Colin McRae Rally 2.0

"The actual real driving simulator"

Ever since I was old enough to recognise what was going on on a television screen, I have marvelled at the World Rally Championship. Having always been a motorsport fan, watching Formula 1, Stock Car Racing and just about anything on wheels which went quickly, looking back they were probably the only things on T.V which held my attention. But none of these came close to the sheer thrill of watching utter nutcases flinging ridiculously expensive cars around tiny country lanes, at speeds which could probably rip your spleen out.
If you've ever seen the WRC, you will probably know what to expect with Colin McRae Rally 2.0. Taking a 2 litre, 300bhp turbocharged monster and getting from A to B as fast as you possibly can down tiny roads that are only just wider than the car is the order of the day, and that is pretty much it. However, the car handling and general feel of rallying has been re-created to absolute perfection by the racing gurus Codemasters. I mean, I thought the first Colin McRae Rally had it all spot on, but man is it lame compared to this.
But before I start ranting on about how great the game is, I suppose I'd better explain what's going on here for people who don't have the faintest clue about what it's all about. Basically you pick a car, and then proceed to break it across eight continents, whilst trying to beat 15 other drivers' times. In the championship mode you race on each country one after the other, points being allocated on the grounds of who got the fastest time over all the country's stages. The game also features an arcade mode where you can race against 5 other cars on the track at the same time, for those who simply have to have other cars for them to smash into, and various multiplayer and timetrial modes.
Graphically, the game delivers. The scenery whips along at a fair old pace, and the car models look fairly decent - bending and crumpling depending on where that last tree hit them. Various weather effects add to the mix, dirt builds up on the cars, and even during the most hectic '6 cars in your face' moments, the framerate never lets up.
The sound is pretty much what you'd expect - the engine noises sound reasonable, Nicky Grist barks instuctions down your ear regularly, and the scenery makes suitable crunching noises when you hit it.
However, it's the gameplay where the meat of the game is. And it's incredible. The car responds beautifully, powersliding is a breeze, and handbrake turns so effortless - everything feels so right. Even the slightly dodgy tarmac handling of the fist game has been sorted - bliss!
Lifespan - with 90 tracks to race on, multiplayer modes galore, 3 difficulty levels (the last one in particular being hellishly hard) and stacks of secrets to unlock, the game will last an age. And if you already have an interest in rallying then you will never stop playing it - 'coz it's just great.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/10/01, Updated 10/10/01