Very solid and best of the series so far, though quite challenging and sometimes even frustrating.

User Rating: 8 | Colin McRae Rally 04 XBOX
By ChipsDubbo | Review Date:
Gameplay - Not much has changed since the last Colin McRae game. The car handling has been tuned up a bit, but otherwise it's very similar. The rally stages have been laid out very nicely to ensure the best rally experience out there. The gameplay may get repetitive after a short while, because of the limited selection of tracks, and the lack of vareity in the tracks. Gameplay may also be frustrating at times, due to the inability to restart a track at will and also the fact that the only place you can save only at service stops, which are located at every 2 other rally tracks, so if you screw up, you'll have to start all over (which might take you another 10 minutes). The difficulty of this game reaches near-impossible at times. One example is the Group B championship. The time that you have to beat is extremely hard. You basically have to be perfect to beat the time. Imagine playing Project Gotham Racing's bonus challenges. That's how hard it is, except harder and more frustrating due to the inability to save, etc.

Graphics - Cars look overall sharper and shinier. The car's damage system has been improved as well, and you can completely screw over your car if you really tried. Even the wheels have multiple stages of damage: starting with the tire, then to the actual frame. More special effects have been added to the tracks, such as swaying grass, dirt, etc. Still not the best graphics on Xbox though.

Sound - there is NO soundtrack in this game, with the exception of the start menu. The co-driver has a very annoying british accent that does its job well but may become repetitive at times. The car engine sounds are done exceptionally well.

Value - considering the price tag (30 bucks), this game is well worth your money. I still find it a bit lacking in depth though. Though I've played it for more than 10+ hours, I've spent probably more than 1/3 of the time trying over and over again to beat the near-impossible Group B championship.

Overall - I bought it, I liked it, but then it got tiring and I eventually stopped playing it. It was worth my money though. I recommend this game to anyone who has any slight intersest in rally games.

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