Competition in the Rally genre is now as fierce as the World Rally Championship itself. With the recent release of the insanely realistic and difficult Richard Burns Rally and silky smooth Rallisport Challenge 2 can the McRae series stand the test of time and rise to the top of the podium?

Strap on your helmets and prepare for the fastest (1/3 faster apparently) McRae Rally (CMR 2005) ever, as the latest in the now 7 million + selling series roars in to view! Some might say another year another Colin McRae title, well not Codemasters, the fact that McRae doesn’t have a drive in the WRC this year has allowed the team to express themselves in areas where previously they were restricted; for example CMR 2005 features a much wider range of vehicles and as a special vehicle will include the Nissan Pickup-Dakar 2004 which McRae competed in the Paris Dakar rally.

CMR 2005 features even more cars (30+), more stages (300+), more individual rally events (23) and more locations which include the UK, Sweden, USA, Finland, Australia, Spain, Greece, Japan and for the first time ever Germany. With the tried, tested and proven formula of the previous CMR titles, Codemasters have managed to wind up the turbo, tweak the suspension and add a whole new lick of paint for the latest title in the series but is it enough to keep Colin at the front of the ensuing pack?

Gameplay:

CMR 2005 although featuring a whole host of new modes and challenges may appear to offer nothing revolutionary in terms of gameplay; you drive a rally car at break neck speeds whilst trying to remain on the track and avoid the surrounding scenery right? Well yes and no, for a start and for the first time in the series history CMR 2005 now offers 2-8 players on-line multiplayer mayhem, allowing you to pit your wits against the best of the best on xbox LIVE. Not happy with simple on-line racing? Well other options including being able to download ghost cars of the fastest racers (as seen in PGR2) to compete and fine tune your skills against and being able to upload your own for the Xbox LIVE community to see are also available. As with Rallisport Challenge 2 you do race on-line in a ghost form, as you will discover in the single player game more often than not there simply isn’t enough room on the track for more than one car.

The Codemasters CMR series has always presented it’s self with an excellent physics engine and this is evident throughout CRM 2005. Instead of simply reusing the old engine, Codemasters have reworked tweaked, modified and delivered one of the most realistic yet playable rally experiences available. Each of the available stages now has individually mapped surfaces which can, and will affect your vehicles characteristics. The most noticeable example of this was on tarmac sections, where subtle but noticeable color changes in the surface indicated a different type of tarmac. The car’s grip and handling was effected accordingly, similarly leaves, rocks, water and debris which may scatter across the track or lie stagnant off the racing line will also affect the cars accordingly.

If this was not enough CMR 2005 has under gone significant changes in the cosmetics department with a new menu layout and interface, which makes navigation through the options and challenges much more user friendly and pleasing to look at. CMR 2005 features an all new multi-discipline Career Challenge that allows gamers to experience their very own full professional rally career, whilst driving the most diverse selection of cars including 2 and 4 wheel drive, Super 2 wheel, rear wheel, distinctive and 4X4 classes. Race anything from the rip roaring BHP power of the Subaru Impreza right down to the Mk1 Escort or even a mini cooper. A total of 23 + individual rally events are also present such as personal challenge, which offers non-linear progression and rewards, along with Cups, Super Cups, Shields and championships. Here you will need to earn the right to compete with the very best. A significant change from previous versions is you are no longer tied to a single car you select at the beginning; instead you choose the cars you drive a

Graphics:

Graphically although not on the same track as the stunning visuals of the Rallisport challenge titles, CMR 2005 has gone under the technicians wrench; again Codemasters have been able to improve the authentic feeling and atmosphere to the CMR experience with enhanced scenery and more realistic collision detection. Collide with a tree and watch as the leaves scatter from the swaying branches and flutter to the floor. Posts will now bend or break, and keep your eyes peeled for loose rocks or potholes as they are all fully dynamic in game and will have the relevant effect on your cars characteristics.

The most notable new addition is the concussion daze effect as you recover from a crash or suitably hard impact. The daze effect is sort of like seeing stars, and with a varying duration, dependent on how hard you crash or collide with the surrounding objects. Big or small you will now roar off with a bump on you head and blurred vision accordingly. Along with the new daze effects comes an enhanced vehicle damage system, which has been reworked and is now individual to each and every car. Cars now show damage to their paintwork, EG: scrape a tree, clip a fence, rock or wall and your car will truly reflect this miss guided encounter when you reach the next service area.

Previous outings in the McRae series have seen damage effects such as the bumpers hanging and then dropping off your car. Now not only is each and every car modeled with an extraordinarily high level of detail maybe even unnecessarily so, the damage model is possibly the best I have ever seen. Bonnets, bumpers and boot lids flying off may have become repetitive in the previous outings, in fact almost a near certainty within each event, this is no longer the case and although still featured the effect now truly reflects your driving and the various hazards encountered. As if all of these new or improved effects were not enough another new feature is the true engine damage which now can and more than likely will on occasion result in your car cutting out and may even result in your retirement from the rally or event.

Sound:

Sound in a rally game is a blend of a few vital ingredients, firstly and most importantly the Co-Driver, his or her pace notes are the difference between success or failure, authentically Colin McRae’s very own Co-Pilot Nicky Grist loans his map reading skills to deliver the all impotent pace notes. The pace notes are generally accurate when you listen and manage to fully understood the continual ramblings of 90 this and 30 that into hard left, into hair pin left, do not cut and so on commands that Nicky delivers although at times he does appear to remain eerily calm and casual during those inevitable heart stopping moments for us mere mortals and continues to deliver his precise pace notes.

The other main focus of a rally title is the rip roaring gear crunching ambient noises from both the scenery and vehicles; this is another area in which CMR 2005 excels with authentically recorded and recreated engine sounds along with the “clunk” gear change omitted by the sequential gearbox all delivered with near perfection. Additionally road noise is as authentic as we would or could expect, varying track conditions produce the relevant sound along with spectator’s cheers, whistles and horns as you fly by.

Longevity:

Although not a million miles away from CMR 04 the addition of on-line multiplayer has added a whole host of options and competition for subscribers of Xbox LIVE service and those without are able to compete via system link in a similar fashion. The learning curve is steady although the relative ease of the initial races is short lived as you soon encounter a much fiercer challenge as you progress steadily through all of the available modes.

Overall:

CMR 2005 may not be as visually impressive as the Rallisport titles but it does deliver in terms of gameplay the most playable and fun authentic rally experience of any of the available rally titles. It may not be the most realistic or the most visually impressive but it sits perfectly fine tuned and balanced in between both Rallisport’s (visuals) and Richard Burns (ridiculously realistic) as the most complete playable fun rally experience currently available. The addition of Xbox LIVE on-line multiplayer is just one thing in a list that truly makes CMR2005 a worthy purchase.