Colin Mcrae Rally 04 - Xbox

Considering the technology in this game is over 10 yrs old, its still one of the most realistic driving games

I almost passed this game up.I don't usually like sim racers that much - I stick to Project Gotham, Burnout, and Need For Speed - but after learning that Colin McRae Rally 04 would be released at the magical $20 price point, I had to give it a try. Rally racing's basically just time attack outdoors anyways, right?I quickly learned that's only part of it.Rally racing is huge in Europe, but is more of a niche event in the States. Maybe because there's no direct competition....? Who cares. Bottom line, this is the best game to be released at twenty bucks since Sega's masterpiece, Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution. This is no mere budget title - Codemasters cares about getting virtual rally racing right, and CMR04 shows off excellence in all areas, from the stylishly minimal menu design to the photorealistic cars and tracks.The thing that scares me away from racing sims is all the tinkering you do to the chassis, suspension, blah blah. Just gimme a car and let me hit the road. But somehow, with this title, fiddling with the settings is incredibly addicting and very necessary, perhaps because of the nature of rally racing itself: you & your car against the clock and terrain. If you're gonna avoid wiping out and trashing your ride, you'd BETTER take the time to tweak the ride height and gear ratio. CMR04 eases newbies (like me) into this obsession gradually, clearly explaining how the different settings affect your car's driving and allowing you to test it before racing "for real." Oh, you also better check the road surfaces and weather conditions of the upcoming stages and prepare accordingly, or else your car will flip at the first hairpin.But there's more. After every couple stages, your car has undoubtedly suffered a little damage (or a lot, if you're a novice like me). You are given the option to repair the damage, but only up to an hour's worth of mechanic-time. The game clearly shows what's damaged, how bad the damage is, and how long it will take to repair, either partially or completely. Strategy becomes a major player here - should you leave your bodywork unrepaired while totally fixing your suspension, or fix it all, passing the 60-minute limit and suffering a time penalty during the next stage? These decisions can be agonizing, and directly affect how you drive. It's extremely well-implemented, well-designed, and, thankfully, user-friendly.In addition, every few stages, you're given the option to test-drive prototype parts, and if you're successful, your car is fitted with the performance-improving equipment, whether it's new tires, ceramic brakes, or improved shocks.So, even though there's one car on the track at a time, there's always a LOT going on behind the scenes. But this relatively low-amount of on-screen action means that CMR04 has some of the most wonderful visuals ever to grace the racing genre. The attention to detail is astonishing, especially from the first-person cockpit viewpoint. The tracks and weather effects can look hauntingly real. And then there are the car models....my goodness. No, it's not a nice thing to damage your vehicle, but the damage modelling is incredible. I slammed into a fence at 70 mph and my passenger door would no longer close, flapping open like a broken metal wing whenever I took a hard turn. I took a jump way too fast and blew two tires upon landing, and my car spent the rest of the run on the rims, spraying sparks in all directions and making a wince-inducing, all-too-real grinding noise. I had to fight just to keep my car on the road, but I still managed to eke out a first-place finish by two tenths of a second. Whew! It was as intense as a platinum-medal PGR race, or screaming at full-boost against traffic in Burnout.After all this praise, what negatives can I possibly come up with? Well, given the nature of rally racing, the game can get a bit repetitive during extended sessions, and gets rather unforgiving as you progress to higher difficulties. No in-game music is a slight hit as well, although I really don't think I'd use it much if given the option - too busy listening to the nav's directions and the engine gear-shifting purposes. And besides a scoreboard, there's no online support at all - a real shame for a game this finely tuned. But hey, at $20, you really can't complain too much.I went back and forth between 4 and 5 stars for this rating, and ultimately decided on five because the amount and quality of game you get for the price is a gift from Codemasters to U.S. gamers everywhere. And I fully admit that if CMR04 had been anything more expensive than twenty bucks, I would more than likely have passed it by.Thank goodness things turned out the way they did. Colin McRae Rally 04 is easily my gaming surprise of the year so far, and has opened my eyes to a genre and sport that I previously didn't care about.

Are you sick and tired of all the recent rally or offroad games that only focus on selling energy drinks? Well I am! The Dirt series isn't all that bad but those fools decided pay less attention on rallying and payed more attention to fireworks and energy drinks and trucks and buggies and Ken Block and screaming etc.Bought this when it first came out and it is now long gone. Found it for a dollar a few months ago and I had to see just how well it would work on the 360 or if it was even compatible. Luckily it is and this game runs fine. There is some slow-down though but it doesn't really take away from the game in my opinion. The in-game 'when racing' graphics looks good and clean on my 21.5" LED monitor DVI-HDMI connected and in widescreen. Great how the HD improves it and doesn't make it worse. The menu screens aren't as sharp but who cares. The sounds, vibrations, loading times, etc all works like it should. I also like this better with the 360 controller rather than the controller s.If you are a rally fan then there is no excuse to not pick it up or just give it a try considering it can be found cheap. You just have to live with the simple graphics, which really isn't that bad. I will take CM over Dirt or Sega Rally any day. Not much of a choice when the 360 only has two rally racers that the 360 offers.

After years of searching for a good rally racing game, my search has finally come to an end. Ok so maybe CMR4 doesn't have the best graphics, at least not in 2014, but the gameplay is absolutely outstanding. The cars are detailed. The gameplay is smooth. The physics seem realistic from the little rallying I have done so far.The game takes some getting used to if you aren't used to rally or drifting games, you won't master the controls right away. It takes practice. If you are familiar with games such as gran turismo and for a and want to experience more rallying then this is the game for you.

Will this play on xbox360?