Shox

Shox
Developer(s)	Electronic Arts (Chertsey)
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release date(s)	^NA November 12, 2002 ^EU September 23, 2002
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

Shox: Rally Reinvented is an arcade-style rally game developed by EA Sports Big. It is available on the PlayStation 2 console in Europe, USA and Japan.

Gameplay

Shox: Rally Reinvented (Shox) features three environments where all tracks are based upon: Arid (a desert-like, sandy environment), Jungle (a jungle-themed, muddy environment), and Ice (an arctic, snowy and icy environment). In every track there are three "Shoxzones", areas the player must cross while being timed. When the player reaches the end of a Shoxzone, the player is rewarded with cash based on the time taken to cross it, divided into Gold, Silver and Bronze. However, if the player takes too long to cross the zone, beyond the Bronze time, a reward will not be given.

Shox also features the concept of a "Shoxwave", a sort of shockwave that follows the track ahead of the player's car if they successfully pass, within Gold time, through all three Shoxzones, and is activated on the next 'checkpoint' (for lack of a better word) (it is not required to achieve Gold time in each Shoxzone within a single lap). During the duration of its presence, the player will be continually earning cash, but the Shoxzone system will be temporarily disabled. The objective of the Shoxwave, should it be activated, is to drive fast enough to catch up to it before it reaches the next checkpoint. While approaching the Shoxwave, the screen will appear increasingly blurry and distorted and make driving at high speed more difficult. Should the player fail to catch up in time, the Shoxwave will disappear and the Shoxzone system will resume. On the other hand, if the player succeeds, the Shoxwave will speed ahead of the player upon passing the checkpoint, for the player to catch up to again.

Shox features authentic rally cars, ranging from the Subaru Impreza, Porsche Cayenne and Mitsubishi Lancer, which all feature visual damage and dirt from the tracks. The handling is very arcade oriented. Winning races will earn money, which pays for car repairs or new cars.

Multiplayer can be played with up to four-player splitscreen, either with races or capture the flag modes. There is also an option to split each controller so four player can be played with only two controllers.

Reviews

• IGN: 7.8 out of 10^[1]
• GameSpot: 7.9 out of 10
• Edge: 6 out of 10
• Metacritic: 78 out of 100^[2]

References

1. "Shox - PlayStation 2 - IGN". IGN. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
2. "Shox for PlayStation 2 Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2 December 2015.