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Colin McRae Rally 3 Preview
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
Faced with the daunting prospect of improving upon perfection, Codemasters look to have come up with the answer...
We recently received the latest playable build of Colin McRae 3 for the Playstation 2. Giving us our first real chance to sit down and have an extensive look at the eagerly awaited title. We got to grips with the excellent career mode, took a look at the wonderful visuals and came away gob smacked as to how the actual racing experience has improved.
With Colin McRae 2, Codemastersā proved once and for all that they are the true masters of the rallying genre, no other title came close to replicating the same racing experience as you tried to shave split seconds off your time in order to gain that elusive first place.
With the actual racing side of the equation sewn up, we were left with the question āWhat can they improveā, sure next generation visuals would certainly help out, but we would have been left with a twang of disappointment if thatās all that Colin McRae 3 offered. Thankfully thatās not the case, as with the recently released PS2 title TOCA Race Driver, Colin McRae goes one-step further then most other racing titles, in Colin McRae 3 you are the feisty Scot man with a name to prove.
The main career mode gives you a three-year contract in the Ford Focus Rallye team, with a view to proving yourself as the greatest rally driver in the history of the sport. However this is unlike any career mode youāve ever seen before, Codemasters have gone completely hardcore and the rally fans will love it.
For starters, unlike the disappointing WRC Challenge, Colin McRae 3 provides the true rallying experience. Thereās a shakedown day for you to test your car out with different set-ups and adjust them accordingly, and believe me youāre going to need to do this. Unlike other titles whereby you can easily win with the default settings, Colin McRae 3 requires you to work out the perfect settings for each stage. We tried rushing foolishly in, and found ourselves languishing in last position some 30 seconds behind the nearest competitor. Instead the trick lies in using your shakedown opportunity to work out what each stage entails, then itās off to the garage to adjust the car.
At this point any interest in rallying or basic car mechanics will be an advantage, as Colin McRae 3 features one of the most detailed car tuning sections weāve ever seen. Every attribute of the car can be tinkered and tailored to suit your judgement, as in real-life, the race is won during these moments, so you better make sure you get it right. Backing up the importance of this element is the fact that you canāt, to put it bluntly cheat in the game, thereās no ability to restart after a bad race because the game saves your progress constantly, now youāre beginning to believe us when we said āYou ARE Colin McRaeā???
Of course this could make the game frustrating for even the most experienced gamers out there, and to a certain extent when you begin it is. However perseverance is the key, that and Codemasters clever little feature which evaluates and adjust the difficulty based on your performances.
Once youāre happy with the car, itās time to roll to the start line, hit those revs and begin the first stage. Codemasters have done such a good job of replicating the rally experience, from the moment you start complete with time judges and TV crews to the moment you finish, everything is as it should be. Complete three stages and youāll have another opportunity to re-adjust your car set-up if anything is going wrong, and hopefully recover from any damages your car might have received. By mixing the different sequences with the racing action, Colin McRae 3 provides a much more immersive experience then the āstart stage, race car, end stageā mechanics featured in most racers.
When we saw the damage model in TOCA we came away amazed, when we saw the damage model in Colin McRae 3 we had to completely re-evaluate our opinions on driving titles. The difference is that thanks to having only one car on the track, itās replicated with an absurd number of polygons and so every thing looks so natural. Itās not just your standard windows smashing and bodywork damage, oh no, wheelās fall off leaving you with nothing more then a shower of sparks, bonnets get blown up temporarily obscuring your vision until it flies off, bumpers hang off the cars, doors shoot open, the lotā¦
We didnāt believe that they could enhance the actual racing experience from No.2, but theyāve somehow managed to do just that. Cars respond wonderfully to all of the different surfaces youāll encounter on each track, but itās the little details that stand out. Weāre not exaggerating by saying that Colin McRae 3 provides the most realistic racing experience in a videogame to date, hit a bush and find your car scratch itās way through, get caught in the tape barrier and watch as it snaps and flutters realistically to the ground. Swap to the inside view and youāll be amazed as both Colin and his co-driver Nicky Grist sway under cornering, pitch forward under breaking and Nicky will even grab hold of the roll cage to steady himself in a collision!
The inside view also demonstrates the superlative visuals that accompany Colin McRae 3, youāve probably all seen the raindrop effect in screens, believe me itās nothing compared to when youāve seen it in action. Switch to the outside view and you can marvel at the intricately detailed car models, these babies sheen at the start but by the end theyāll be covered in all types of crap. Unfortunately thereās a fair amount of slowdown at this stage, however weāre assured that this will be locked at a steady 60FPS.
Finally like itās predecessor, Colin McRae 3 features some very slick, well-designed menu screens and high presentation values across the board. Videos give you an insight into each stage, whilst the actual design of the complex menu system is well thought out and heightens the overall experience.
