Introduction
Fear not, XBox owners. The sea of mediocre titles is starting to enter low tide, and the waves of great games are starting to crash in. While XBox is in no way in need of another quality racer, yet alone a rally racer, throw away all prejudgements and jaded feelings. The force is strong in this one. Not only is it the best XBox racer so far, it’s the greatest rally game of all time.Presentation
While not on par with GT3, presentation in RC is very good. The movies, menus and options are all dont very well. Menus are very easy to navigate, moreso than any other XBox racer yet. Control options are scarce but the game controls like butter anyways so it is no big deal.Graphics & Sound
XBox graphics whores, rejoice! Rallisport Challenge is for you guys what Gran Turismo 3 is to your PS2 cousins. Cars are almost photo realistic. They have real-time lighting, reflections as well as damage. Backgrounds are very well detailed. Bushes flatten as you run them over, rocks and mud gets kicked up as you blaze through the track, all with no slowdown. The graphics easily surpass the graphics in Gotham Racing.
Sound wise, the game also doesnt dissapoint. The music is general techno crap, but sound effects are great. Engine sounds rival those of the rally cars in GT3. There is a distinct realistic sound for each surface you are racing on. The navigators voice is loud and clear, something Collin McRae developers should notice.
Gameplay
Even based solely on graphics and sound, RC would get great ratings. Thankfully, it has great gameplay to boot. The best thing about the game is the tracks. No rally game has ever come close to tracks being this diverse. One part of a track can be general tarmac speed, then you dip into gravel twists and turns, then muddy hairpin hell. Don’t expect hardcore realism. While you cannot blaze through the game without letting off the gas button, lets just say the game sacrifices realism for speed in some cases. Control is crisp and solid. If you liked the control in Test Drive V Rally, you will love RCs controls moreso.
As with the tracks, the game modes are pretty varied as well. You have stand alone races against the times of other drivers, RallyCross(4 driver free-for-all), mountain climb and the mighty ice racing. While a quick job on each wouldve been suffice for this game, developer Digital Illusions took their time and designed each mode with its own distinct feel and strategy. Particularly mountain and ice racing. Full attention is a must for mountain racing, as barrelling down a straight for a second too long can send you flying off the side of a mountain. No bueno.
Thankfully, unlike any other console rally game, RC is actually difficult. Damn difficult. The first few "cups" are purposely easy. You are being lubed up in those races for the true AI in the latter cups. And you’ll love every minute of it.
Only one gripe here, and thats the damage. While hardly a new feature, it looks good in RC, but hardly affects performance. It would be nice to get more of a penalty for crashing, something like a time based pit area a la TD V Rally. Wreck enough, and you simply cannot move. Run over a sharp rock, your tire blows.
Lasting Appeal
As if the great gameplay and mouth-watering graphics werent enough, RC has its fair share of secret cars and tracks to unlock. Among them, the might Escudo, made popular in GT2. It is a beast, and is worth the time playing to unlock it. Aside from the great single player mode with an adequate number of cups, RC also has a 4 player mode. While detail drops a bit, it’s still a fast slowdown free race, and with the amount of tracks and cars, it wont get old very fast.
PGR might be a tad bit more difficult, making it last a little longer. But unlike PGR, you’ll be enjoying racing again and again.
Conclusion
The only flaws in this game are cheesy music and lackluster damage penalties. Thankfully, the music can be fixed by using your own soundtracks ripped to your XBox. Rally Masters was great, and this game from the same developers is even better. With the current state of the XBox library, a game like this is a godsend. But it would stand just as tall in the PS2 library. Its just that good. Go, get. Now.
