Exclusive: Codemasters talks Colin McRae Rally 04

Only announced at the beginning of May, Colin McRae Rally 04 will be skidding onto the scene on Xbox and PS2 in September, Codemasters has revealed. Blimey. The cynics amongst us will no doubt ponder this, in chin-rubbing manner, mumbling such phrases as "Cash-in" and "Milk that cash cow," but the fourth in the series is coming with plenty of new content that sets it well apart from its predecessors in the franchise.

One of most exciting new additions to the series in Colin McRae Rally 04 is the enhancements that have been made to car handling, which we're promised add extra levels of realism to the driving experience and make it more instinctive. Nice.

Visually, the detail has been ramped up yet another notch, and the number of tyre types and surface types has also been increased, a small but significant improvement that ensures handling on different surfaces and in different weather conditions is far more accurate than in previous McRae games.

McRae 04 features the expected slew of gameplay modes (eight in total), players able to select from an impressive array of 20-plus rally cars and put pedal to the metal in the UK, Sweden, USA, Finland, Australia, Spain, Greece and Japan. Each international rally location plays host to six rally stages, eight shakedown events and four super-special stages, which almost sounds like too much rally to take.

Accompanying the basic racing is full set-up and repair options, part testing challenges that allow you to earn new technology for your car, normal, advanced and expert damage settings, the ability to create your own custom rally and "masses" of multiplayer options - phew.

McRae 04 certainly sounds as though it's going to be the best in the series yet, but we wanted further reassurance, so we spoke to senior games designer Graham Rigby to find out more.

What would say is the key to the Colin McRae Rally series' huge success?

Rigby: Many factors, but what really makes it is the sheer fun of driving different stages set around the world - that feeling of plummeting a rally car headlong down a mountainside at 100 miles an hour! It boils down to good driving mechanics married with good level design and excellent art.

We were looking at a Winter 2003 release for Colin McRae Rally 04, but it will now be out earlier than expected. Why have you been able to bring the release of the game forward?

Rigby: We're actually bang on schedule! It was our intention to hit September, but because there was a lot of work technically going on under the bonnet, as it were, we left ourselves some additional time; that's why, until now, we've just been saying 'Winter'.

Now the enhancements and new elements are in we can go public with a late September date.

You've developed a new car handling/physics system for the game. Could you go into this in detail, explaining how if affects the gameplay experience?

Rigby: In McRae 04 we really wanted to offer a new experience, without alienating players from the series - something evolutionary rather than revolutionary. So we basically played around with the game controls, reduced some controller aids we had in place and revised some parameters, and surfaces.

Now the cars feel heavier, but move more realistically. You need to be controlling the car better, pointing the car's nose correctly to get a better racing line. It's more challenging, but very instinctive, people have responded well to it and really like the feel of the game.

How difficult has perfecting the new car handling/physics system proved to be?

Rigby: It's been okay, but it's an on-going process, although it's around 99 percent complete now. It's just a matter of tweaking until everyone is happy.

Obviously the team gives feedback during the development cycle, and the games testers too, so that helps a lot. Even the directors have passed comment and offered feedback. It all helps.

In Colin McRae Rally 3 you introduced some stunning weather effects and overall visual improvements were impressive. How are you pushing these graphical aspects forward in number four?

Rigby: The environments are based on real-world locations: Greece, U.K., Japan etc... so we added swaying grass to the landscape to create a more organic feel to everything.

We've also spent a lot of time building and lighting the environments to make them look more realistic. There's more detail added to the road surfaces, too. We've added racing lines and more surface variation. That meant new spot effects and new surface mechanics. Everything has been improved on, nothing has been left untouched by the team.

What other key new additions is Colin McRae Rally 04 introducing to the series?

Rigby: Quite a few. We expect some to become standard rally videogame features. The engine failure feature is pretty cool. The additional "Expert mode" will definitely go down well and the new championship events really make the most out of the different car classes in the game. The new damage settings and the excellent new Testing mini games should prove popular, too.

Are you planning to make use of PS2's and Xbox's online capabilities? If so, what can we expect to see here?

Rigby: We're reviewing the situation at the moment, looking into ideas. It's a near-future plan but you'll just have to watch this space for the moment...

How do you see PS2's and Xbox's online capabilities affecting future versions of Colin McRae Rally, then?

Rigby: I think everyone in the industry is excited about online gaming and we're no different. We really want to make sure we get the right functionality and content before taking the series online.

Can you confirm PC or GameCube versions of Colin McRae 04 Rally at this time?

Rigby: Nothing to confirm on those formats. We're leading with PS2 and Xbox for this title.

Finally, which aspect of Colin McRae 04 are you most proud of, and why?

Rigby: There's a lot, really. The team has done an excellent job. I guess if it's one thing it would be the game modes. They really bring out the best in the engine.

Stuart Bishop