Baja: Edge of Control is an off-road racing game based on the real-life California Baja 1000 race series. The tracks are placed in the desert, and there are approximately 1000 kilometers of the route to explore. In the main career mode, the idea is, to begin with, a VW Beetle in the lowest class of off-road racing. Players gain prize and sponsorship money, as well as experience points, by performing well in races. These points can then be used to purchase stronger motorcycles and unlock higher classes. To secure the sponsorship money, their emblems must still be on the car at the end of the race; therefore, excessive car damage will result in the player not being paid. To improve performance, the vehicles can be altered and changed.
There are five different race modes: circuit, which is a standard race where you do a few laps of a track against opponents, the rally, which is a point-to-point time-trial, hill climb, which is driving up a steep hill and then back down, open class, which is where different categories of cars race against each other with a handicap system in place to disadvantage the more powerful ones, and Baja, which is a desert race. Races in Baja mode might span many hours.
