Colin McRae Rally 3

PC review by Philip Morton, published on Thursday 12th June 2003

“Easy right…over into hard left 3, over crest… into hairpin right, don’t cut…” It could only be one sport. Rallying is what motor racing is all about; two men, a car and a wide open road, slicing between trees and fences to get from A to B in the quickest time. Forget those pansy F1 drivers with their million-pound hair deals, this is the real thing.

There used to be only a few rally games fighting for market dominance, but recently the industry has been flooded with them. It’s like F1 games all over again, the market saturated with similar titles. Colin McRae Rally on the PlayStation was one of the first decent rally titles around, and the rest of the series hasn’t disappointed. The third game was released on next-gen consoles a while back, and now it’s finally made its way to PC.

First impressions? It’s a beast of a game, supplied on 3 CDs and takes up 3GB of hard drive space, with 500MB required free after installation. The specs are fairly average for PC games these days - 128MB RAM minimum, 512 recommended; 700MHz minimum, 1400 recommended; 32MB graphics minimum, 64 recommended. On a side note, the box clearly states, “Not compatible with all integrated sound/graphics solutions”, but it works on one of our test machines that does have that setup. I’ve got to recommend using a 128MB card if you want to get the best out of the graphics though.

The one thing that immediately impressed me was the visuals. Even when using a 64MB card, you get the ‘wow factor’ when you first start it up. I’ve never seen car models so good, the aerials on the car sway back and forward as you tear round bends and damage is ultra realistic. The scenery isn’t bad either; there’s detail everywhere, from white signs to stone walls. Trees and bystanders all look great as well, especially the pit crew and race marshals. Dust also rises up from the roads and as you go along, snow and mud builds up on the car. The presentation is also top-notch; menus are clean and functional, set in a minimal white haze. The graphics only suffer when you’ve got a low-end graphics card, as the frame rate drops and you get the occasional slowdown.

The default controls consist of the keyboard, but the game really isn’t suited to this sort of control method. I tried a joystick as well, but it was the same story. If you’re planning on getting Colin McRae Rally 3, then I’d strongly recommend picking up a steering wheel or gamepad while you’re at it. Using a steering wheel is the way it’s meant to be played, but if you can’t afford one, then a gamepad will be a worthy substitute.

Championship mode is the core of the game; you race through a whole season racing on all the stages. Between races you get a huge range of options to take care of damage, repairs, telemetry, handling and your rivals. There’s a plethora of things to tinker with on your car if you’re really into the genre, but if you just want to go and race, you can do so. Stages mode takes you through all the stages with all the cars, providing that you’ve unlocked them first. It’s basically a ‘quick race’ mode, and three of your friends can also join in. You can play in turns, or at the same time via splitscreen. Unless you’ve got a top end system though, split screen will be a bit of a disappointment. Multiplayer is enjoyable though, but only for those who’s PCs can hack it.

The car physics are very realistic, especially in some of the muddy, rain-slicked courses. When you hit a tree, believe me, you’ll know it. It’s also nice to see how the cars interact with the scenery, tearing through barriers and pulling netting down. Rally games used to be a car and a track, not a fusion of both, never giving a real sense of connection to the road. Thankfully, CMR 3 does both superbly.

It’s not a disaster if you don’t have a dedicated sound card, but it is preferable. On built-in sound cards, the menu music is okay, but the in game audio isn’t really good enough. Our test machine which had a good sound card did pump out some proper rally noises though, which sounded fine.

The game has plenty to offer in the long run, with tons of unlockables plus the multiplayer mode. Championship mode has plenty of depth to keep you occupied, and you can always dip in for the occasional race in stages mode.

Colin McRae Rally 3 is what all rally games aspire to be, it looks great, handles well and you’ll be playing it for a while. It has enough depth to keep petrol-heads happy, but doesn’t overcomplicate things for newcomers to the sport. The only downside to the game is that you need a top-end PC to get the best out of it. But if you have got a nice, shiny, new computer and you fancy your chances on the track, then this is the game for you.