Colin McRae Rally 04

21 Apr 2008 at 18:31:14 by Paul Younger
Systems used to review this title: (PS2)

Let's get straight to the point: this is a grand old game. It has polish, refinement, robustness and offers great long-term enjoyment. Screaming engines, Scottish navigators, dangerous machines and stupid driving have never been so much fun.

There are many ways to get the cars out into the muck: from a quick race, which randomly a*igns vehicle and track, to full-on championship, the varying modes offer different levels of depth. In return they demand a different amount of commitment in time and concentration. If you're lucky enough to have a buddy willing to go into championship mode on two-player, it's very rewarding to compare notes, encourage each other or rile at the other's progress. You might also take the same car in turns, which can get silly as the damage piles up. It's great watching someone else try to make it over the finish line in a car you've just butchered.

Multiplayer can be simultaneous split-screen or taking turns. I heard complaints from fellow-players that you're still racing a ghost car in split-screen mode, but rally courses are only meant for one, really. Apart from the drop-off in graphical quality and the rarest, slightest of slow-downs, split-screen does the job nicely.

In sequential 2-player, whoever plays second will have the advantage, so the order of play is wisely mixed up; it won't always be Player 1 then Player 3. This gives each player the chance to learn from the other's mistakes and learn the course.

The cars on offer and waiting to be unlocked are split into themed groups. The 'historically interesting' batch includes a Citroen 2CV 'Safari' and even a Ford Transit. The Audi Quattro is one of a herd of beasts from the 1980s - overpowered, dangerous, and long banned - known as "Group B". This group also offers the notorious Peugeot 205, which can still be seen "in the wild" in many English town centres and promenades, normally occupied by a baseball-cap wearing youngster.

In any case - there are plenty of different and interesting cars, each with their own distinctive driving styles, handling and collection of wonky noises. This is crucial in any driving game, yet so often we've seen car models differ only in the 3D mesh, so well done Codemasters. The Ford Focus, for example, is much harder to steer than the Mitsubishi Lancer, and the 2-wheel drive cars really are easier to handle than the 4WD (as advertised in the game).

Who can resist the lure of advance damper testing in Finland? No need to answer. This is one of the by-invitation-only equipment upgrades that you can earn as you progress through the championship. Basically, if you get round the track in time you get to keep the upgrade. Simple yet effective, and a novel approach to an upgrade path.

The question burning everyone's tongue is, "how different is this from Colin 3?" Well, quite. It is indeed better, a lot better; as well as the new cars and new tracks there's a general improvement in realism and presentation. In particular, the car handling has become more convincing. Four out of five testers reported understeer; the lone dissenter maintained that oversteer was just as easy. Everyone said, however, that the cars felt heavy, loaded with inertia and challenging to control. That's 'challenging' in a good way.

This reflects a very good strength of the game: the difficulty level. Even for the non-expert or casual rally-er, Colin Mcrae 4 offers an enticing slope towards better skill and more rewarding drives. There's nothing daunting here - only trees can get in the way of your ambition.

The front-end is also cleaner and more elegant, with less of the hard-to-see colour scheme from its predecessor. The car models themselves are not strikingly different from those in version 3, although they do offer much more detailed damage. The c**pit view, however, is by far the best simulation of being inside the car, with the engine screaming and world streaking past outside.

The in-game graphics show no glitches, either; from the chase camera you can see the car's supporting struts inside the transparent windows. A good variety of textures show the ground surface well; gravel on mud, fine dust on baked yellow rock, badger on tarmac - it's all there to feast on. Despite this there are moments where you could be forgiven for losing track of the road, and not because of the sunlight stitching its way through the trees (gorgeous indeed).

When you come to a stop you can really appreciate the visuals touches. The pit crew stand around with hands in pockets, carefully ignoring the wreck that used to be your fine rally car. While your engine idles, the exhaust pipe wobbling and belching thin smoke, you can admire the carnage. The rear bumper might hang off one corner, with only one tail-light working. The whole nose of the car can fall off to expose the engine block; wheel rims stripped of all rubber tell the sad story of your pushing things too far.

So, what if you're near to destroying your prize auto midway through a championship? That's when you pray for a repair stop to come along. Each damaged sub-system (suspension, body, cooling, engine etc.) can be fixed, but the repairs will use up your bank of time. This forces you to prioritise a working cooling system over body work, for example, or suspension before that ol' go-faster stripe ;).

Crashing into things isn't good for the car; we've established that much. Barriers, boulders and trees will all take their toll. Cruelly, however, even the tiniest sapling will stop you dead. Why should a 4 foot stake or a low bush bring 1 ton of 90mph rally car to a halt? It's such fun to cut through crowd tape or tear down cloth barriers that when you meet such harsh boundaries it feels both unfair and artificial.

The watching crowds (always mad in real life) are also very fake - just bitmaps stuck in the ground. Try and run them over, however, and you'll get respotted just before you get to the crunch. Similarly, if you stray too far off the track or head back in the wrong direction, the screen will go white and you'll be put back.

Sounds give excellent feedback about the engine state and the ground below. Everything sounds rich and exciting, from the outdoor rumble to the in-c**pit whine, to the "What's that rattling, scraping sound? And why can't I hear the engine anymore?” Well, it's called an engine cut-out, and it's very dramatic. When this happens expect to feel the loss of control as you freewheel, but most of all you can really hear the other noises that normally sit under the engine howl: every squeak, every thud and every rattle of the car comes screaming at you. It's normally possible to restart the engine unless you've totally baked it.

Your in-car navigator is a reassuring Scot. "Long, Four, Left!” he'll say. "Don't cut", comes the warning about a corner with a boulder in the crook of the turn. "Take your hand off my knee", he'll scream (no not really). Soon it becomes second nature to trust the fellow and disregard the curve indicator flashing up on screen. You could argue that he's too cool, too collected, and never sounds like he's being jostled around a track by a terrible, terrible driver. Also, it's odd that no matter which nationality you choose at the start, your co-pilot is always the same guy (or at least has the same voice).

At the end of the course, mud-spattered and battered as you may be, there's no denying that Colin McRae 4 is a top-class rally game. OK, so it's the third sequel, but still I pity the fool who tries to bring out a rally game to compete with this. I can't see even a further sequel being worth it until the next generation of consoles can make us go 'wow' again at the shiny graphics. Colin McRae himself may not be top of the rankings, but the game that takes his name is definitely king of the dirt hill.

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