Test Drive: Off-Road: Wide Open, like the previous installments, focuses on off-road racing and utilizes three-dimensional graphics.
The player has a choice of off-road vehicles from manufacturers such as Hummer, Jeep, Ford, and others. Each vehicle has several variants that differ from each other in appearance and characteristics (climbing ability, top speed, acceleration, and handling): Stock, Modified, Pro, and Unlimited (the last two are unlocked during the game). Each car can be repainted. There is an option to shift weight, which enables to adjust the position of the car while in mid-air. The PlayStation 2 version includes a multiplayer mode with a split-screen for two players and the Xbox version for up to four players. In addition, the Xbox version includes more off-road vehicles.
The game features four modes. In "Single Race," the player chooses a difficulty level (easy, medium, or hard), a track, and an off-road vehicle, and must place first among the eight opponents to win. "Career Race" is a single-player mode that includes tournaments, in which the player earns the money needed to buy new vehicles. In "Free Ride", the player can explore one of three locations; Moab, Utah, Yosemite Park, and Hawaii. "Stadium Race" is a mode available only in the Xbox version, in which competition takes place on special enclosed tracks.