Colin McRae Rally 04

Duncan is pleased by the Codies dedication to authenticity...

Having played the past Colin McRae rally games and most of the V-rally series I was expecting another nice looking but non-accurate driving simulation. Thankfully I can say I was pleasantly surprised.

Colin McRae 04 is the first rally game to successfully emulate each of the four wheels of the car laying down drive and making contact with the type of surface you are driving on, as opposed to most of its predecessors emulating one central pivot point of contact with the ground. This one fact alone makes this the most playable and rewarding rally game I've ever played, others should take heed, you can make a game that looks lovely, has great cut scenes etc., but it's all dust in the wind when compared to a game that actually lets you feel like you are driving the car. I have spent a lot of free time in the past taking part in amateur rallying and can say without hesitation that CM04 emulates the rally driving experience to a degree that is as good as you’re ever going to get without sitting in the real cars, or in a hydraulic simulator perhaps.

For example, you misjudge the turning point on a gravel corner and the car slides out, back wheels off the edge of the course, and you can actually feel the traction difference between back and front wheels and are forced to compensate with even more over steer than the usual power slide. On dry tarmac the car grips like a tick on an Ox until you push it too hard then traction is broken suddenly and dramatically just as it would do in real life, forcing you to break hard and pray to avoid the nearest rocks or tree. On snow or ice, even with studded tires, the car still feels like it's skating on glass to the correct degree, forcing you to use your driving skills to maximum effect. Suffice to say if you know anything about rally driving you are going to enjoy this game more than any others that have gone before.

As for the graphics engine well the only complaint I can come up with is that the spectators are badly lit and stick out like a sore thumb, or like a bad special effect in a cheap film. But if you're playing a rally game to look at the spectators close up then I worry about you and suggest there's a whole world of RPG games out there for you. The courses are very, very accurate, to the point that you’ll recognise many of them, especially the UK courses, from the TV coverage. The forests are stunning, deep and dark, all the road textures from deep gravel to shiny tarmac on a sunny day are all excellent, the dust trails on the Greek and Spanish courses are the most realistic I've ever seen. The weather effects are highly accurate too, for example when rain falls it falls at an angle related to the direction of the wind and not just straight against the windscreen like so many other driving games, snow drifts gently out of the sky or blizzards so heavily that it starts to hurt your eyes trying to focus on the road ahead - just like in real life. All of which makes it a pleasure to watch the replays, and not only because of the stunning graphics but also the camera point of view is executed in a manner which accurately simulates TV footage, starting on a tight shot as the car comes into view and panning back as it gets closer, or following the car from the helicopters that you see flying over the course when you have time to take your eyes off the road. To be honest you can glean more from the fact that it's a joy to watch the replays than you can from me waffling on about the stunning visuals, suffice to say this game looks so good you'll actually want to watch the replays. The sound is great too, you can hear every stone hitting the bottom of your car, the doppler effect on spectators air horns and other static sounds is perfect, the whole sound package and accurate stereo positioning only adds to the richly submersive experience that CM04 has to offer.

Every stage from the 2004 Rally circuit is there to play, though you’ll have to unlock a lot of them by playing and winning the championships. There's the big boy four wheel drive cars, the more challenging two wheel drive cars and group B cars to play with, all offering a totally different experience to each other and adding a depth to the game unparalleled by the competition. When taking part in championships everything is there, from accumulating damage the harder you drive the car, to the limited repair time at the end of each two stages. You have to decide which parts of the car to repair and are given an estimated time to complete each repair. The car setup is comprehensive and truly has a direct and accurate effect on the cars handling according to road surface and weather. For example if you set your ride height too low for a rough terrain stage the exhaust will ground on every bump or lump in the road and will drop off before you're halfway through the stage. Set the suspension too soft and you’ll break the springs, too hard and the axles take a beating and breaking an axle means stage retirement, as driving becomes impossible. Most essential of all is the tyre choice, there are multiple selections for each road surface, choosing the correct tyre can make the difference between triumphantly thrashing your competitors or catastrophically loosing the stage via meeting many trees or rocks as you try to push the car harder than traction will allow.

The Multiplayer system is great too, whether on LAN or Internet the experience is fantastic as you race against ghost images of your competitors stage by stage, or over a full championship. As usual for online racing games the vertical positioning of competitors cars can get a bit screwed by lag, and you do occasionally see ghost cars half submerged in the ground or flying a few feet above it. But the actual position down the track, ie. how far ahead or behind you they are, is never effected and always remains accurate.

To surmise, I'd have to give Codemasters a big pat on the back with a velvet drivers glove as they’ve surpassed all their previous efforts in the field of driving games with this outing. I've found it hard to fault this game, okay if you hate the genre then there's not a huge amount I can say that's going to change your mind in that respect. But apart from the dodgy spectators and the vertical positioning glitches in multiplayer I cannot find any other fair criticism to lay at Codemasters feet. Stick your key in the ignition, turn the sound up, inflate a blow up mate to sit in the chair beside you and prepare for the most accurate rally sim to date.

89%

By Duncan Cook