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 | WRC: Rally Evolved Playstation 2 Evolution Studios/Sony Computer Entertainment  What does 'WRC: Rally Evolved' offer the driving nut? Quite a lot actually. This game is officially in its fifth generation and it has been impressive from the word go, and this edition is no exception. The animation is as good as you'd want (if not quite up to the modelling benchmark of 'Gran Turismo'). Weather effects - which were a big talking point in the second version - have been tweaked a little bit more, whereas the light rendering, although still excellent, doesn't seem to have improved much at all. Replays are better put together and the traction control has improved considerably. One omission is the animation of flocks of birds leaving the road ahead of your car (which I thought was quite breathtaking) from 'World Rally Extreme' has been replaced by herds of animals, from deer to kangaroo, dangerously crossing your path. This adds to the exhilaration of the game but the animals have been animated quite poorly. Some other obstacles have been included like falling rocks, rolling logs and crashed or slowly moving competitors: these vary even on a replay of the same stage making sure you stay awake. For game play this game is the next step up for rally car enthusiasts. There are plenty of awesome cars to unlock and drive including an historic rally section where you can truly begin to understand why the engine outputs were eventually restricted for the WRC competition. The function that really sets this game ahead of the rest of the field is the multiplayer where you can play against three of your friends on the console or up to sixteen people online. What is missing is something like a complete gaming package. Gone are the incredibly cool and informative intro sections to each rally that made the original 'WRC' game so compelling. Another minus is the lack of completely realistic physics engine, although for the less hardcore rally gamer this might actually be a selling point. Also, there are only three stages per rally which means that on an easy skill setting you will get through this game a little bit too quickly. The unlockables are pretty average: other than the unlockable stages and cars there isn't really much to aim for except mastering the game on Expert level with the braking, traction and steering aids set to zero. This goal in itself could be enough to send the amateur driver into a cozy white room with more padding than Ashlee Simpson's bra. Mind you driver aids have been defaulted to full and this actually makes winning on the harder levels virtually impossible because the car's traction will just be too good to get the best time out of each corner. This is a difficult game to recommend. If you already have a WRC sim then I'd probably steer clear of this one, but if you buy it be aware that if you want serious longevity you'll have to play it in multiplayer.  | |
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