Colin McRae Rally 04 is the latest in the dominant 6 million-selling series and is set to take rallying on consoles to a new level of excellence. The early preview code which we have been fortunate enough to play allowed us to compete in the American part of the full championship and a large selection of sample stages along with the test area which include a rolling road test and springs test (more about these later) the code played clearly shows that Codemasters have not just sat and thought lets knock out an updated version of the series but lets listen to the players, lets improve it and lets keep it the number 1 rally game.

"Graphically better than the last and now feels and looks like a true Xbox game"

Visually Colin McRae Rally 04 is a vast improvement on the first Xbox version, the immediate scenery is now much better than in the previous outing on the Xbox along with much more detail for the surroundings. The draw distance has also been improved making the game look a lot sharper and visually more impressive as you fly through the mud, gravel, snow or any of the 34 driving surfaces that you will encounter.

Helping you control your Rally Car over the 34 different surfaces that feature are now a massive 19 tyre types which can be used on any of the 20 cars featured which include 4-wheel drive models like the Citroen Xsara, Mitsubishi Evo 7, Subaru Impreza and 2-wheel drive cars like the Ford Puma or the Fiat Punto and naturally classic cars.

Along with more tires and more surfaces is a new handling system has been employed, previously the car handling used a steering aid, which had the effect of making the car move around a central pivot point. Now this has been removed effectively taking the stabilizers off providing a more professional and natural feel to the handling, this is noticeable across the various terrains which you shall encounter.

"Test your car"

There is all new test feature which effectively offers you the chance between rally events to test specific parts and earn new technology for you and your team. Tests include a rolling road test and driving tests for suspension and tires, On the rolling road you must control gears and revs achieving a specific goal in a specific time to earn new engine technology on suspension testing sessions you must slam the car through a rally stage testing the suspension to the max to earn improved suspension which you can then use throughout the championship and possibly giving you the edge over the competition. (tyre test not available in preview code - more on this in the full review coming soon)

"Xbox LIVE Scoreboards"

Pit your wits against other LIVE players, Colin McRae Rally 04 now allows players who are LIVE enabled to upload and post there fastest times to an Xbox LIVE score board for the rest of the world to see details are currently limited on this feature but it's in there, who knows Colin McRae 05 to support LIVE online play maybe?

"Workshop & Briefings"

Colin McRae Rally 04 also offers racers a very detailed briefings on the stage which ahead and also an indication of the stages difficulty and terrain type giving players the chance to tweak there cars to perfection in the workshop which also makes a welcome return. The workshop offers full set up and repair options at the service areas every second stage through the rally. Setup options include Tires, ride height, springs, anti-roll bar, brakes and steering. If you can't set your car up right in Colin McRae 04 then there really is no hope for your Rally career.

The near legendary McRae damage engine has as always been tweaked, and is now taken to 3 different levels. Different damage settings are linked to the normal and advanced skill settings in the 4 wheel and 2 wheel drive championships and then for the absolute professionals of you out there the all new "no second chance" setting of the expert championship.

The preview code which we played has left us desperate to play more the cars handle better, they look better, they fall apart better the game looks better and we can't wait until Colin McRae Rally 04 is released, this is a sure fire hit and a must have title for fans of the genre.

Preview By: Ade