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Introduction
I'm a huge auto racing fan (F1, rally, CART), but have
never really been into racing games. I bought UbiSoft's F1 Racing
Simulation, but found that the ultra-precise, unforgiving nature of
current F1 cars made the game more work than fun. Arcade racers like Gremlin's
Motorhead are fun, but there's very little depth to them. Not that
there's anything wrong with either genre, but I've always wanted something in
between the two extremes. I've been looking for a racing game that is
realistic, but doesn't require hours of tweaking camber and caster just to
have fun and go fast. Well, now there's Mobil 1 British Rally Championship
(RC), a driving sim that's realistic and a blast to play, and I
couldn't be more satisfied.
The British Rally Championship (BRC) is comprised of six
events across the British Isles. The all wheel drive, turbocharged cars of the
World Rally Championship (WRC) are not allowed, only front drivers need apply.
RC has taken 6 stages (rallies are broken into stages) from each of
the 6 rounds of the BRC and packaged them into this wonderful game. There are
4 modes of play, Arcade, Time Trial, Simulation (class Championship), and
Single. Networked multiplayer in the form of LAN and TCP/IP is also supported.
Gameplay
You have several play mode options at the beginning of
the game. You can jump right into arcade mode and race side by side with the
AI cars. Not a very realistic option, since BRC and WRC cars race singly
against the clock. There's no setup options available in Arcade mode, and
repairs are performed automatically for you at the service stop. Time
Trials allow you to pick any car from classes A5-A7 (classes are distinguished
by power output levels). You must set up your car before racing, so this
is a good mode to practice the black art of performance tweaking. Only
the first stage of each rally is available, however, so you must beat the
clock to progress to the next stage. Single mode is a great way to
familiarize yourself with the course before attempting Simulation mode.
Car setup in Single mode is not allowed, but you can choose to run any stage
from every rally. I found pre-running to be very helpful for some of the more
difficult stages.
You'll probably want to jump straight into the
Simulation mode. You are limited, at first, to the A5-A7 cars (Renault Megane,
Honda Civic, Vauxhall Astra, Peugeot 106, and many others that comprise the
BRC). As in real rallying, you'll have the opportunity to set up your car
before each event, then have limited service stops between certain stages.
During your service time you can repair damage, change tires, adjust
suspension height and stiffness, change gear ratios, and balance the brake
bias. But you'll have to choose carefully, you are only allotted a finite
amount of time. Exceeding that limit will result in a time penalty assessed
during your run of the stage. You can save your game at set points throughout
the event, so you'll never have to run all 6 stages over if you really botch a
run.
After you win the A5, A6, or A7 Championship, you'll
have the ability to run the same rallies in the fictitious A8 Championship.
Now we're talking racing! You can choose from most of the current WRC cars,
including Seat, Subaru, Mitsubishi, and Peugeot. I have to add for the short
attention span gamers out there (guilty!) that the A8 Championship can be
unlocked at any time through cheat codes. I found the WRC cars to be a lot
more fun to drive than the A5-A7 vehicles. Their all wheel drive allows for
much greater control and "tossability". There's no substitute for
horsepower and traction.
OK, you've picked a car and set it up to your liking.
How's the drive? Outstanding! The sensation of speed is truly awesome in RC.
If you've got a good force feedback wheel, you'll feel the loss of traction as
you fly over crests and the bumps as you hit the rough surfaces. Force
feedback is especially useful at determining your limits of traction. This is
rallying folks, you're supposed to get these babies sideways! But there's a
catch; most of the courses in the BRC are run over very narrow roads.
Many of these roads are bordered by nasty, car-eating rocks, trees, and dirt
embankments. Magnetic Fields went to great lengths to accurately model the
roads. If you have any doubts about how narrow these courses really are, just
check these stills and movies from real BRC events:
http://www.motorsport.co.uk/photos99/index.html
Getting sideways is good fun, but you'll have to develop
excellent car control to keep your car in one piece and score high in the
championship. And make no mistake, the front wheel drive cars are quite
difficult to drive quickly and smoothly.
Visual aids abound to keep you competitive. An on-screen
road map is available, as are turn indicators (arrows pointing out upcoming
course deviations). You are also graced with an on-board navigator, your
choice of male or female. Their directions are mostly excellent, although
gamers less proficient in the King's English may have difficulty making out
some of the words (ex. 'ice' sounds like 'aye' in the dialect of the Scottish
navigator). There's also the occasional bogus/missing direction so you'll have
to pay attention lest you end up in a ditch (or upside down). Speaking of
which, purists may balk at the lack of crash damage to the cars. Magnetic
Fields chose to make the cars go the distance, not fall apart halfway through
the stage. They assumed most gamers would want to actually finish the rally
instead of retiring over every off-road excursion (like Colin McRae's Ford!).
You'll see visual damage when you whack a fence post, but it will take
repeated whackings to cause enough damage to make your engine stop running.
Similarly, WHEN (not if) you roll your car your rally isn't usually over. Your
car will right itself after a few seconds and allow you to continue with a
time penalty. If you MUST have accurate damage to your car, the game's
configuration file can be modified to make it as nasty as you want.
RC also features a pretty comprehensive video
replay system. You can slice and dice your greatest wins and best
crashes and share these beautiful moments with all of your Internet friends by
exporting a file.
Weather plays a big factor in some of the rallies.
You'll have the pleasure of driving in snow and random patches of black ice on
several occasions. Being a life-long Florida resident, the wintry stages were
especially challenging for me. The British Isles are renowned for rainfall, so
it comes as no surprise that you'll get a little wet during your adventures.
Unfortunately, the manual for the game did not include
multiplayer instructions. Magnetic Fields has released a patch (#5, to be be
precise) which includes the instructions and enhancements to network
performance. I have not attempted a multiplayer game, but user reviews of
pre-patch 5 performance weren't very positive. Patch 5 has only been out for a
few days as of this writing, but initial reports indicate that the network
play has been improved.
Graphics
The Magnetic Fields team attempted to accurately model
all 36 stages in the game, and it shows. This is a graphically stunning game.
Early stages don't really show off the graphics because you are running on
narrow logging roads, bounded entirely by trees. Later events feature
wonderful mountainous backdrops that may distract you enough to crash from
inattention. Weather effects are well done and play a significant factor in
the game play. Many stages take place at dawn, dusk, and at night and the
lighting effects are very nicely done. The cars are well detailed, but in
replay mode and chase view they look slightly floaty and "above the
road". It's not cartoonish, but it is not as realistic looking as it
could be.
I ran RC at 1024x768, 16 bit color depth, and all visual
options maxed out with no slowdowns at all. 32 bit color and mipmapping are
optional, but provide no discernable visual benefits. If your goal is driving
as fast as you can, stick to 16 bit and enjoy the faster frame rates.
There's no time for sightseeing if you want to win the Championship. I believe
the developer's system recommendation is overkill, one should be able run the
game very nicely with specs less than a P!!! 500 or Athlon.
Sound
Sound is the least exciting aspect of the game. Engine
sounds are okay, but not terribly inspiring. Road sounds are present, but
again, nothing really outstanding. Positional audio is there, but doesn't
really enhance game play. This is a difficult area to grade, as these types of
cars don't have the world's most impressive engine notes. However, Magnetic
Fields could have probably spent a little more time making the cars sound
as fast as they feel.
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(4.5/5
Bears)
