captaind's Full Review: Colin McRae Rally 2 for Windows
Overview
What would we do without the Sold Out label? Without them bringing out all these budget re-releases (and this was originally by Codemasters, past masters of the Budget genre themselves… Advanced Lawnmower Simulator, anyone?), my games collection would consist solely of freeware games. Not that there aren’t good freeware games around, and I may even get round to reviewing more of them sometime, but games put together by teams of professionals should be better…
First Impressions
Racing games have come a long way since the times of Pole Position. Nowadays, when we bash our car into the wall, we expect to actually see the effects it has on the car – not just see a status bar going down. And this is one area where Colin McRae’s Rally Two (the basic premise of which is just too obvious to have to explain to you) really excels – even though this is a pretty old game. Your windows smash, bumpers / spoilers can fall off, indicators flash continually, and your wheels can even start shaking about. In fact, despite the low resolution of the graphics, the game is full of nice little details – like blades of grass being thrown up into the air when you ride off-road. The trees and people are just static 2D objects however, which is a little disappointing – but then if you’re really after state-of-the-art you’ll probably have paid the extra money to get CMR4…. Overall I found it far too difficult at first, even on “Novice” level, but that’s probably more because I haven’t played this sort of game for a long time than anything.
Interface
Since I’m just using the keyboard, the interface is pretty much as you’d expect – cursor keys for direction / acceleration / brakes, with spacebar operating the handbrake. (Once I started using this more, I found controlling the care round corners much easier!) Keys can of course be customised, as can such things as the brake balancing, tyre type, steering response, shock stiffness etc. Possibly not enough for true purists, but more than enough for most of us. Another nice aspect (in Rally mode – there is also an arcade mode for those who find racing against the clock instead of visible opponents too weird) is that you have to use a certain amount of strategy with your adjustments and repairs – you have a limited time between stages and have to judge what the most important things to repair or change are in the time available. (If you’re like me, your whole car will be trashed after each stage, so that can be a challenge!) There are multiplayer modes but I’ve not tried these so I can’t comment on them too much. You can save your rally at any point between stages, but you have to finish in the top 6 overall of a rally to proceed to the next rally. Each time you finish you have the option to restart the stage, so you’ll never be “stuck” at a point you can’t progress from.
Difficulty
Hmmm…. It’s a tough one to call, this, since most of me is saying “too hard”, but there’s a tiny part of me saying “but that’s a good thing”. It took me ages to get into it because it does take a long time to get into the game, and the difficulty wasn’t encouraging me to make the necessary time commitment. But… once I did, I started to really enjoy the game – though I’m still not that great at it and seem to manage to drop from first to last place in one smooth motion – usually straight into a tree…
If you play this sort of game a lot, you’ll probably get into it and start doing well a lot quicker than me. If on the other hand you’re like me and used to playing the sort of racing game where you can pretty much hold down “accelerate” permanently, you’re in for a bit of a culture shock…
(Since one of the reasons why the game is difficult is because the car physics are actually realistic, it’s actually very easy for forgive… though when you turn your car upside down, you’re still put back on the track in a second or so!)
Aesthetics
The graphics, as already mentioned, are good for the time but not up to today’s game by a long way. The cut-scenes (movies between stages) look particularly dated now. But due to the nice touches also mentioned earlier, it still looks pretty good. There are 4 camera angles – that’s enough for me, though some people no doubt would want more…
There’s your normal racing music on the title screen and in arcade mode, but the in-game SFX consist of McRae’s real-life Navigator, Nicky Grist, making “Driver Calls”. These add atmosphere and are occasionally helpful, though I usually find myself too busy trying not to crash to actually register what he’s saying!
Will You Still Be Playing it in 6 Months’ Time?
If you can survive the rather steep learning curve when you first start playing, I think this is a game you could well be playing for a very long time to come. The arcade mode, multiplayer, and varying difficulty modes make sure that you won’t get bored with it too quickly.
Is it Worth the Money?
For a budget title? Absolutely.
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Final Ratings
Graphics: – 78% - not fantastic by modern standards and sometimes looks dated, but nice touches enhance the gaming experience
Sound: – 81% - not always helpful driver calls but it really does add atmosphere
Playability: - 75% - once you get used to it and stop being terrible at it, this is a very playable game. Pity it’s quite so tough at first.
Longevity: - 86% - you won’t beat this for a while
Replay Value: - 90% - multiple difficulty levels and playing modes give it good replayability
Value For Money: - 94% - gives budget titles a good name!
Overall Rating: - 82% - For rally fans on a tight budget, this is the perfect choice. Arcade racing freaks who are prepared to stick with it might be pleasantly surprised.
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