RalliSport Challenge 2

We're spoilt for choice when it comes to great Xbox racers right now - but is RalliSport among them, and more importantly, does it offer "the whammy"?

	Version Xbox	Developer Digital Illusions CE	Publisher Microsoft	Genre Racing

By Jamie Thomson

Think Rally? Think Sega Rally - simple really. 4 tracks, 3 cars and a depth that even Red October hasn't explored. To this day, I've yet to play a racing game that offers intuitiveness and depth in the same beautifully balanced measures as AM3's opus. Still, there's something else about Sega Rally, an aspect of the game that defies description. I can't think of a good name for it, but for now, let's call it "the whammy".

Almost eight years on and several racing games down the line, "the whammy", that inexplicable aspect of a game that absorbs and steals your attention has unfortunately eluded me. As good as Gran Turismo and Project Gotham are, they lack "the whammy", that one component that opens up a game to newcomers and veteran gamers alike. Last week, I received RalliSport Challenge 2, the sequel to one of the Xbox's first titles. It is, dare I say, possibly the finest racing game of this generation so far. As good as we expect Gran Turismo 4 to be, RalliSport 2 is out now.

And the good news is - it comes with the whammy. The moment I hit the accelerator and took my first corner (picture me with a grin to put Gary Shandling to shame) "it" had made itself known. The analogue stick had become a delicate, heavenly instrument that when treated with care and love, gave birth to a truly stunning moment. My eyes were transfixed onto what was happening on screen. I imagined that this feeling is what the great artists of the renaissance must've felt when they stood back and soaked in their work. After a few tiny nudges to the left and the loosening of my grip on the accelerator, I was drifting around a u-turn beautifully.

For those brief milliseconds where you become a spectator to your own input, that's when you realise just how immensely rewarding this game is.

But hold up there - handling is only half the story. Without courses that fully appreciate the masterful handling on offer, you may as well be doing doughnuts for the duration of the game. Much to my delight, I found RalliSport's tracks don't just accommodate the handling; they compel you, urge you to tackle every lovingly crafted corner, bend and u-turn they have. Nowhere is this better illustrated than the career mode.

Here you're given challenges comprised of normal time trials and races against other cars. For each challenge, you're given a list of vehicles that are best suited to the task at hand, all of which are licensed models that most car aficionados will be familiar with. On making your choice, you're eased into the pre-race options menu, should you wish to alter the tuning of your car or merely tinker around with the games settings. From here on in, you're treated to what is perhaps the finest, most lovingly crafted racing package currently available - and for some time after, no doubt.

First thing's first - I urge you to opt for the in-car view. From here, you can fully appreciate the amount of work that's gone into the title, both visually and audibly. In poor weather conditions, you can expect veins of rainwater to trickle down your windscreen in a stunningly convincing fashion, and in the snow, one wrong turn into the side of the road will see your view impaired by a slab of white powder, which your windscreen wiper duly brushes off. Aside from these conditions providing a spin on the conventional gameplay you'll encounter they are also beautiful, beautiful effects that serve to really give "oomph" to the environments.

On a grander scale, each track does a fantastic job of conveying the environment; whether it's a lens flare splashing across your field of view or the beautiful blue hues and tone that your headlights cast on snow covered courses, the setting feels entirely appropriate. On somewhat of a down note, the car models can look a bit Spartan (especially when viewed in a replay), but this really, really isn't a big issue, especially when you spend most of your time in-car.

This sequel to the first RalliSport features a reasonable selection of music tracks to accompany your experience but, as is often the case, you might feel that your own selection of music does a better job. It's a good job then that a custom soundtrack option is present, with all the features you'd come to expect. My tip - Supergrass, Richard III. It was written for Rally games. Probably.

Visuals and handling aside, it's as you progress that the full, glorious extent of the career mode is revealed. From the very first track you tackle to the later, more challenging efforts, the beauty of this modes linear approach is that you'll never encounter a track you have absolutely no hope of conquering. Your ability to do things like take a particularly difficult corner or to shave milliseconds off your time are constantly being nurtured during your progress, to the extent that the only real adversary you end up encountering is yourself.

But then, that's what Rallying is all about. Even though you're racing to beat your opponents' best time on the track, you needn't worry about that furiously challenging and intelligent computer opponent who, despite being slow as hell, just won't let you pass. That's what makes Sega Rally such an enduring classic, and the fact that the developers of RalliSport Challenge 2 understand this whilst giving you a multitude of options and driving conditions means that this game is the perfect amalgam of past glory and present attitudes to longevity; a truly comprehensive racing game.

Don't believe me? This nurturing of skill doesn't start and stop with the offline component of the game, you know. Through the power of Xbox live compatibility, you'll have a huge pool of players to compete with and, if Xbox live players are anywhere near as enthused about this game as I am, the scope for longevity and depth here is immeasurable, something (due largely to lack of technology) Sega Rally couldn't ever hope to achieve.