4x4 Evo 2 (UK PAL PlayStation 2 Version) Gameplay

At long last, here is my first gameplay video of the PlayStation 2 version of 4x4 Evo 2. This version, which I was always talking about here on the web for over the past six years, is a mystery. I mean, the reason I've been quite frankly hesitant to obtain it until this year is because sadly, unlike the PC, Mac, Xbox and GameCube versions of this game, this version was only released in Europe. If you live in North America and grew up with the 4x4 Evolution series, you will be incredibly disappointed by that fact. But now that I have a UK PAL slim PlayStation 2, I finally managed to obtain this version of this game by importing it from the United Kingdom by purchasing it on amazon.co.uk just for completion's sake, and let me tell you, playing it here in the United States was a blast! It's practically identical to the North American exclusive GameCube release, but it has a few differences, like the restoration of the save/load replay file feature, which is great since it was sadly cut from the GCN release.

While this version was fun to play, another thing I don't understand about it is, all the gameplay music was cut from this version for unknown reasons. I have always speculated that it was done for copyright reasons. Plus, unlike the first game for the PS2, you have to drive with both analog sticks on the PS2 controller. Before anyone asks if I ever tried to use the X button to accelerate, I already did so on the fourth configuration, but it turned out to be a flop since it was glitchy as all it did was to make the player-driven vehicle move on its own for a few seconds. So for safety, I always used both analog sticks, but did that surprise me? Yes and no. It's odd how the X button doesn't work for acceleration unlike the first game, but I didn't mind trying it in other console games, like Test Drive Off-Road 2 for the North American NTSC PlayStation 1. It's really quite a shame that this version was only released in Europe because for starters, it was developed in the United States by Terminal Reality and, in my opinion, it feels like the state-of-the-art off-road driving game that truly delivers the goods, comparing to a lot of off-road driving games.

That's why I put a fake US NTSC release front cover art of it in Part 1 of My Custom North American NTSC PlayStation 2 Game Release Front Covers Part 1 (check it out also) to demonstrate how it could have definitely seen a US NTSC PS2 release of this fantastic game. Heck, if it actually had a North American NTSC PS2 release in the first place, I would have loved to purchase it in a heartbeat! But this is a great PAL-only PS2 game, and it's one of my most favorites, so I'd absolutely recommend it to all off-road fans!

Anyway, for the first time in history, this gameplay video of this version of this game has been uploaded by me, an American gamer, just to help increase the popularity of it here on the web. In it, I play through two races in Quick Races, then head over to Career mode to see all menus of it, buy a few more vehicle parts for the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, play through the first mission of Alaska, and roam around Silverton Pass. On this profile, I have already played through Amateur Series in Career mode to unlock Crazy 2002 (originally named Crazy 2001), Final Destination and Silverton Pass. Enjoy!