Colin McRae Rally 2005 Review at GameSpy [08-12-2004 | JZ | Comments (9) ]
If you're not familiar with the genre, rally racing retains some of the grassroots spirit the mega-corporate auto events lack. Rally cars are specially designed street-legal vehicles raced independently against a timer along on- and off-road tracks with a co-driver reading pace notes for upcoming sections of the course (to assist the driver in taking hills and turns at optimal speeds and vectors). Rally championships are divided into a series of stages, and winners are determined according to overall combined best times.

Colin McRae Rally 2005 Review at IGN [21-11-2004 | JZ | Comments (4) ]
What gamers also get is the best rally simulation in North America (its biggest UK competitor being World Rally Championship 04) with a massive single-player offline campaign, and an unusual but adrenaline-pumping online mode. It's the best Colin package of them all, that is, if you're willing to let go of the greatness that was Colin McRae Rally 2.0. Are you?

Colin McRae Rally 2005 Review at Gamespot [17-11-2004 | JZ | Comments (16) ]
The vehicles in CMR 2005, of which there are more than 30, have a tangible sense of weight that is especially noticeable when making jumps. There are no floaty physics here, as the cars require a tremendous amount of speed to get airborne before they quite literally slam to the ground when they land. The sense of suspension trauma is noticeable and thrilling, especially when using the game's cockpit view.

Colin McRae Rally 2005 Hits the Stores [29-10-2004 | JZ | Comments (28) ]
New York (October 28, 2004) � Codemasters, a leading global publisher of interactive entertainment, announced today that its internationally acclaimed rally game, Colin McRae Rally 2005, has shipped to North American retail outlets for PC-DVD. A console version of the game is also available on the Xbox� video game system from Microsoft.

Just when drivers thought a McRae game couldn�t offer more detail or visual splendor, Colin McRae Rally 2005 crosses the finish line a winner once again: the new hood-cam and an improved chase cam gives a real sensation of speed and undulation. Enhanced damage and scenery visuals include new individual damage models for every car. Should a driver crash into a tree, it will shudder and even drop leaves!

Colin McRae Rally 2005 features 30 cars, including the Subaru 22B STI, Audi Sport Quattro Rallye, MG Sebring Special and the 1967 Morris Mini Cooper S. Modeled with extraordinary attention to detail, the vehicles are authentic and handle the road according to how each would perform under realistic conditions.

Colin McRae Rally 2005 Hotlaps Online [22-10-2004 | JZ | Comments (0) ]
Colin McRae Rally 2005 hotlaps are now online. Just like Colin McRae Rally 4 hotlaps, they are devided into Clean and All Goes Racing. Enjoy!

Colin McRae Rally 5 Official Patch 1.1 [28-09-2004 | JZ | Comments (8) ]
A collection of bugfixes for Colin McRae Rally 2005 PC. This patch will fix the following issues with the game:

1) Any instances of seeing white grass on tracks should now be gone
2) There should be no more flasing sun textures when using "Handicap" on splitscreen games
3) There is now an option to turn off sun effects within the game, this is achieved my running
the game from a command prompt with the "NOSUN" command line option
4) All engine tests now give you the same amount of time to complete them
5) You can now go straight back from High texture quality to Medium texture quality
6) There should be no more flashing sun effects when driving around tracks
7) The random weather in online races will now correctly be random, and not taken from the previous race

CMR 2005 Multiplayer Demo Released [23-09-2004 | IS | Comments (9) ]
The new multiplayer demo, which also incorporates a single-player option, lets you jump in and buckle up in the Peugeot 206 and compete with up to 8-players simultaneously!

Experience Colin McRae Rally 2005's incredible sense of speed as you hurtle through the stages, one in the UK and one in Germany, the game's all-new country,

The full game lets you Scandinavian Flick your way through a staggering 23-strong career championship game, offering a diverse range of rally car classes as you compete in Challenges, Cups, SuperCups, Shields and Championships on 300+ rally stages.

CMR 5 Interview at Crash.net [18-09-2004 | JZ | Comments (17) ]
Q: How do you expect it to do against rivals such as Richard Burns Rally and RalliSport Challenge 2?

RT: Well, we expect to do better than them - we think we've got the better game - offering a proper rally experience while retaining accessibility of a great video game.

Colin McRae Rally Multiplayer Demo Next Week [17-09-2004 | JZ | Comments (7) ]
Codemasters informed us that a multiplayer demo for Colin McRae Rally 2005 will be released next week. The PC demo includes both multiplayer and single-player options and features the coveted Peugeot 206, Toyota Celica GT-FOUR and Lancia Stratos. Gamers can race solo or against up to 8 others through four stages in the UK and Sweden and experience newly featured Germany courses in 2 stages.

Colin McRae Rally 2005 Demo Screenshots [25-08-2004 | IS | Comments (4) ]
Here are 54 screenshots from the demo version of Colin McRae Rally 2005.

Colin McRae Rally 5 Demo Hotlaps [25-08-2004 | JZ | Comments (6) ]
The Colin McRae Rally 2005 demo ranking has just been added.

Just like for CMR4, the league is divided into 2 rankings - "Everything Goes" and "Clean Racing".

The clean racing CMR 2005 demo league uses the same rules as CMR4 Clean Racing League. You can download ghosts from the Clean Racing table, while in "Everything Goes" they are kept secret - as usual!

Have fun competing!

Colin McRae Rally 5 Demo Released [24-08-2004 | JZ | Comments (65) ]
Codemasters has released a single-player demo for Colin McRae Rally 2005, featuring three tracks (Germany, Sweden and the UK) drivable in three different cars (Peugeot 206, Toyota Celica GT-four, Lancia Stratos). Demo is 284MB big.

Nissan Pickup-Dakar to feature in CMR 2005 [18-08-2004 | IS | Comments (13) ]
What Colin wants, Colin gets... After competing in the Dakar Rally earlier this year, Colin McRae's request to have the Nissan Pickup-Dakar 2004 simulated has been fulfilled: the 4x4, which won him two stages of the endurance race, will be included as a special vehicle in Colin McRae Rally 2005, coming late September for PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC.

With McRae returning to Nissan for the Dakar Rally next year, he'll be getting in some pre-race Pickup practice thanks to the game.

"Piloting the Nissan in the Dakar Rally was an incredible experience," says McRae, "and I was keen to see it have a part in Colin McRae Rally 2005. The game's development team have done a great job in modelling the car and setting the handling. It's an excellent vehicle to take out on the new game's different road surfaces and makes for one of the most entertaining elements of my preparation for next year's event."

However, for gamers who want to drive the Pickup, they'll have to prove they deserve to drive it: in Colin McRae Rally 2005 it's the ultimate unlock for which you have to beat McRae himself in the game's career mode.

The Pickup is just one of the 30+ rally-spec cars that feature in the latest edition of the genre-leading rally series. In Colin McRae Rally 2005 you'll get behind the wheel of 4-wheel drive, 2-wheel drive, 4-wheel Classics, Super 2-wheel, Rear Wheel, Distinctive and 4x4 cars.

Featured cars include the Toyota Celica GT-FOUR, Lancia Stratos, Alfa Romeo 147 GTA, Alfetta GTV Turbodelta, Peugeot 206, Ford Fiesta Rallye Concept, Subaru Impreza 44S WRX, MG 6R4 and from Mitsubishi the Lancer Evolution VIII and Montero Evolution. There are also some unusual rally drives to experience, including the 1967 Morris Mini Cooper S! See a selection of the cars in action with the new video now available at www.codemasters.co.uk/colinmcrae2005

Set to be the most exhilarating drive in the 7-million+ selling series, Colin McRae Rally 2005 will roar onto PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC, complete with new Career mode and online play, in late September.

- The #1 rally game goes online for up to 8 players on PlayStation 2 and Xbox (Live aware) with more cars, more stages, and new challenges

- Drive the most diverse selection of cars through new, non-linear Career Challenge with 23 individual rally events and over 300+ stages.

- Drive faster than ever before with stages designed to let you use that speed.

- 30+ featured cars and 9 international locations (new German rally joins events through UK, Sweden, USA, Finland, Australia, Spain, Greece, and Japan), in Rally game mode, each with 8 stages. Large, animated spectator crowds cheer you on through the stages.

- Incredible detail: An individual damage model for each car � right down to paintwork scrapes and a 'dazed' visual effect as you recover from a crash. Realistic collision reactions include bending and breaking posts and look for out for potholes, loose rocks and other on-stage hazards.

Colin McRae Rally 2005 Preview at Ferrago [12-08-2004 | JZ | Comments (4) ]
As you load up you'll be forgiven for thinking that little has changed since Colin McRae 04. The menus possess the same contemporary, minimalist styling; the initial game modes seem much the same; car setup options are more or less identical and Nicky Grist still scripts and delivers the (albeit excellent) pace notes. However, appearances can be deceptive. Whereas CM2005 offers little more that CM04 on paper, on the track it really is a vastly improved beast.

Colin McRae Rally 5 Preview at Gamesradar [26-07-2004 | JZ | Comments (0) ]
The physics and graphics are noticeably better this time around. You can fly through plastic barriers and send small objects rolling across the track, but hit something solid and your car will crack open like a monkey nut in a vice. Wrap you car around a tree and leaves will flutter to the ground.