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Like many other activities such as jogging, revising for exams and hand-to-gland combat, it's debatable whether racing games are best enjoyed alone or with others. Some go for the crowded tracks and pristine technology of F1. Others prefer to muck in with the rally drivers, where it's the pure thrill of you against the track and the clock.
And on PC or console, there's been none better at recreating the mud-caked world of rally driving than the Colin McRae Rally series. With its legendary handling and brilliantly visualised real-life courses and cars, Colin McRae has been nigh on untouchable in its field for over five years.
If you've sampled the previous bouts of mud wrestling featuring cuddly Colin, no doubt you're keen to know what's new in this fourth incarnation. And the first thing any veteran will notice is that you're no longer restricted to driving in McRae's long-cherished Ford Focus, as his contract with Ford has expired. Now, you can rev up in several cars right from the off.
NEVER TIRE
As you start whipping the various courses and championships, you'll open up more of the 23 officially licensed cars, taking in models in the four-wheel and two-wheel drive categories, as well as some of the now banned Group B 1980s road monsters and a few other bonus models. We can also reveal that the number of different tyre types is up from last year's ten to a total of 19, with 34 different road surfaces to contend with too.
If you're an old hand at Rally, once out on the road you'll start to notice that not only is the handling even more gruellingly realistic and taxing (see boxout overleaf), but things also look more slick and detailed. Arguably, there's no better way to show off a top-end graphics card than with a good racing game. Watching someone cane a Subaru round the hills of West Wales on CM04 with the resolution cranked up supports this more than ever.
Stupendous lighting effects mean every panel, pane and decal of your gleaming motor reflects - until you reach the finish line, by which time the whole thing will doubtless be plastered in mud. The sun gleams on the black ice, the trees, thick with vegetation, sway gently with the wind. Even if it is difficult to take it in as you gun down a straight at 100mph.
On top of this, if you're one of those to whom cars are like a kind of pornography, a special mode lets you ogle the painstakingly modelled vehicles from practically every angle, opening the doors and peering up the exhaust pipe.
And while there can be little as excruciating as watching a novice prang his way round a course, unable to resist taking every tree and wall head-on, the superb damage modelling makes such a sight a spectacle rather than a chore.
Windscreens crack then shatter, bumpers, panels, doors and even wheels get knackered and start falling off. Given a sufficient level of ineptitude, what crosses the finish line can bear as much resemblance to the polished showroom model as Jo Brand does to Gwyneth Paltrow. Totally trash your motor in the full championship mode, however, and as in real life, you only get the chance for an overhaul every two races.
GHOST IN THE MACHINE
Unsurprisingly, given the nature of rally, there's been no multiplayer modes in previous games to speak of. That's all set to change with CM04 though, as a bunch of online and LAN options now means up to eight players can try and out-rev each other through stages or entire rallies.
"But it's a travesty to have more than one car on the road at a time in a rally game," you cry. Never fear, as opposing drivers will appear as ghost cars, though how our Colin would react to a spectral Petter Solberg overtaking him on a tight bend is anyone's guess.
Otherwise, you can expect to race through the usual assortment of entire championships, rallies and individual stages in the same eight countries as before. In between races in the main mode, you'll also be offered special challenges where you have to evaluate new and experimental equipment. Complete the challenge and you earn the part in question - be it an engine or some tyres - which all goes towards improving your vehicle's performance for future races.
There's little doubt that Colin McRae Rally 04 is going to be a quality product. Whether it offers enough to entice owners of CM03 is another question.
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07-02-2004 15:32
