Driving a 2 litre four wheel drive Subaru Impreza at 150 kph is an expensive business, especially on a 6 foot wide footpath with a sheer cliff of one side, did I mention it can be quite dangerous also?
Well fear not, now its available for you to play in the safety of your own stinkhole. Enter Richard Burns Rally from SCi. Actually its always been available but simply put, never EVER this good.
O.k up until this week my rally car driving exploits took place in one game, Colin McRae 3. I was also naive enough to think it was an accurate simulation of a rallycar. Well it's not, and judging (possibly unfairly) by the CMC2005 demo, neither is that.
Well Richard Burns Rally is an absolute joy to play, once of course you get by the first few hours of freaking out and wanting to put your rig out the window.
This game is HARD, and I dont just mean a little tricky, I now consider myself quite good at it, and I'm still sticking to 3rd and 4th gear at 100kph. The instant the game loads up and you're awaiting the GO signal, you realise you're playing a rally game in a different class to CMc.
The feel of the car is just excellent, and even the in-car sound of dirt and rocks flying under the car as you drive along is brilliant. The car damage is so realistic, you will often find your self retiring after clipping a tree and flying into the bushes.
This of course can be helped as there is 4 car damage settings. Realistic, reduced, safe and off.
Realistic and limited can both have you out of the race after one crash, safe simply damages the body of the car, keeping the essential engine parts safe from damage.
Off is self explanatory. There are some pretty advanced controls in this game that other rally games simply refuse to add to there games, for one thing you have to start your engine, and there is an option for a clutch too, thankfully they have added gear protection and clutch help, so you wont blow your engine by dropping down through your gears to fast. And for gods sake, start using manual gears straight away!!
If you don't, you'll get used to automatic and will not benefit from the extra control manual shifting gives you.
Also note that false starts are possible, so dont just floor it the minute the level loads.
The one problem I did have is the absolute need for analogue steering, acceleration and breaking. Initially I nearly gave up on the game, my crappy little joypad simply wasn't cutting it. Then I had an idea, out came my Sidewinder joystick normally reserved for my Flight Sim 2004 stints.
It took ages to get used to, but worked better than my Joypad. Long story short, Get a steering wheel.
A rally school is available to learn all the basic and advanced techniques employed by the real deal rally drivers such as power slides, hairpin turns, emergency breaking, and the scandinavian flick(also called the pendulem swing).
If you pass all these tests you're ready to take on the big boys in a rally season.
Lets take a look at some pics they have posted on their web site, try and tell which is real and which is screenshot.Pretty impressive stuff, although looking at the game fullscreen at a 1024x768 resolution its a lot easier to tell.
The graphics are simply stunning. And on top of that the game runs like a gem (at least on my rig Very Happy). Pot holes on the road aren't simply for looks, they actually rock your car, and at high speeds, ruin your day altogether. 
Trees and shrubs look amazing, although when you slow down and actually look at them, the illusion is somewhat, but not entirely ruined.There is also breakable fences, fauna, and even idiots running onto the road, although hitting them isn't as satisfying as say Carmageddon(also from SCi), the screen simply goes red and you're penalised an outragous 10 seconds :).
As I mentioned earlier, the sound is brilliant, from the roar of the engine to the environment sounds, its all really good.Not to mention a pumping soundtrack from D.J's Paul Oakenfold, Andy Hunter, Pepe Delux and Plump DJs.
If you're like Gary, the sound options are easily gotten to and the music muted without fuss.
As much as I like this game, the interface can get a little annoying, nearly everything you do is followed by a "are you sure message" and for some reason the default answer is No, so you find your self hitting No a lot by accident. also in quick rally, if you complete say the first stage in england, it dosnt give you a do next stage option.
A little niggle, nothing too major, but it does mean having to go back out to the main menu and back into the quick rally.
All in all I would recommend this title, and if you're like me, and love rally games, it's an absolute must have.
MINIMUM REQUIRED SPECIFICATION:
1.6GHZ Processor
256MB System Ram
64MB Video Card (Card must support Pixel Shading)
At least 3.10GB HD space
DirectX compatible soundcard
RECOMMENDED SPECIFICATION:
2.6GHZ Processor
512MB System Ram
128MB Video Card (Card must support Pixel Shading)
At least 3.10GB HD space
Sound Blaster© Audigy 2 ZS
Logitech© Momo© Steering Wheel
Calling all petrol heads 5 out of 5,
otherwise 3 out of 5
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