Great graphics, great sound, great game! (Mobil 1 Rally Championship (PS))

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Product:	Mobil 1 Rally Championship (PS)
Date:	29/01/02 (13 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Graphics, Sound, Realism

Disadvantages: Requires quite a good PC

All dressed up in some amazing D3D finery, Mobil 1 Rally pushes the limits of graphic technology to new heights by delivering an outstanding collection of accurately modeled courses and vehicles coupled with some sophisticated new rally car physics.

Mobil 1 Rally simulates a six-round championship at a number of far-flung locales throughout Britain. Each event of this respected series consists of half a dozen point-to-point stages that can vary in length from a short two-mile jaunt in Langton, Scotland, to a punishing 27-mile run through the forests of Pundershaw in northern England. Magnetic Fields used up-to-date geological survey data and extensive video footage to ensure that the more than 400 miles of serpentine British real estate was rendered with complete authenticity. The results are nothing short of amazing.

I can't think of another racing game with the same photorealistic purity in the backdrops. The sim's snowy mountain vistas, impossibly narrow country lanes and lush forested corridors are so perfectly rendered that, when cranked up to 1280x1024, any one of these resplendent backdrops could be used as a picture postcard. Some blinding lens flare effects, convincing lighting techniques, and support for various audio enhancements raise the audio-visual bar higher still.

The individual cars aren't too shabby, either, with 23 different models from manufacturers such as Renault, Mitsubishi, and Vauxhall. Each has been painstakingly detailed, from the correct placement of sponsorship decals right down to the working windshield wipers. Interior treatments are equally well done and feature a fully animated driver and co-driver as well as a host of different viewing perspectives. A superb video replay suite has also been tossed in to let you view the action from - count 'em - no less than 47 different camera angles!

Whether you go for a modestly powered FWD machine or one of the sim's bonus 4WD road roc
kets, the incredible sense of speed and control gives Mobil 1 Rally a visceral punch. You buck and weave your way through the unforgiving English countryside while listening to your co-driver bark out warnings of upcoming corners and hazards. Apart from some inaccurate off-road behavior (where hitting the grass slows the car unrealistically) and some rather optimistic damage modeling, the sim's challenging physics engine is absolutely first-rate.

Mobil 1 Rally offers four different modes of solo gameplay as well as a variety of split-screen and turn-based modes, on a single PC or over a network. Although I experienced a nearly seamless Internet session when using a high-speed ADSL-to-cable connection, dial-up modem users may encounter minor warping.

North American racing fans have never really warmed to the sport of rallying in the past, but Mobil 1 Rally Championship could very possibly change all that. Although it's not for the casual racer, the purity and intensity of the driving experience should ensure the game a long lease on the hard drive of any serious simulation buff.

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