Colin McRae 2005
Ben likes what he sees in this hands-on preview
Whilst the preview code I've been playing has only really offered a glimpse of what's on offer, already CM04 seems very tame in comparison. It's kind of like the Pro Evo series – PES2 was good, but once you tried PES3 there was no turning back. In much the same way, CM04 seems to glide along in a nonchalant daze in comparison whilst CM2005 tears past in a finely tuned, completely focussed 600bhp beast! There are a few niggles nonetheless. Any heavy collisions produce this bizarre "stunned" effect with the screen momentarily blurring, no doubt an effort to reproduce the shock experienced by the driver. With the visuals being so crisp this effect does feel a little at odds with the rest of the presentation and teeters on the edge of mimicking the boost effect in Criterion's Burnout series or even, god forbid, bullet-time. There’s nothing wrong with the execution – it just feels out of place and unnecessary. Also, allocating the view change to the back button seems like a very bizarre move, rendering switching views mid race extremely tricky. Some players may also be annoyed that many of the tracks have featured in previous versions of the game, but seeing as some of the new tracks are very imaginatively designed (most notably the fantastic new German stages that take you through fields and motorway junctions) it would be a harsh criticism to level. In every other respect though, it's hard to fault the title, though maybe this is not surprising considering that it’s merely an update of an already excellent title.
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With the Xbox boasting such a crisp visual experience it's also no surprise to see the PS2 lagging somewhat behind. Whilst the graphics are still sharp there is a noticeable difference when the two platforms are compared. Most obvious though is the lower resolution of the textures on Sony's machine. Whereas on the Xbox your car will scratch and get dirty is a gradual and detailed manner, at this stage in development the lower detail levels on the PS2 mean that a dirty rear end can end up looking like someone has stuck a large brown or grey block onto the back of your car. Also, there's no escaping that the Duelshock 2 is nowhere near as suited to racers as the Xbox S-Pad. The analogue shoulder buttons cannot hope to recreate Microsoft's triggers, and the squeeze required to achieve maximum acceleration is just slightly too much to be comfortable.
It's an unfortunate truth that when not dishing out praise the reviewer is forced to seek faults, but in this instance I'm finding it quite hard to do so. The main criticism could be that there isn't enough here to justify purchase over the previous version. For the casual racer this may well be the case, but for the keen console rally-er CM2005 has all the hallmarks of an essential purchase and a potential classic. Whilst it may not innovate beyond previous instalments in the series, any fan will instantly recognise and acknowledge the improvements. Recent months have bought us the highly arcadey Rallisport Challenge 2 and the ultra-realistic Richard Burns Rally. CM2005 seems to represent the perfect balance between the two. Whilst it's not on offer in this code, the online mode is also looking extremely interesting. Boasting 8-player head-to-head racing, Rallisport Challenge 2 may well finally have some Xbox Live competition, though only time will tell if this is the case. On thing is for sure though - barring some sort of cataclysmic balls up at Codemasters in the next few weeks, CM2005 is looking to be not only the best rally game on Xbox, but possibly the best rally game of all time.
Comments
whilst i agree in part with sim_maniac about the weird drive experience felt with cmr04, more noticeable from the back cam pov (the arcade drivers preferred one), and less noticeable from the driver seat cam pov, cmr is, and has been, the driving game that give the most realistic overall drive experience ever - period - luckily watching the cmr05 video, i see that those aestethic misbehaves have been removed so even players as sim_maniac will be happy to drive his car from behind feeling a true "drive experience" :-)
Did anyone notice that 04 was the same game as 03 with a fewe extra tracks? Still after the juddering crashfest that was Richard Burns Rally, I could be tempted back to McRae. Any word on WRC04?
Oh my god...CMR4 wasnt even good arcade not to mention representing true rally game. And after trying CMR 2005 demo I have to say they made it even worse. Cars behave like they came from space.There are 300 stages??? what a big lie! Actually there are only 72 stages. And only 20 now ones (very short ones usually less than 3 miles) All cars behave exactly the same and will still drive on that unbeliveable wide track (never seen a road like that in my life) Very bad and missleading preview!
Sorry you disagreed with the preview, but in my opinion you're all totally wrong.
For starters, judging a game on a demo is a very dangerous thing. The preview code may have been limited but I can assure you that it was far more substantial than your demo.
Secondly, to label CM4 "arcade crap" is totally perverse. It's "arcade beauty". The realists among you are welcome to play Richard Burns to your hearts content - I'll stick with the more rewardingand fun experience on offer here.
Thirdly, CM4 was not simply CM3 with more tracks. The physics system was totally rewritten, ditching the single pivot method used previously in favour of a four pivot system which offered are far more convincing drive.
Lastly Kman, I don't know where you get your info from but I get mine from Codemasters. If it's turned out that they have misinformed me, then I'll be sure to raise it with them. In the mean time, please either get your facts right or inform me of your mysterious source that is obviously more informed than mine.
how do u no dere is 300 stages do they repeat the other way around or different classes have different stages to run on im kind of confussed about the 300 stage bit help!!
I tried to play the video but it was very slow because it was "buffering". What is it a butterfly? Also that k man who does he think he is a top critic or something! I have CMR 04 and I think its very good. And now I'm going to get 05
who does kman think he is there is 300 stages not72
CMR 05 isn't an ARCADE game, its more like richard burns rally- they both are horrible.
Bsides tat, (i agree with kman) Cars seem like they have NO downforce, as the car kept sliding around even in the smallest turns, and jumps make cars loco.
Nice graphics and robust mp features still don't justify this title. (I meant by d new pyshics engine)