Sets The Standard (Colin McRae Rally 2 (PC))

Member Name: thecoin

Product:	Colin McRae Rally 2 (PC)
Date:	12/12/00 (813 review reads)
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The original Colin McRae Rally was released a couple of years ago now and when it was it set new standards for rally gaming with its superb graphics,gameplay and sounds. Rally gaming hadn`t really took off at this point the only one worth talking about at the time CMR was released was Network Q Rally Championship which had become very outdated as it had been released 2-3 years premature to CMR. The Rally gaming industry is now as competitive as the F1 gaming scence with 3-4 rally games released each year. This year has seen the release of three rally games all with their sights set on knocking the original CMR off the top position in rally gaming and all have succeded, but back has come Codemasters with the sequel to the original and it beats all the other competitiors hands down. The three games released this year where: Rally Masters,V Rally 2 and Rally Championship 2000 with the prospect of Ubisoft`s Pro Rally 2000 being released before Christmas. Each game is very different from the other and all, through advances in computer technology and due to the ever increasing competition beat the original CMR in all departments but Codemasters seem to do no wrong when it comes to releasing racing games and have released yet another standard setting game.

For starters the game allows you to drive in eight very different countries which are part of the rally calender. This is something which is lacking in the other three games which base themselves around one country with the same kind of stages. Colin McRae Rally 2`s advantage is they have every kind of Rally from the snow and ice rally of Sweden to the all tarmac rally of Corsica.
Here`s a full list of country`s included:

Sweden,
Kenya,
Great Britain,
Finland,
Greece,
Australia,
France,
Italy

Before you start each rally in championship mode you get a quick video clip, which is very impressive and a few hints and tips for the rally from McRae`s co-driver Nicky Gri
st. I find these to be very helpful because if you take note of what hes saying it helps you prepare a setup for the rally and to shave seconds off your stage times.

Each rally has 8-9 stages all of a similar length 5.0km. Each stage has its own charecteristics so I advise people to study the Information section on before each stage to make sure they have a decent setup as different stages even on the same rally need different setups. Some rally`s contain a super special stage. Super special`s added to rally`s a few years ago now spice up the action for crowd`s and are actually quite entertaining to drive aswell. Two cars are pitted against each other on a looped stage of around 2km. This is very entertaining but can also be frustrating as one mistake can become extremly costly.

I have read on a few CMR2 forums about people complaining that stages are two wide. These people have obviously only raced the first two rally`s Greece and Finland before posting otherwise they would think differently.

Greece and Finland are renowned in the rallying calender for having wide stages so this is very realistic, when you get further on to rally`s such as Australia and the UK the stages become very thin and challenging in places and take alot of concentration and precsision to get through. My advice is the object isn`t just to go flying into a corner at 130mph and brake at the last minute,break early for tight corners and when you get to the corner floor the throttle for a maximum power slide which is the fastest way to corner in rallying.

There`s a good selection of cars all from the World Rally Championship.

A Full List List:

Subaru Impreza
Ford Focus
Mitusubishi Lancer
Seat Cordoba
Toyota Corolla
Peugeot 206

Bonus Cars

Mini Cooper
Metro
Escort
and many more Iam yet to discover.

Each car has its own charecteristics as in real life so my advise to anyone with the game
is to do some single stages which is an option you can use with the game and test out each car to see which one suits your driving style. I prefer the Subaru with its fast cornering speeds but you may prefer the light weight characteristics of the Ford Focus.

I have heard complaints about the Playstation version of the game that the AI of the Focus meant that it always ended up three-four seconds faster than all the other cars. Well Iam happy to say that this isn`t the case with the PC version as all the AI cars seem pretty evenly matched. While Iam on the subject of AI you first start Colin McRae 2 on either Novice or Intermediate mode.I started on Intermediate and found that the first two rally`s(Finland and Greece)where particulary easy and found even if I crashed and rolled I could still win a stage.Once you get passed that you come to Corsica. This once youve got the hang of Tarmac driving is also an easy rally to win but it takes a bit of practise getting used to driving on tarmac compared to the usual gravel and asphalt. The main thing is you hardly have to brake for the corners unless they are very sharp, the medium corners can be taken with just a lift off the accelarator not like on the asphalt where you would have to break for the medium sized corners. Also this is a very tiring rally as you are constantly turning the wheel because there is a distinct lack of straights. Once passed here the rally`s even on intermediate become quite difficult, Ive had trouble on these two rally`s(Sweden and Australia)the AI seems very much faster than on the other stages and the two rally`s themselves are much more difficult than the first three. Australia is a very fast rally and also has alot of thin roaded stages which prove to be very challenging. Sweden`s a rally that you have to be very courtious driving and have to get used to breaking much earlier for corners. After here Iam not really sure of yet because this is as far as Ive got although I have had a few
goes on single stage in the UK.

The graphics engine is very impressive.Even if you have all graphical details on maximum I have had no problems with frame rates or graphical distortions(Iam not sure about lower spec machines though). The graphics are of a similar quality to the ones in RC2000 which where highly praised and all textures etc look extremly realistic. Apart from the Ford Focus WRC all other WRC`s are in 99 spec liveries. I suppose this has come about due to licensing problems but never fear the file format is the same as in the original CMR so no doubt given 1 or 2 weeks like with the original people will be bringing out new 2000 liveries for the cars and hopefully like in the first will be making new cars. The Hyundai Accent and the Skoda Octavia WRC`s would be greatly receive by myself as these are the only two cars missing that where in this years championship.

The physics in the game I praise highly along with most other people who have played the game which have been writing in the forums at simracingnews.com. Some people claim that Rally Masters is more realistic but I can`t comment on this because of not having the game but considering that Colin McRae tested the games physics for the game I would say they are very realistic,much more than RC2000 where the cars felt more like tanks.

The sounds are one of the best features of CMR2.Sounds always come in for alot of scrutineering from fans when games are released and the majority view is that the sounds in CMR2 are spot on. Each individual car has its own sound recordered from the real life version of the car so sound just right.

All in all the game is a must have for all driving game fans. It appeals to both the Sim fan aswell as the arcade racer fan as the game also boasts an arcade mode with the oppurtunity to race against other cars on the stages. Go out and buy it now!

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