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Colin McRae 4 Review
TVG Staff
19/09/2003
This year's outing certainly improves upon the criticisms levelled at last year's version...
Itās certainly came as a surprise to see the latest title in Codemasters critically acclaimed āColin McRaeā series arrive through the doors so soon. That said, āColin McRae 4ā has been essentially created from last years version albeit with a number of changes that result in a more enjoyable and detailed experience.
Presumably based on the fact that Colin McRae looks likely to be hanging up his gloves at the end of this season, Codemasters have completely removed the āColin McRaeā career modes from last yearās efforts and reverted to a similar approach to previous outings. So players are entirely free to select what cars they wish to drive and donāt have the constraints of just racing with one particular team.
Because of these changes the scope of the game is much improved upon last yearās overlooked version, whilst the essentials remain the same rallying fans will benefit from being able to choose from anyone of the 21 different vehicles on offer and a variety of modes including Championship, Rally, Stages, and Quick races. All of these can be played in multiplayer (two-player PS2 four-player Xbox), however regrettably neither version offers online play, instead opting for split-screen.
As with āGran Turismo 4ā, the talented guys at Codemasters have switched the handling system from being based on one central pivot to four independent pivots on each of the wheels. This change makes for a marked improvement in the realism stakes, although itās not as pronounced as the change in āGT4ā, racing fans will enjoy the differences that you notice particularly when sliding around corners. In our opinion the Colin McRae series has always offered one of the finest handling systems seen in a racing series ā“ it seems the best has just got better.
As we said in our earlier First Look at the title, āCM4ā really punishes you for bad driving and those that have no care how they drive will quickly find themselves with a banged up motor that canāt finish the stage. Itās arguably the first time that a racing game places so much emphasis on the damage system; taking last years version as the main source, āCM4ā without doubt features the best damage system weāve ever seen with bumpers hanging off, tyres bursting and the typical bodywork and windscreen damage.
Visually Codemasters have improved the visuals for the games environments and as such thereās a lot more detail and variation then found in last years outing. The vehicles in the game havenāt really received any significant enhancements, however thatās perfectly acceptable because last years version gave us some of the finest car models weāve ever seen, detailed down to the smallest detail. Itās certainly welcoming to note that the slowdown issues that plagued last yearās version have been completely tidied up.
To address the problems with last yearās longevity, the game features a plethora of secrets and goodies to unlock as you progress through the game. The game also contains a number of enjoyable mini-games that allow you to open up a range of upgrades to use on your car.
