Over the past five years Colin McRae Rally Racing titles have redefined the rally racing genre with precision control, accurate graphics and a distinctly European feel but the series' physical piety has made it revolutionary. Many racing titles give you the option to tweak the engine and various other elements of the vehicles but few to the extent and affect of CMR3. Combining near arcade control with complex simulation elements serious racing fans have reason to celebrate.

First off, the packaging and interface of the game are sleekly designed. Some may jeer at the simplicity and lack of flare but those who know rally racing will appreciate the scarcity of fanfare. The races are quietly downplayed, crowds are small as in reality and there's not a lot of visual noise in the menu system making them easy to navigate. But this simplicity doesn't affect the realism of the game's graphics. Cars are perfectly designed with advertisements and GT quality models. The Ford Focus is the…well, focus, of the line up of vehicles but there are also a few other models like the Citroen Xsara Kit car and the requisite Subaru Impreza WRX to skid around the courses in. The real graphical draw of the game is the perfect frame rate and heartily designed environments. Foliage hangs over the roadways, grass is green and bright, dust trails into the sky thick and cloudy and snow reacts to speeding vehicles realistically. The climate feels so authentic. My favorite level is the Japanese rally course with its dense vegetation, stormy sky and the great addition of the windshield wipers swatting away the rain.

As in most racing games, winning is based upon a championship mode where a group of competitors try to get to the finishing line the fastest. Unlike most racers but common to Rally games, in CMR3 you race alone to beat the time of the racers that go before or after you. So, you have the track to yourself without the neck and neck competition but on screen displays of your time and standing keep the urgency to do better intact. Tracks wind and twist through hills, small hamlets, mountain passes and valleys but they are pretty straightforward without alternate paths or nebulous directions. Onscreen and vocal guidance (performed by Nicky Grist - Colin McRae's real life co-driver) keep you aware of track variations ahead. The vocal guidance helps out although it's worth memorizing the commands listed in the instruction booklet to be more precise.

Tracks are long, beautiful pieces of backroad in countries like Spain, Sweden, Greece and the UK plus others. After reaching a finishing point you continue on the same road to the next, auto-saving between each. The first day of each race is the shakedown day when you allocate all of the appropriate parts to your vehicle according to the weather conditions. Before and after each leg of the race you are shown damage to your vehicle in various areas but are only allowed to repair at the beginning of each day. Slamming into trees and bushes along the route only leaves you with a heap of junk that will barely get you across the finish line so paying attention to your co-driver and learning to control the car is essential. Most impressive about the game is the sheer mass of options you have for car customization. Everything from the brakes to the gearbox can be tweaked and they all make noticeable differences in the cars performance. Paying attention to the type of tires you use and the terrain that covers the larger percentage of the next track is cardinal.

Controlling the vehicles certainly takes some time to get used to. Rally racing game fans will understand immediate the concept of sliding into each turn and pulling the vehicle back into line with deft finger movements. But others might have a difficult time until this becomes clear - the entire game consists of making turns and becoming increasingly accurate to boost your track time. The real fun comes into the game when you're sweating trying to beat your old time. It's a long gradual process. Tracks are long, races are filled with precision timing and statistics and real racing fans will cherish the progressive nature of the game. Burnout fans might not have the patience to reap the full benefits of CMR3.

Considering all of the above, Colin McRae Rally 3 is perfectly balanced. While it won't appeal too heavily to the arcade racing crowd, it was never meant to. It was meant to be to rally racing fans what NSYNC is to adolescent girls and it is. If arcade racers are fun, CMR3 is more like intellectual fun. If you don't know much about cars, you'll have to pay attention to the booklet to get through the game. It's so cleverly crafted into a realistic racer, you'll feel like an expert by the time you reach 2nd place standing.

Posted: April 7th