April 9, 2001 - Rally racing is mainly a European based sporting event, consisting of manufacturer customized stock style cars racing against the clock. Before I began this review, I didn't know much about rally racing as I had never been given the opportunity to watch it due to the limited television coverage of this sport in North America. However, after playing Colin McRae rally, I find myself watching it every chance possible. Who would have thought watching Rally Cars drive around by themselves could be entertaining? With cars flying through the air over the crest's of hills and shooting mud into the air from the spinning tires, how could it not be exciting?

Colin McRae is known as one of the most popular and skillful drivers on the Rally racing circuit. Colin McRae Rally 2.0 is the second installment of his popular rally gaming series. Developed and Published by UK based Codemasters, Colin McRae Rally 2.0 is the sequel to the ever popular Colin McRae Rally which was originally published in April 2000. Now, Colin McRae Rally is a part of history as we move forward with Colin McRae Rally 2.0.

Installation of Colin McRae Rally 2.0 was a breeze with no technical problems at all. After installation and a reboot, I began the game and setup my controller and the graphics settings. I began a simple race, and suddenly, the game froze completely solid about 9 seconds into the race. This happened several times before I viewed the readme file looking for a possible fix. I was unable to find a solution until I headed over to the Codemasters website seeking technical support. Through the frequently asked questions list, I discovered the problem was with the specific set of drivers I was using for the Voodoo 3 2000 video card in the PC. This was the most recent set of drivers, the last produced by 3DFX, and I was forced to downgrade these drivers to get the game to run. As soon as these drivers were changed, the game ran smooth. I wouldn't blame Codemasters for this, but felt it was important for anyone using a Voodoo3 video card and experiencing these same problems.

Once I got the game running, it was very stable and ran very smooth. The interface is very clean but does not have any mouse support. Controller setup was excellent, and graphics can be turned down to suit the capabilities of your computer. Colin McRae Rally 2.0 features over 90 racecourses with multiple countries to choose from. Although some of these courses are just mirrors of other courses, they are a totally new experience to drive on. After selecting a course, you are asked to choose one of the 20+ vehicles included in the game. The next menu is the track and setup information page where you can modify many areas of the vehicle and tune them to your liking. The final step is to head out onto the track and take the green flag.

The physics in Colin McRae Rally 2.0 are very close to what would be expected if you were driving a rally car. I will say firsthand, I have never driven a rally car, nor sat in one for even a minute. Races on television may be deceiving, but from the visuals that are displayed while watching these races, the physics in Colin McRae Rally 2.0 appear very realistic. The cars drive very loose and the weight transfers while traveling around the corners at high rates of speed appear very realistic. In hard impacts and wrecks, players can roll the cars upside down. Should you drive over the crest of a hill at a high rate of speed, expect to catch air before landing. Drivers will notice bumps and lack of traction on different types of surfaces. Driving on pavement or gravel may seem easy with practice, but should you head out onto a snow-covered surface, be prepared to learn how to drive all over again. Colin McRae Rally 2.0 accurately portrays the handling characteristics and traction control seen in real Rally racing, and shows how challenging it actually is to be competitive on the Rally circuit.