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V-RALLY 2: EXPERT EDITION (DC)
Easy left, long medium right, maybe...
By WILLIAM BARKER
A long time ago, when people hunted for food,
dragged women into caves by their hair and picked the lice from each other's
filth-encrusted scalps, there were no rally driving games. Instead, people
threw rocks at the ugly kids and tortured small rodents. So really, the
human psyche hasn't developed that much. But in today's modern society,
we do have rally games and the good ones do tend to be quite a lark.
The Dreamcast has received another title from the friendly Frenchmen at
Infogrames and to quote my Grandma: "It's a battle of wits from the womb
to the tomb".
This saying embodies the philosophy that V-Rally
2: Expert Edition abides by. From start to finish, the game will have
players using their entire bag of tricks to come out on top. That, a daredevil
attitude plus extra pairs of underwear - nudge, nudge.
V-Rally 2 brings Infogrames' patented rally style to the DC, taking the
somewhat dated, but excellent, Sega Rally 2 head-on. As far as the game
mechanics, physics and general gameplay go, Infogrames have done a rather
competent job. One aspect that is a little irritating is the response
of the throttle. Press down on the right trigger and the tachometer instantly
hits redline - there is no way on Earth that any car, even rally-bred,
can rev that quickly. But after the flag drops, things metamorphosise
back to reality with realistic acceleration and speed.
Game modes are numerous, meaning one thing: this game will last players
a very long time. More than one player can also play many of these and,
depending on whom you play with, it can make things even more interesting.
Add to this a suave track editor (not the crappy N64-style) and you have
yourself months' worth of entertainment - take that, space-time continuum!
Setting up your car is crucial to success, with boggy stages needing soft
suspension and a raised chassis and tarmac stages asking for the lowest
possible chassis and ultra-stiff suspension. You can also toy with the
steering lock, tyres, gear ratios and brake bias. Infogrames has taken
a leaf out of Sega's book with the fine-tuning of race variables - the
interface is reminiscent of Sega Rally 2, reacting just as intuitively
as was seen in the latter game.
Controlling the cars is a case of getting used to the physics engine.
Sometimes, the cars can feel a little floaty, but for the most part, clever
use of the handbrake and throttle will see you hacking down old English
roads. The only major problem with the physics engine involves flipping
the car. Sure, it's a whole load of laughs for your buddies, but it can
be quite annoying when you hit a little rock, only to careen along on
two-wheels for a few seconds, then BAM! Upside-down. Dirty realistic physics…
mumble…
As you scream along dusty Finnish roads, twin-turbos frantically sucking
in air to be compressed, the engine sounds are quite appropriate. Let
off the throttle after needling redline and the car will backfire, excess
fuel igniting upon leaving the exhaust, with a nice 'pop'. The sound samples
correlate to exactly what's happening on-screen and, for once, the acceleration
patterns are more staccato than smooth and regulated - much like in real
life. The menu music is okay, not too intrusive, but again, like my grandma,
it is better to kill it off than put up with the whining.
The sensation of speed that accompanies V-Rally 2 is brilliant. There
are moments of slowdown that occur in multiplayer (2, 3 and 4-player)
but single player is spot-on. This consistent 60fps is due to the medium
clipping range, but this draw-in is only noticeable on the longest of
straights. Most of the time, the roads are undulating up and down or curving
left-to-right, so the problem is cleverly hidden. The cars are well represented
by hundreds of dedicated polygons and look very nice from every angle.
There is zonal damage modeling too, so if you end up reversing into a
tree, chances are that the rear will be crumpled and the lights smashed.
The tracks display a fair amount of detail, but even then, Sega Rally
2 still manages to hold on to the crown - but only just.
ORIGINALITY 70%
SOUND/GRAPHICS 90%
PLAYABILITY 95%
ADDICTION 80%
ENJOYMENT 80%
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