MEMBER PROFILE FOR mark1gti
Average Overall Score Given: 10.00000 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 1
Reviews
Colin McRae Rally 3
Overall: I've played many rally sims and this one is truly the best. Unlike most consumers out there, I also have experience in rally racing, so I can tell fluff from the 'real thing', and this is the closest yet to the real experience. This is also the first driving sim yet in which there is a real advantage to using the 'in car' view, to say nothing of the quality of the experience as you hear the co-driver's voice giving you directions and things like realistic raindrops beading up on the windshield. The engine sounds, while not the greatest (which driving sim is?) are still immersive, especially if you've got a nice home theatre system hooked up. The car physics, as the car bounces around and such actually had me leaning a bit into corners! In short, I can't recommend this game highly enough, the only thing missing is peripherals such as a drivers seat with a woofer mounted within and a steering wheel/pedal setup. Gameplay: I can see myself playing this one into the late hours of the night for quite some time, in fact if I were asked which X-box game I would choose above all others, I would have a hard time not choosing this one over Halo. The co-driver reading out instructions as you are racing along is really and truly helpful, so listen closely. Another area where I was impressed was the quality of the roads and scenery, which it appears they went to some trouble to make as accurate as possible, an example being the roads in Japan. Only people who had been there (I have) would know what those roads look like, and they are beautifully recreated here. If those are any example (and so far they are.) Even if you aren't racing down the road at full tilt but just simply driving around you're in for a treat. I've seen in other reviews that some have said the game has a steep learning curve, I think the best way to handle this is to just start out in the default mode (auto transmission, outside view) and just drive around until you get comfortable, then tweak with things. I found I was able to drive very quickly shortly after firing it up, such was the ease of transition into it. Hats off to Codemasters for producing yet another winner in the Colin McRae series, this is undoubtedly the best driving sim out there now in my humble opinion.
Graphics: The graphics, while really very good, are still not perfect. The colors can be a bit washed out at times, and even with a nice television (Toshiba Cinema series, 27 in. with composite video input into the X-Box) the colors are still a bit washed out and the draw distance and transition in borders from the road edges to areas off road can be a bit unclear, resulting in some unwanted off road incursions. I've found the best way around this is to just switch view from inside to outside and back again, but in retrospect I wish there was better delineation on the road edges.
Audio: Even though the sound isn't the greatest, it's still really good, especially things like the co-driver's voice (nicely balanced between engine sounds and the co-driver's voice). Do be sure to read the manual re how the co-driver reads information to you, it's necessary to get good stage times. Another high point was in stages where it's raining, you can hear the rain and the 'thump thump' from the windshield wipers going back and forth is really felt if you have good bass (real 'seat of the pants' stuff). Do play this game while sitting on the floor if you've got good bass.
Suggestions: Please work on detail on distance and also transitions from the road to non-road areas. Also, if we could get better engine sounds that would be great too. Other than that, I wouldn't change a thing. Truly immersive, a guarenteed winner if you're into driving sims. Hats off to Codemasters on a well-designed and executed product.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
