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When the demo for Deus Ex appeared on Macgamefiles, we thought we wouldn't see such a huge number of downloads again for quite some time. However, the astounding popularity of the public beta test for Terminal Reality's off-road racer 4x4 Evolution has put Deus Ex to shame, with over 10,700 downloads in just five days!

Clearly the smaller size of this beta and the more broad appeal of a racing title vs a dark sci-fi shooter account for some of the popularity of this download, but we think it is also an indication of the huge pent-up demand for driving sims on the Mac platform. Luckily that demand will be more than satisfied in the coming months, with the final version of this game as well as Driver, Formula One Racing and even more racing titles coming to the Mac OS -- some we can't reveal just yet.

If you haven't grabbed the 4x4 beta and taken it for a spin, be sure and do so -- it is a blast, even on hardware that Deus Ex would snap in two like a twig. We have noticed that the number of downloads of the update patch is far smaller than the number of actual beta downloads; if you were one of those that grabbed the demo in its first three days online, be sure you have the patch as well, as it fixes many problems and will allow you to join games hosted by PC players. Be sure and add your comments and experiences with this beta to our Forums and the player ratings on Macgamefiles, but remember -- this is a beta version of the game, only a tiny glimpse of what the final product will be like. Expect another beta update for this game in the near future.

4x4 Evolution Ratings/Reviews at MGF

4x4 EVO Public Test Comments

4x4 Evolution Beta Patch

4x4 Evolution Demo (23 MB)

Terminal Reality (add to watch list)

Gathering of Developers (add to watch list)

4x4 Evolution (add to watch list)

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