With Jeep Thrills announced for the Nintendo DS today, in revs Ford Racing Off Road from Empire Interactive to steal some of its thunder. Announced in January this year and available for several other formats since March, its creators have today confirmed that it will arrive on the Nintendo Wii this July.

The racer allows players to take control of a variety of hefty Ford vehicles, models designed specifically to deal with rough and difficult terrain (no Chelsea Tractor school runs here). With real-time damage, multiple routes and 12 different race modes, it’s looking like being one of the Nintendo Wii’s best hopes for a serious racer yet. We say “hope,” because we’re going to remain sceptical of its quality until its released - particularly since Empire’s previous efforts with the Ford franchise have been average at best.

“Ford Racing Off Road is a tremendous expansion of our highly successful Ford franchise,” said Ian Higgins, CEO of Empire Interactive. “We introduce some impressive vehicles, stunning environments and great new features. The Land Rover brand brings real excitement and even stronger appeal to the franchise.”

Clive Kabatznik, CEO of Silverstar Holdings, added, “The release of Ford Racing Off Road demonstrates Empire’s ability to continually leverage successful franchises and licenses. We are thrilled to be introducing the Land Rover brand and the mass market appeal that two globally-recognized brands bring to our game line-up.”

Key Features

• 18 officially licensed Land Rover and Ford off road vehicles.
• 24 detailed tracks encouraging high speed racing.
• 3 off road environments, Desert, Water and Ice.
• Real time, on-the-go damage repair.
• Discover hidden routes to gain a racing advantage.
• Power sliding; throw powerful 4×4s around the tracks.
• In-game pickups: Discover repair pods, time extensions, artefacts & cash.
• Multi-player racing via split screen (PS2 – 2 players ) and Wi-Fi (PSP – 6 players).
• 12 race modes: Standard Race, Elimination, Time Attack, Overtake, Slalom, Checkpoint, Checkpoint Sprint, Seconds Out, Gold Rush, Gauntlet, Low Damage Race and Expedition.

  Licensed Vehicles

  • 2005 Defender 90 Station Wagon
  • 2006 Range Rover Sport Supercharged
  • 2007 Discovery 3
  • 2007 Freelander 2
  • Range Stormer Concept
  • SVX Concept
  • 2008 Ford F-150 FX4 pickup
  • 2008 Ford Ranger FX4 Level II
  • 2008 Ford F-250 Super Duty
  • 2008 Ford F-350 Super Duty
  • 2008 Ford F-450 Super Duty
  • 2008 Ford Escape
  • 2008 Ford Explorer
  • 2008 Ford Expedition
  • 2007 Ford Explorer Sport Track
  • Ford Bronco concept
  • Ford Equator concept
  • Ford Mighty F-350 concept

  Have you high expectations of Off Road? Let us know in the comments section below.

  [Source: Eurogamer]