Colin McRae Rally 3 (Xbox)

The tracks themselve no longer make you feel as if your travelling down a corridor - make a mistake in this game and you can easily be out of contention trying to slither back up a banking or caught in a rut on the side of a road. Trackside detail is excellent and almost photorealistic when viewed from the in car camera) although it has to be said that bystanders still retain the cardboard cut out textures of earlier versions.

It is important aswel to take heed of the instructions of your co driver(which are numerous and well realised) as there are multiple junctions and turn offs in this game - presume too much and you will again be loosing valuable seconds three point turning out of a slip road.

The car handling itself (on the x box version)is a little sensitive for my liking but this is easily accomodated by turning the sensitivity down in the setup options which makes for a smoother ride - especially noticeable on the tarmac sections where a slight tremor on the controller sends you snaking uncontollably down the road.

The championship mode which is the main section of the game does not allow you to restart a race if you get it wrong the first time - you have to continue and improve your time over the following stages, so perserverence is required which ultimately lends an element of longevity to the game.

For the engineers out there there are plenty of options for you to fine tune your motor as completing stages succesfully brings a multitude of advanced spare parts for your car but if like me all you want to do is get on the starting line and burn rubber Colin McRae 3 is just the game for you - but be warned - this is not a game that you can set out to bounce off walls at full throttle and hope to end up pointing in the right direction at the end of it, just to save a second or two - damage is brilliantly realised in Colins (your)car.If you hit a rock or spin out of control particularly badly you can not only smash a windscreen or loose your bumper but even destroy an axle or burst a tyre which will see you limping home in sparks and smoke or even forced to retire from a stage altogether.

Well there it is- Colin McRae rally 3 is a big step up from its previous incarnations and if its controlled driving aggression your after (with plenty of eye candy thrown in) this may well be your game.

Steve Murphy

all in all... this game has some stunning scenery, good car "mechanics" and amazing playability. what it misses, however, are more tracks, better multiplayer features, more details to car damage/what you can fix/car setup (like colin mcrae 2)... and basically a more stable package.

having said all this.. youll find once you get stuck into a game like this, youll be trying to finish the season non-stop during a spare 4 hour period!. its very addictive, and really takes you into the driving seat because concentration levels need to be 90%+ in order for very fast times. and youll soon learn how to dodge lamp-posts and 80 degree cliffs at 90 mph!... a lot of fun. buy it purely for the gameplay (when your driving at top speed round bend after bend, you really dont have time to look at the scenerey/graphics, but you will when you see some of the stunning elements they have added in!).

driving fans... buy this one!

p.s once youve completed the game, buy an addon steering wheel for the xbox, it will pretty much give you a new game, with "different" gameplay.

2. Tracks = Good variety in both types of courses offered and obviously the variety of weather conditions you would expect

3. Gameplay = Great, even though you are racing alone, either trying to beat the car in fronts time or setting the fastest time if you are the first car keeps you playing and playing and playing. Also worth mentioning teh co-driver instructions which are very good, something that sometime goes to pot in games.

4. Car Dynamics = the corners feel very realistic both in the skiding and sliding and also the way the brakes feel as you drive.

5. Multiplayer = Great, splkit sceen horizontally and even though the screen is smaller there is no real loss of gameplay, though you do lose teh co-driver commands as you might expect. Also if you are competiung against each other for a whole rally then you will have to add your times up manually, a minor hinderance