V-Rally 3 Preview

Thanks to Gran Turismo 3, Rallisport Challenge, and the Sega Rally series, rally racing's popularity continues to grow. Infogrames will attempt to capitalize on the growing market with the latest game in its rally series, V-Rally 3. At first glance, V-Rally 3 may not seem all that different from other racing games of this type, but in fact, it offers an interesting mode that essentially brings you closer to the actual sport. In addition, V-Rally 3 offers a wide variety of customizable options, including the ability to adjust different aspects of your car and even the physical appearance of your driver.

The challenge and time attack modes can be fun...

Of course, V-Rally 3 also has the typical assortment of modes you'd expect from a rally racing game. There's a time attack mode in which players can test their racing skills against the clock in any of the six environments in the game. You can unlock different sections of each track for use in time attack. The mode also doubles as a practice area that you can use to familiarize yourself with some of the cars that you've unlocked and learn how each one responds to varying types of terrain. You'll find out early on that a car that's equipped to handle wet gravel may not be quite as easy to control when it hits dry asphalt.

In addition to the time attack mode, V-Rally 3 features a challenge mode. This option give you a small taste of what it's like to race against the competition, as you'll have to race through a series of stages in an attempt to beat your opponents' times. If you successfully complete a challenge, you'll unlock an additional car. You won't actually see the other opponents on the track Instead, you'll be given an indication of how well you're doing after you pass each marker on the track. If you're beating the opposition, your time will be displayed in green and you'll see how far behind you the other racers are, but if you're doing poorly, the time will be displayed in red. Both the time attack and challenge modes support up to four created players, so you can compete against your friends as well.

...But the v-rally mode is where you'll be spending most of your time.

These modes can be entertaining, but the real attraction in V-Rally 3 is the v-rally mode, which is equivalent to a franchise mode in a sports game, only the franchise just involves you. When you start this mode, you'll be brought into an office area, where you'll have access to all sorts of personal information and statistics on racing performance, but before you can go out on the track, you need to sign a contract with one of several racing teams, such as Fiat or Toyota. All you need to do is select the e-mail option in the office menu and sort through the three or four e-mails from teams that are interested in your driving abilities. Each e-mail will include some brief text explaining that the team is interested in your driving skills and would like you to come take a test drive in one of its cars. You'll also see important information about the team (its morale, reliability, performance, budget, and finishing position in the last race) displayed on right of the screen.