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Great rally driving, despite a few misses.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: May 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

After longing a great while for a truly great Rally game, Colin McRae Rally 3, comes very close.

Gran Turismo was first to provide a really great rally experience, but was limited mostly to head-to-head racing on short little circuits.

World Rally Championship provided the real WRC Rally racing experience, with accurate courses and proper timing, but lacked Gran Turismo's performance realism, and some environmental realism like varying surfaces and landmarks. And it didn't look nearly as great as Gran Turismo. Still lots of fun.

Collin McCrae surpasses both, though it misses a few details.

The driving experience is remarkably fun. You can sense the changes in handling on a tarmac road, as you push to the edge, encountering dirt or gravel on the pavement, and then as you leave the pavement for raw dirt.

And the environment is incredible. Highly detailed course replicas, with buildings, signage, trees and shrubs, ruts on the side of roads, fencing, etc. Very authentic. It's like everything you'd demand out of Monte Carlo in a good F-1 game, but for Rally. The previous PS2 World Rally Championship game left me wanting.

All the hazards, varying roads and opportunities to turn the wrong way, will inevitably incite the excellent damage modelling on the car. Glass breaks, parts dent, hoods and doors pop open and can be lost along the way.

What Collin McCrae 3 lacks is limited. The ability to review your stage and progression times isn't as good or detailed as WRC. You can't control camera angles on replays, like you can with WRC or GT3, so sometimes it sits on a camera angle that shows you little of interest. Also during replays, the car often seems to slide along the road strangely, which seems to contradict how well behavior is modelled in the game. And like WRC, load times are kind of long, but in McCrae, there is curiously no music or interesting visuals while it loads.

And the final grievance is the co-piloting. Where Collin McCrae 3 gives only vertical line along the left edge of the screen to show progress, WRC would show you progress, as well as a small display showing the contour of the next section of course. And where McCrae 3 has the sign indicators at the top of the screen to show the direction and degree of the next corner, WRC would allow you to see the next 2, letting you better know how you want to exit for what's coming next. I also feel that sometimes, the McCrae 3 co-pilot's audio cues are a bit late to be useful.

On the whole though, I think it's my new favorite racing game. (Well, maybe not more than GT3. That's a hard choice.)

I don't see why everyone is whining about this game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: July 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

It is VERY realistic and challenging. If you want an arcade feel driving game, go play Gran Turismo 3. CMR 3 requires much more knowledge of how to make the car work in terms of tuning with the actual physics of the car. I like the damage too, and I like it how the car cannot be repaired until the end of the day (a couple stages later)- which is like the real WRC in that teams basically patch things up with safety wire and do very basic repairs between stages. This is not a game for someone who wants to drive all the cars and win every race, it is a game for someone who wants a fairly accurate representation of a season driving with the WRC on a team. Finally, I thought the video/graphics were stunning and well thought out.

Simply Amazing!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: May 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I was a little dissapointed that the Subaru WRC wasn't available in the championship mode but when you start winning races with the Ford Focus you unlock the numerous stages in the game which are quite unique and fun to drive with any car you want including the Subaru WRC. The game has very nice graphics, a very good collision .buy it now

A realistic rally simulation

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: June 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is very realistic when it comes to car physics, a feature which any real rally fans crave for, and a feature which World Rally Championship and V-Rally 3 sorely lacks. Graphics is good, but not great. It lacks a bit in game modes also. But the sense of speed and exhiliration is excellent. Those who gave this game a low mark definitely have their priority mixed up.

This game is nothing like Need for Speed games its real racing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: November 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I read a Review on this game and someone wrote they didn't like it they're crazy! Here are some reasons to get it.
1 The guy not liking this game didn't like it because it's too real. This game was made for people who drive real cars not kids. It's not a game where you Mash the gas and steer and go 300 mph with unlimited NOS!! In real life you gas, brake, feather the throttle handbrake corners, use the weight of the car etc etc.. This game has it all! Drive the car like you would in real life and you'll get the hang of it and Excel fast.
2 One AMAzing thing about this game is DAMAGE!!! so many arcade crap game offer no realism with damage you can bend suspension arm and feel it in you steering. You can have flat tires bend rims ride only on Rims or have the wheel and or suspension completey break off. the realism is amazing. They even put the details under the body panels.
3 You can learn new driving techniques with this game I actually have a Rally car Honda CRX FWD I was driving a FWD sort of similar to mine I played a course doing a move down shifting on a U drifting the rear and punching in the center of curve and on the game I wound loose speed I took my real car out tried it and work exactly like the game!! No BS
4 I only bought a PS2 to play this game and it was one of the best games i've ever bought.
5 Last thing about this game is you can tell when your driving a 2wd or awd car you can tell the power differences. If you've ever seen Rally on TV or anywhere you hear the Co pilot. This game does that too. At first you really understand it or get it but after playing for a while you completely understand the copilot read out the map and you can drive insanely fast like in the real WRC. you'll seem to be inches away from the concrete walls in Spain.
OK OK last Thing Sorry! I played this before I was big in to rally when I saw WRC on TV I knew what turns where there because of such detail on the courses you feel as if you've already raced there. Every corner I'd wreck at the Pros where smash em too!
Well worth checking this game out if your a real car driver/enthusiast.
I've had this game for years and I always come back to it over and over!

Auto Cross drivers will love this game great gift!

Excellent Game for those SERIOUS about Racing Games

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: May 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Colin McRae Rally 3 is definitely one of the better rally racing games available to date for PlayStation2 in North America. Whereas most rally racing games tend to lean toward the arcade side of the racing genre (V-Rally 3 and especially Shox being two recent examples of this), Colin McRae Rally 3 is closer to the simulation side of the racing genre. With this in mind, Colin McRae Rally 3 is definitely NOT a game for just casual players of racing games.

The most noticeable aspect of the simulation style in CMR3 is the "lack" of ability to win at even the easiest gameplay level. In many rally racing games, winning is practically "guaranteed" at the easiest levels of gameplay; this is good so that those games can accommodate players of varying skill levels, especially those games trending more toward arcade-style gameplay. CMR3, however, makes winning at even the easiest (Normal) difficulty somewhat of a challenge. Proper vehicle tuning is definitely a requirement, with extremely little leeway for tuning errors. Precision steering is also crucial to success, meaning that the player must have an instinctive ability to read the lay of the land to determine all the possibilities for the roadway's next change of direction - this occurring INDEPENDENT from the calls from the navigator and (if activated) the navigation aids at the top-center of the screen. Near-flawless racing skills in general are also a prerequisite to good performance, as is proper pacing (i.e., never overextending neither the vehicle nor the player's abilities). The simulation aspect of the game is also noted in the three-season Championship Mode, CMR3's version of a career mode. Of course, having Nicky Grist as one's navigator (with the English-language audio only) adds yet more realism and simulation to the game.

An interesting and perhaps perplexing aspect of CMR3's simulation focus is in the times posted at the end of each rally. Vehicles begin each rally in accordance with their points in the championship (or how they ended the previous season, if the first rally of a new season); this "running order" is used for the entire rally. At the end of a stage, the player is shown her or his time and rank compared with those who ran the stage earlier. Generally, the only way to determine the player's rank amongst ALL the participants in a rally is to wait until the next stage is about to begin; the only way around this is to be in last position in the points at the beginning of a rally, meaning that the player will then be the absolute last competitor on each stage of the rally.

Interestingly, the final stage of each rally is a Super Special Stage. These are head-to-head competitions on a parallel circuit course (similar to the annual Race of Champions). Here, there are two lanes which generally run parallel to each other (with minor variations) and a crossing point. A vehicle completes one "lap" by starting on one side of the Start/Finish Line and returning back to the same side, which requires this crossing the Start/Finish Line twice. Unfortunately, the player will always start from Lane 1, the left-most lane.

Fortunately, the player is not forced to continually win in order to unlock items in the game. Winning will often reward the player with a bonus vehicle, which can generally only be used in Stage Mode (where the player participates only on a single stage). However, simply finishing a rally is enough to unlock more or better parts, which will often be needed in the upcoming rally. Finishing a rally also unlocks that rally's opening video in Extras Mode.

The graphics and sounds are quite stunning, but the main area of "beauty" in CMR3 is the vehicle damage. The vehicles in CMR3 do indeed suffer damage, and it can be quite extensive. Virtually every dent incurred can be seen instantly. Windows break, bumpers fall apart, the hood flies off, wheels separate, and the bodywork crumples like a sheet of paper. As the vehicle incurs more and more damage, vehicle handling becomes trickier and trickier... and can only be repaired at the next Service Area. The only downside to this is that there is no rearview button - sometimes actually being able to see the damage on the front of the vehicle can persuade the player to modify driving style and/or reduce the level of aggression in order to complete the stage and ultimately the rally.

For those who are very, very, VERY serious about their racing games, Colin McRae Rally 3 is definitely a prime choice. For those who look purely for fast speeds without requiring a lot of finesse, especially on circuits, CMR3 is definitely NOT a very good choice.

Finally it Arrives!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have been waiting for this game for a long time to come to the PS2. Ive tried all the others and had to get this too see if it was worth all the hype. In a nutshell Id say is was. It is very well balanced, and is just real fun to play once you get the feel of the game and make your way through the races.

The main downside of this game is you may only play as Colin Mcrae and you must drive for Ford using Ford Focus cars to race in championship (Career mode). (And your co-driver Nicky Grist's voice is a downside, but you can mute him). Once you unlock the bonus cars, you can only play them in practice or time trial, which includes the Suberu Impeza, Mitsubishi Lancer, and some goofy Ford vehicles...for some reason they did not include the Hyndae Elantra or the Toyota Corolla :(. There are only eight different contries, but they all are very fun to drive through, with great scenery. This game gives you the opportunity to race through USA tracks as well as Japan tracks, which is a rare treat for rally fans. This game does have a lot of different car settings (for engine, suspension, breaks.ect) as expected, but there is a catch to that. You have to play through the game in order to unlock the upgrades for your car. And in order to unlock other vehicles you must have the best (average) time in the end of each of the 6-8 rallys. This adds a lot of repaly value, and new cars to look forward to!
A major benefit of this game is the reality of the damage you can put your car through, with outstanding sound effects of glass breaking and crunching....its really fun to just play a track to beat up your car. You can even get your car all dirty then drive through a river and come out clean. The attention to detail is incredible here.

Id say this is a definate buy for those rally fans who need something new, you wont be disapointed! (4.5 stars)

Realism ... arcade style

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: May 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I'd only just jumped into the world of the PS2 in October 2002, after years of PC games and a few things on the PS1. This was one of the games I got with the console.
The first thing I noticed was the graphics, which are just about as good as you're gonna get for a game like this. I hoped that with the look of the game being so good, that the gameplay didn't suffer. It doesn't.
I admit that it took a few practice sessions to get the feel of the game. Fortunately I didn't find the learning curve steep at all, and quickly felt like a pro rally driver .... well, you know what I mean.
The one thing that I have a minor quibble with, and the reason this review didn't get the full 5 stars rating, is the damage. The way the car can appear to slowly disintegrate around you as you crash from barrier to barrier was initially pleasing to see. However, once I'd started in the championship mode, it seemed that the damage had a lot less bearing on the handling and the performance of the car that I'd have expected. It is a minor quibble, and it's probably a good thing, the way I drive.
Plenty in this to keep me entertained for a few months.

ok rally game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: April 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is ok at best, its not as good as I thought it would be, The presentation of the game is lacking when compaired to world rally championship, a much better game if I might add. The graphics are not as good as the back of the box claims although the car models are quite pleasing to look at, the damage on them is realistic. So if you want a good rally game I recomend world rally championship for purchase and I recomend colin mcrae for rental at best.

Don't understand all the fuss

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: December 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Let me start by listing rally games that are better:
CMR1, CMR2 and WRC.

The gameplay just doesn't match up to those three games. Let me let Codemasters in on a little secret. We don't WANT 100% accurate physics in a video game. That kind of accuracy demands a level of immersion and control that is only possible by doing the real thing. Video games NEED to allow the gamer a "fudge factor", because we are missing g-forces, left-foot braking, the sensations of loss of traction etc. CMR2 came about as close to perfect in this department as is possible.

In addition, 8 countries versus 14 in WRC, car choice limited to the Focus in championship mode, the extremely high learning curve and a general lack of options drag this down further.

On the plus side, the graphics are stunning, Nicky Grist's pace notes are actually accurate and usable and the damage is impressive (albeit too frequent for the average gamer).

I'd skip it for $45, but perhaps in 6 months when you can get it used for $20 it might be worth a look...

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