Colin McRae Rally 3 update

Codemasters has released new images of the Ford Focus that will appear in Colin McRae Rally 3, the next game in its rally racing series. The new game will feature a highly detailed and authentic model of the Ford Focus RS World Rally Car that will include 13,000 polygons. For comparison, the Focus model in Colin McRae Rally 2.0 included approximately 800 polygons. The development team is working closely with Ford Racing and has exclusive access-all-areas privileges during the 2001 World Rally Championship. The game will also include improvements to the car physics that will give the in-game car better overall handling, more accurate performance for different setups, and more realistic damage modeling. In addition, driver Colin McRae and co-driver Nicky Grist will be fully animated.

"Graphically, the in-game Ford Focus RS WRC will be over 16 times more detailed than the model in Colin McRae Rally 2.0," said associate producer Rick Nath. "Working at this level means we'll be effectively giving players a real Focus to rally, making the gameplay so much richer. We can fully detail the car's interior, its engine bays, and the chassis detail. We're also working on suspension and a more realistic damage engine with opening and detachable panels, doors, tailgates, bonnets, bumpers, and windows."

Colin McRae Rally 3 is scheduled for release in the second half of 2002. For more information, visit the Codemasters Web site and take a look at our full review of Colin McRae Rally 2.0 .