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Colin McRae Rally 3 Preview
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
The ultimate rallying game is back, with more enhancements in store then merely a simply visual upgrade...
Whether you like rallying or not, you cant deny that the two previous Colin McRae games were excellent racers offering great racing thrills against an ever ticking stopwatch. Not one to rest on their laurels, Codemasters has taken the genre forward with this the third title in the series. Much like their other racing series, TOCA Race Driver, Codemasters have not only developed an enhanced driving title but also pushed the genre into unknown areas; with Colin McRae 3 you are Colin McRae!
The games focus is on a career mode where you take control of Colin McRae, fresh after signing a three-year contract to win a series of championships for the Ford Rallye Sport team. This mode takes place over eight international rallies, Japan, Spain, USA, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Australia and the UK are all included offering tarmac, gravel, dirt, and rain-soaked road surfaces to test your driving skills.
When Sony released WRC Challenge back on the PS2 last year we applauded the racing action, however it didnāt feel like a true next-generation racing experience. Racing race after race left us gagging for more, much more, where were the crucial tune-up times in between stages, the difference between winning and losing in rallying often happens away from the actual race and this just wasnāt represented in WRC Challenge. That game just felt like an old racer with next-gen visuals, there was no innovation, thankfully Colin McRae 3 looks to be the racer that weāve been waiting for.
Itās not just all racing you see, between the different stages the game is seamlessly blended with stage-starts, stage-checkpoint, end-stage and service area sequences. Itās these sequences; when the Ford team attends to the Focus itself that builds the atmosphere of actually being part of a championship rally team and where youāll see that changes do drastically affect various parts, control and performance.
Codemasters revealed at E3 that it isnāt just the Ford Focus that will receive this level of attention, beyond the main championship mode youāll be able to drive all of the games featured cars, which are being implemented to the same standard as the Focus. Currently the line-up includes the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 7, Subaru Impreza WRX 44S, Citroen Xsara Kit Car, Ford Puma Rally, Citroen Saxo Kit Car, Fiat Punto Super 1600, MG ZR and the Ford RS200 and Lancia 037 from the classic set.
A successful rally team isnāt just about the car however, to this extent Colin McRae 3 will feature fully animated versions of Colin McRae and his co-driver Nicky Grist, youāll see them bump around and react to every movement of the car, collide with an obstacle and watch as Nicky grabs hold of the roll-cage to steady himself whilst McRae operates the carās controls realistically, using the pedals as well as steering and changing gear or using the handbrake.
Thatās not to say the actual racing sections are taking any less importance, detailed information from the actual Ford Rallye Sport team has been taken to redefine the in-game car physics and ensure Colin McRae 3 offers the finest rallying simulation to date, considering how well the previous titles played Rallying fans are in for something very special indeed.
Codemasters have really come to terms with PS2 development; Colin McRae 3 looks a world apart from other racing titles on the machine excluding their other title TOCA Race Driver. The car itself is made up of over 14,000 polygons, compare that to the original 800 that was used in Colin McRae 2 and youāll begin to see what I mean. Itās not only the cars that look wonderful; the same lavish attention to detail has been paid to the environments and special effects. Colin McRae 3 is the first racing game weāve seen to employ realistic rain effects and it looks stunning in motion, viewing the car from an internal view will see rain hit the windscreen and smear across as the wipers cover the screen, fantastic, if you donāt believe us make sure to take a look at the video contained with this preview.
