Colin McRae Rally 2005 announced

Codemasters has today announced that it will release Colin McRae 2005 for both the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox in Europe and for the Xbox in North America this fall. Set to be shown for the first time at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) next month, the game will feature an all-new career challenge mode and online head-to-head play for up to eight players.

The career challenge mode in Colin McRae Rally 2005 will challenge players to progress through more than 300 rally stages, driving cars from a number of different classes, including 4-wheel drive, 2-wheel drive, 4-wheel classics, super 2-wheel, rear-wheel, distinctive, and 4x4 classics. The game will feature more than 30 vehicles in total, including the Volkswagen Golf MK5, the Toyota Celica GT-Four, the Lancia Stratos, the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA, the Alfetta GTV Turbodelta, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII, the Peugeot 206, the 205 T16 Evo2, and the VW Beetle RSi. Each of the cars in the game will boast its own unique damage model, and players will even experience a "dazed" visual effect after a crash.

International locations in the game will include Germany, Sweden, the USA, Finland, Australia, Spain, Greece, Japan, and the UK. All of the visuals in Colin McRae Rally 2005 will be more detailed than in previous entries in the series, with paint scrapes on cars, falling leaves from trees, and more.

We'll bring you more information on Colin McRae Rally 2005 when we report live from E3 next month.