Rallisport - Good fun, not simulator

I first fell in love with Rallisport games after discovering them in a section of Grand Turismo 3 A-spec. I thought they were fantastic fun, and much more challenging than racing round and round a concrete track in titles such as Nascar Thunder etc.


Finding that X-BOX had a Rallisport game, and knowing the capabilities of the X-BOX system, thought it would be worth a try, and reading reviews thought, "what the heck".
(And besides, the more X-BOX games one has, the better)


It hasn't been a decision that I have regretted as it does have some great gameplay, but I feel that there is some areas where this game is lacking, particularly in a two player mode.


GAMEPLAY


The overall gameplay of this title isn't really that bad, infact, it's very pleasurable. What I like most, is that the controls are set up in a pretty straightforward manner, and they feel very natural and you've got them down set in a few seconds flat.


With accleration with a right trigger, brake as a left trigger and steering as a left joystick.
The brake is pressure-sensitive, which is suprisingly well serving, ensuring that the cars respond quickly, which is necessary for many hairpin, or sharp turns that the game will throw at you every now and then.


There are a few things I didn't like, etc, there is no map on the screen, during racing, which you really need at times...although there is the voice of your co-driver to guide you, in two player mode this doesn't work which is understandable, but when you're racing an unfamilar track, you can veer off the road and find yourself down a cliff without a tow rope.


VISUALS/GRAPHICS


Rallisport is a FANTASTIC game visually. The sky, is beautiful, and in fact the clouds will move which is a feature I think is totally cool. A interactive background is really a cool feature, it makes the whole atmosphere of the game feel 'alive' !


Textures, like snow, ice, sand and mud are captured to near photographic perfection, but in saying this, the cars really are not up to par with the surrounding environment.
Most of the time they look very blocky, and I feel could have been alot more indepth. The replay really brings this fact out, as they don't look as realistic as they could.
Still, this doesn't deter from the fact this is a superb game, and you will still be blown away.


SOUND


I don't know why developers always put heavy metal or hardcore techno in racing games, do they think this is cool or something ? How about some 808 state or something like that ? Nevertheless, the sound isn't that bad, music wise, you really tune out to it when you start racing, and start listening to the cars....which unfortunately sound a bit rubber bandish.


The developers could have spend a bit more time developing the way the sound - sounds....
The vehicles really don't have any differential in the way their engines sound. They do sound different from each other in real life, so why not the game as well ?


The engine noise is more like a drawn out monotonous droning, rather than a complimentary audio to the squelching of mud, or flicking up of stones.
The mud sounds really great, especially if you race a mud track during the rain, it gets really "sticky". They did good here, I was impressed with that.


As Rally Sport is not big here in the US, the co-driver speaks with a brit accent, that was a cool touch, it kind of goes along with the cars and everything....really tiny, ha ha!!


TWO PLAYER ACTION


Ok, this aspect of the game is great fun, really great fun.
My husband and I can spend hours racing against each other (of course I always win that's why I'm writing the review, ha ha ha)


Anyhow, there are some aspects that really, really need to be worked on, such as, why can't you play a career in two player mode ? Racing a single track is fun, but to do a whole career against each other would lead to a really fluid game.


Secondly, how come the replay stinks on two player? The replay is split screen!! I can understand a split screen while racing, but to split the screen during a replay is a very bad call. It's totally distracting and makes it hard to really watch some killer turn, or a massive skid out.


THINGS I HOPE THEY CHANGE FOR RSC2


Anyone who is a Rally fan, will need to know, that this game is NOT a simulator, it is purely an aracade type racing game that involves rally cars.
I hope that the RSC2 is more of a simulator than an arcade game. There is so much more depth you could get into with career mode, that would really take this game to OUT OF THIS WORLD cool.
Secondly, I hope that they expand their music library, it's very limited and needs some work.
Thirdly, they need to work on the way the engine sounds, and give some differentials in the way each car sounds. Variety is good.
Fourthly, the A.I level needs to be increased, it was a bit easy most of the time.
Fifthly, if two people are racing the same car, how about changing the number, so we're not racing the same car with the same number.
And my last point, would be, add more tracks.
OVERALL


Overall, this is a great game to add to your library, it is one you will have alot of fun with, but it really had the potential to be something amazing, although I'm sure there are people that think this game is already that, for a fan of Rally racing, it's lacking unfortunately.


NASCAR THUNDER really was able to capture the sport, but Rallisport Challenge just missed the mark and dropped the tire on this one.