Ludfords review of rally games.

[Ludford]

Rally Review

In this review I aim to review the 2 mager rally sims out there. Colin McRae rally and Richard burns rall. I hope that there is enough information here for anyone to make a decision on which game to get.

Colin McRae 05

Ah, the market monopoliser. CMR has had a monopoly over the market for some time, CMR05 being just the latest in a long line of rally games which have all been great. The graphics are good the sound is good and the gamplay is good.
This is a game for those people that like to jump right in and nail that 70 degree powerslide at 90 m.p.h , so the handling is in-between arcade and pure simulation. The tracks are similar to real life but are much wider than there realife counter parts to make the learning curve easier. Although this sometime leads to the problem of the cars looking like toys in the replays.

Get this game if you fancy a fast drive with lots of room to powerslide at dizzying speeds, Watch out though there’s still technical sections and if you don't pay attention you'll be rapped round the nearest tree.


Richard Burns Rally

This is a very very good rally sim, although slightly less well known than CMR. unlike CMR this is a one off game and there is unlikely to be a sequel because of the death of richard burns. This game sets apart from CMR as pure realism.

As such you will probably need a wheel to get the full use out of it. if you get it for PC forget using the keyboard! a keyboard is a digital import device so its either turn or not turn, floor it or not, you need an analogue control for everything in-between. Also being a sim its nice to use the cockpit cam that puts you right where the driver sits (limited visibility and all ).

The first thing to remember is this is not CMR, thinking this will get you rapped round the nearest tree or over the nearest cliff. This is the real thing! stages are technical and narrow like in real life (there’s still plenty of straights ) but your not going to be powersliding round hairpins at 100 m.ph, (unless your uber 1337)

another good part is the sound design, using the cockpit cam you feel like your actually sitting there, you can here the 300bhp under the hood and the squeaks of the shocks when you push them to hard. (one time I tapped a tree and the door swung open, after that I heard and almost felt it slamming into the body after every turn.

that leads me onto the damage which if set to realistic is pure sim, if you wipe out into a tree at 50mph the car ain't gonna move under its own power anymore and your out of the race. Also thanks to the crash physics tapping a tree at 70 won't slow you down like in CMR, its more likely to send you spinning wildly into that tree that always seems to be there.

Pick this game if you want a game that’s pure realism (and a bit more challenging) and you want to feel like your actually driving over a rough road instead of a flat surface.



So, after this guide you should know which one to get.