The Colin McRae franchise seemingly came out of nowhere, and was originally released in 1998 for the original Playstation. Since then the franchise has appeared on all major consoles, and has had a few poor appearances on the Gameboy Advance and the N-Gage. For the PSP's launch, Codemasters have ported the game directly over from the Playstation 2 version. Essentially what we have here is a port of a decent game from last year, does it stand the test of time?
Beautiful Graphics, if you wait for them
The game includes a few game modes to keep gamers entertained. The career mode is the main mode, and takes players through nine countries as they compete for first place. This mode also turns out to be the most frustrating, as the artificial intelligence is set up to 'hard' on the difficulty meter, and when you're just beginning to learn the controls on the PSP, the last thing you want is to be getting hammered by the opposition.
The other modes in the game include a championship option, as well as quick rally (for a quick fix) and wi-fi multiplayer, which is one of the PSP exclusive features. The game includes a new menu option, which is titled "PSP Features" and it is populated with a wi-fi ghost download option; we guess that's why they added the 'Plus.'
Gameplay wise, the game is a bit of a hit and miss affair. The controls feel a little off, and the cars seem far too sensitive, and in a rally game this can be detrimental, as the courses are designed with tighter handling in mind. After a while you are able to get used to the handling, but there is nothing worse than feeling like the game is working against you. Using the analog nub is even worse, and it's unlikely you'll ever use it more than the first time.
The two most annoying problems this game has though don't lie with the gameplay; well not directly. The game saves are huge, we're talking 5 meg a save, if you have six save games then this will fill up your 32mb memory stick, so be wary of this. We're unsure why the saves are so huge, but they're at least five times bigger than any other game we've come across, and it doesn't feel like the game is saving that much data.
The Subaru, as recognisable as um.. a Mitsubishi
The loading in the game is also a serious issue as well. We don't mind waiting a little while to get into a race, but this game seems to take our patience for granted. For starters, just getting into the game takes a decent amount of time, and once your in it can take in excess of thirty seconds to fully load up a race. This appears to be one of the effects of porting the entire game over to the PSP, and it is really disappointing.
The visuals in the game are definitely one of the most impressive aspects of the title. Last year when the Playstation 2 version appeared, the game included minor details such as leaves falling from trees, and Codemasters have included this level of depth into the game. Visually, there doesn't appear that Codemasters had to make many adjustments to the PSP title, except the cars and tracks aren't as free from jaggies as we'd hoped.
Codemasters have put a lot of effort into the sound for the game, but it doesn't make too much of an impact. All of the engine noises are spot on, but aside from that there isn't much of a music soundtrack. Codemaster's other launch title, V8 Supercars 2 includes a custom soundtrack feature that is notably absent from this game, we would have appreciated the ability to play our own music, and if Codemaster's could do it for V8 we're unsure why it was left ouf of this game.
A tree, there's another one
The two game modes and the wi-fi support should mean the game will stay in your PSP for a while if you can tolerate the handling. The difficulty level means that you will have to consistantly replay races. The game includes full support for up to eight players via wi-fi, which is the biggest incentive to pick this game up.
Colin McRae Rally 2005 Plus may initially seem like a technological breakthrough, the game features great graphics and it intially appears that it has finally made the jump to a handheld relatively unscathed. However, upon venturing deeper into the game it is apparant that Codemasters have had to take a few shortcuts in making the game possible. The game is plagued by poor loading, average handling and really difficult opposition, that makes it seem like the game is warning you not to play it.
WRC makes an appearance next month for the PSP, in an entirely new title developed with the PSP in mind, rally fans may want to wait until that game is released, even those who were traditionally fans of the Colin McRae franchise.
Loading...
