Shox PS2

When rallying, who in their right mind wants to go through the rigmarole of calibrating suspension, adjusting tyre pressures and memorising the route only to race against a cold, unresponsive clock? All you want to do is drive... fast... really fast, right? Well thankfully, with Shox, you get all the arcade rallying action with none of the technical shenanigans to weight you down, just cars, tracks, unforgiving opponents and the ability to drive at stupid speeds over bumpy terrain.

Shox is part of the EA Sports Big label, which brought us SSX Tricky and Freekstyle, so as you'd expect the action is fast, furious and above all fun. Starting in your first free car - an unassuming Compact class vehicle (Mini Cooper, Ford Escort, Peugeot 106, etc.) you take to the starting grid against five other computer controlled competitors. As you'd expect, the better you do, the more cash you earn. Finish last or crash into the barriers too often and your prize money will be hard pushed to buy you some furry dice. Finish first with a clean run and you get mountains of moolah, and unlock extra levels and extra challenges to boot.

You can further inflate your wallet by driving quickly through the Shox Zones. These checkpoints dotted along the course act as a mini time-trial over a short section of the track. Get from one to the next as fast as you can to win Gold, Silver or Bronze awards and a similarly stepped amount of the folding stuff. But for serious money, you should get three gold awards in a row to activate the Shox Wave - a rolling wave of energy that tears up the track ahead of you. Catch up and 'surf' it and your earnings will go through the roof. Your swelling bank balance can be used to purchase new and better cars from a choice of 24 beauties including BMWs, Toyotas, Citroens and Lancias. You'll need the best car you can afford to master the 21 challenging tracks set across three wild environments - Desert, Jungle and Arctic.

EA has pared down the highly technical rally genre to be left with nothing but adrenaline fuelled arcade racing. No longer is the stopwatch your only opponent with your five challengers driving you into the hoarding at every opportunity. Beating the Shox Zones is a further challenge and means that even if you are way out front there's till something to beat. It's unlikely Shox will appeal to the hardcore Colin McRae or WRC fan, but if Wipeout or Formula One Arcade is more your cup of tea then get the kettle on because Shox is here.

Buy, win or gamble for the keys to 24 blisteringly fast cars

Five vehicle classes to progress through - Compact, Sports, Turbo, Power and Shox class

Challenge your friends to four player splitscreen rally mayhem

When rallying, who in their right mind wants to go through the rigmarole of calibrating suspension, adjusting tyre pressures and memorising the route only to race against a cold, unresponsive clock? All you want to do is drive... fast... really fast, right? Well thankfully, with Shox, you get all the arcade rallying action with none of the technical shenanigans to weight you down, just cars, tracks, unforgiving opponents and the ability to drive at stupid speeds over bumpy terrain.

Last updated on 10 December 2007