, and it’s quite impressive, to say the least. You could throw in “Crazy 2002.5” as well, which would make six, but it was produced using sssstuff from four diff games – 4X4 Evolution, 4X4 Evolution II, MTM 1, & MTM 2. Yeah, he kinda went nutso on that one, but if you haven’t checked it out, by all means do so, and do it soon (hehe now’s a good time)!
Getting back on track here, in terms of layout the tracks he’s converted are quite simple and straightforward. On “Arctic Wasteland 2”, “Treasure Bay 2”, and “Crazy 2002.5” the challenge stems from the narrowness of the track, coupled with the pitfalls of not being on your toes when executing the turns, which require a respectable measure of precision. Oh, and there’s also stuff within close proximity of the road that you can slam into as well, which brings me to this one – “Castle Rock Too”.
I’m not sure which one of the conversions I like best (they’re all great to race on), but I absolutely love this one – it’s a thriller of a ride! Probably what I enjoy most is that it never lets up; each turn gives you something to deal with and overcome. From the very beginning you have to jump off a drawbridge contraption onto a rather skinny bridge…and that’s only the beginning. The leftover ruins within close proximity to the road present quite a challenge as well, for as I said, the road is narrow, and coming around a corner at 80mph trying to successfully navigate your truck in between the assorted rock structures is by no means easy! The right turn adjacent to the castle leading back to the start line is no piece of cake either. Overshoot that puppy and the next words you utter will undoubtedly be, “towel please”. If you’re fortunate enough to make the turn while traveling at a high rate of speed, you go thru the start cp, and once again find yourself having to contend with the drawbridge, only this time the risk is far greater due to the increased rate of speed. Yeah baby, I love this thing, and if I didn’t have to work to support my family I’d play this bad-boy all day! The sense of speed is awesome, and the adjustments Mal made with respect to depth is perfect – I couldn’t imagine it any other way.
As for the "Copey Rating"…who cares! Toss that thing out the window and give this guy an Oscar, Tony Award…an Emmy, something! Hehehe ok, ok so maybe that’ll never happen, and I think it has something to do with the fact that the people who give out those awards never heard of Mal (yet), but we can dream, can’t we? Alas, until something better comes along we’ll stick to using the “Copey Rating”. Yep, you guessed it – this baby’s a “10”, a supercharged 10 for that matter! Masterfully done, Mal, this one is incredible. Don’t change a thing man – keep doing what you’re doing!!
[This message has been edited by SLO_COPE (edited 18-04-2002).]
