Ta wapo
Stunningly beautiful game that feels less like a new entry and more like an altered version of its predecessor.
I feel like the devs caught flak for CMR 3 and decided to take the same game and make it more "normal". The career mode no longer tries to be uber-immersive and settles for more or less the same formula we saw in the first two games. All the mechanical tweaking is again explained for idiots like me, so that makes the career more playable for me.
I feel like the handling is slightly different. I might be mistaken about this, but I don't remember cars being this slippery in the previous game. This one felt much more arcady in this regard, allowing me to pull off long drifts (not to the ridiculous degree of Sega Rally 2, but still more than I would've expected).
Sadly, still no arcade mode. I feel like it's never making a comeback, which sucks.
The overall impression I got from this game is that it positions itself somewhere between CMR 2 and 3. Or rather it's a 2-ified version of 3. Which is unfortunate because that makes this game less interesting to me. As a fan of arcade racing, I'd much rather play CMR 2, but CMR 3 was quite a unique experience. This one doesn't really stand out in any way. That being said, I did have more fun with it than 3, mainly because it's very straight-forward and accessible. Both games still have solid gameplay and great graphics, so I wouldn't really say 4 is worse than 3 either.
This game feels like a remix. Even its presentation is very similar to its predecessor, almost to the point of being the same. It kinda reminds me of Doom 3 BFG Edition, which a lot of people hated, but I found neither better nor worse than the original version. Just a slightly different and rebalanced take on the same game.
I feel like the devs caught flak for CMR 3 and decided to take the same game and make it more "normal". The career mode no longer tries to be uber-immersive and settles for more or less the same formula we saw in the first two games. All the mechanical tweaking is again explained for idiots like me, so that makes the career more playable for me.
I feel like the handling is slightly different. I might be mistaken about this, but I don't remember cars being this slippery in the previous game. This one felt much more arcady in this regard, allowing me to pull off long drifts (not to the ridiculous degree of Sega Rally 2, but still more than I would've expected).
Sadly, still no arcade mode. I feel like it's never making a comeback, which sucks.
The overall impression I got from this game is that it positions itself somewhere between CMR 2 and 3. Or rather it's a 2-ified version of 3. Which is unfortunate because that makes this game less interesting to me. As a fan of arcade racing, I'd much rather play CMR 2, but CMR 3 was quite a unique experience. This one doesn't really stand out in any way. That being said, I did have more fun with it than 3, mainly because it's very straight-forward and accessible. Both games still have solid gameplay and great graphics, so I wouldn't really say 4 is worse than 3 either.
This game feels like a remix. Even its presentation is very similar to its predecessor, almost to the point of being the same. It kinda reminds me of Doom 3 BFG Edition, which a lot of people hated, but I found neither better nor worse than the original version. Just a slightly different and rebalanced take on the same game.
R(e)ally solid driving game. The way you could absolutely wreck those poor cars is amazing. I still remember dragging myself to the finish line with a nearly completely destroyed engine.
[regaining the feeling; a substantial step-up.]
colin mcrae rally 04 is in many ways an upgraded version of colin mcrae rally 3, and came out just a year after the predecessor. it's unsurprisingly quite similar both in its featureset and how the gameplay itself feels, but it is a solid improvement and fixes many of the things that cmr3 did wrong.
one of the most immediately noticeable differences from cmr3 when you start your first race is how much different and BETTER the physics feel. the cars are significantly more grounded and less twitchy, allowing much more steady and consistent control. the grip loss on dirt is much more realistic and predictable - where the previous game has you weaving all over the trail and oh whoops the car just flung itself into the grass, this one makes the cars feel a lot more weighty and controllable in their slides. the tarmac also no longer practically glues the car to the road, so it actually takes some thought to keep the car on the road. there was clearly some effort put into reworking the physics for this game, and really the only issues are some bad hitboxes/collisions with roadside objects, and inconsistent damage in crashes (sometimes a crash will inexplicably do no damage while other times it'll do way more damage than it seems like it should).
also speaking of damage, the damage model in this game is actually pretty awesome. when it works right, the way the different parts of your car are affected by crashes and jumps is quite detailed. damaging the cooling will cause the engine to gradually overheat and start cutting out, requiring you restart it. tires can pop under too much pressure, and wheels can even fly off and go rolling away. the attention to detail in this game is in general pretty great, especially for a game of its time, with little things like dirt slowly obscuring the windshield with the wipers periodically turning on to wipe it away.
what's also awesome is the return of the time-based damage repair system in service areas, as well as a bit more detail in the tuning system, with a wide array of different tire options, as well as having five settings for each tunable part instead of just three. the ui in general, while not quite as pretty, is more functional, with no more drawn-out animations to see the stage surfaces or the damage on your car - plus you can see where your time stacks up at the END of each stage rather than the start of the next. although you still can't restart normally, and exiting and reloading to the last service area makes you redo any repairs or tuning changes, which is kind of annoying. in addition to normal tuning, you can also unlock upgrades via "testing" challenges involving sliding, braking, or jumping to test tires, brakes, and suspension, or holding within a certain rev range on a dyno to test the engine and gearbox. i appreciate the attempt at variety here, but the challenges are kinda gimmicky and not all that fun.
another major improvement in this game is in the structuring of the championship mode. you're not longer forced to "be" colin mcrae, and thus you can choose between any of the cars you've unlocked in the applicable category for each championship, instead of being forced to use the ford focus. plus, there are separate championships for the FWD, 4WD, and group b classes, adding to the variety. however, for the former two categories, there's both a "normal" and "advanced" difficulty mode - and in a strange design decision, you have to play BOTH of them to attain full completion and unlock everything, despite the normal difficulty just being easier and having less stages with no unique content. it's a pretty dull experience especially considering "advanced" difficulty is already too easy - even on the vaunted "expert championship" i was still typically finishing each rally a solid minute (if not more) ahead of second place, even if i slid off the road or crashed a couple times.
as for the stages themselves, they certainly look prettier than their cmr3 counterparts. all of the locations from the previous game return, although there are no new ones. some of the stages are all-new, while others recycle layouts from the previous game (often reversed as well). to be completely honest, however, on average the stages are not quite as fun as in cmr3 - they're still good, but most of the time they aren't as tight, technical, or varied. in fairness, this may have been to adapt to the looser, less responsive handling in cmr04. i do appreciate that there's more detail in the different surface types found in this game, requiring more careful tire choice. also finland still sucks.
although cmr04 is not a perfect game by any means, it's certainly more than just a mere rehash of cmr3 with superficial graphics upgrades - there was clearly real effort put into revitalizing what was started in the last game and improving upon its faults. if you're looking for a solid ps2-era rally racing game, it's hard to go wrong here.
7.6/10
colin mcrae rally 04 is in many ways an upgraded version of colin mcrae rally 3, and came out just a year after the predecessor. it's unsurprisingly quite similar both in its featureset and how the gameplay itself feels, but it is a solid improvement and fixes many of the things that cmr3 did wrong.
one of the most immediately noticeable differences from cmr3 when you start your first race is how much different and BETTER the physics feel. the cars are significantly more grounded and less twitchy, allowing much more steady and consistent control. the grip loss on dirt is much more realistic and predictable - where the previous game has you weaving all over the trail and oh whoops the car just flung itself into the grass, this one makes the cars feel a lot more weighty and controllable in their slides. the tarmac also no longer practically glues the car to the road, so it actually takes some thought to keep the car on the road. there was clearly some effort put into reworking the physics for this game, and really the only issues are some bad hitboxes/collisions with roadside objects, and inconsistent damage in crashes (sometimes a crash will inexplicably do no damage while other times it'll do way more damage than it seems like it should).
also speaking of damage, the damage model in this game is actually pretty awesome. when it works right, the way the different parts of your car are affected by crashes and jumps is quite detailed. damaging the cooling will cause the engine to gradually overheat and start cutting out, requiring you restart it. tires can pop under too much pressure, and wheels can even fly off and go rolling away. the attention to detail in this game is in general pretty great, especially for a game of its time, with little things like dirt slowly obscuring the windshield with the wipers periodically turning on to wipe it away.
what's also awesome is the return of the time-based damage repair system in service areas, as well as a bit more detail in the tuning system, with a wide array of different tire options, as well as having five settings for each tunable part instead of just three. the ui in general, while not quite as pretty, is more functional, with no more drawn-out animations to see the stage surfaces or the damage on your car - plus you can see where your time stacks up at the END of each stage rather than the start of the next. although you still can't restart normally, and exiting and reloading to the last service area makes you redo any repairs or tuning changes, which is kind of annoying. in addition to normal tuning, you can also unlock upgrades via "testing" challenges involving sliding, braking, or jumping to test tires, brakes, and suspension, or holding within a certain rev range on a dyno to test the engine and gearbox. i appreciate the attempt at variety here, but the challenges are kinda gimmicky and not all that fun.
another major improvement in this game is in the structuring of the championship mode. you're not longer forced to "be" colin mcrae, and thus you can choose between any of the cars you've unlocked in the applicable category for each championship, instead of being forced to use the ford focus. plus, there are separate championships for the FWD, 4WD, and group b classes, adding to the variety. however, for the former two categories, there's both a "normal" and "advanced" difficulty mode - and in a strange design decision, you have to play BOTH of them to attain full completion and unlock everything, despite the normal difficulty just being easier and having less stages with no unique content. it's a pretty dull experience especially considering "advanced" difficulty is already too easy - even on the vaunted "expert championship" i was still typically finishing each rally a solid minute (if not more) ahead of second place, even if i slid off the road or crashed a couple times.
as for the stages themselves, they certainly look prettier than their cmr3 counterparts. all of the locations from the previous game return, although there are no new ones. some of the stages are all-new, while others recycle layouts from the previous game (often reversed as well). to be completely honest, however, on average the stages are not quite as fun as in cmr3 - they're still good, but most of the time they aren't as tight, technical, or varied. in fairness, this may have been to adapt to the looser, less responsive handling in cmr04. i do appreciate that there's more detail in the different surface types found in this game, requiring more careful tire choice. also finland still sucks.
although cmr04 is not a perfect game by any means, it's certainly more than just a mere rehash of cmr3 with superficial graphics upgrades - there was clearly real effort put into revitalizing what was started in the last game and improving upon its faults. if you're looking for a solid ps2-era rally racing game, it's hard to go wrong here.
7.6/10
Qui n'a jamais rêvé de rouler des rallyes, avec son copilote qui nous hurles des indications ?
Bon jeu, encore plus si vous aviez le luxe de vous payer un volant adapté 👍
Mon daron toujours trop fort à ce jeu
Bon jeu, encore plus si vous aviez le luxe de vous payer un volant adapté 👍
Mon daron toujours trop fort à ce jeu
Still Perfection
Physics didn't aged very well. This is the only flaw of this game. Rest of the content is still amazing.