After months of waiting for the �first� true rally simulation, Jure offered myself and Fredrik Nornemark a chance to visit the producers known as SCI. Being London based it didn�t take long to get to SCI�s impressive looking offices overlooking the Thames.

We were met by Pete Hickman (Senior Producer), Luke Timms (Assistant Producer) and Gareth Ramsey (Public Relations). Our intention was to find out a little more about the title including technical aspects and SCI�s approach to possibly the greatest rally sim.
SCI�s investment in RBR has been huge, not just the 2 � years researching but a personal investment from each of the people involved. Pete has travelled to several stages, this investment has certainly come through with RBR.

After being led into their meeting room we were confronted by a huge projector screen and immediately I was looking forward to getting my hands on the wheel. Luke installed the game and it wasn�t long before we saw the interface. The first thing I noticed was how much it resembled the PS2 version. I was a little concerned that it could be a port from the console, but apparently it was the other way around. Pete explained that the sim had been created on the PC then ported to the consoles. I was also concerned with the keyboard only menus, reminiscent of the Colin McRae and arcade-like titles, though it was soon clear to see that this wasn�t an issue as in previous titles as the menus are easy to navigate and clear.

Luke took the wheel to show us a stage. I think he was actually showing the damage model as he seemed to be crashing quite a bit, hehe. One thing was apparent though - the graphics are superb. The textures are the best I have seen on a racing title with a tight, almost claustrophobic track and the immersion is incredible. It was then my turn, after being put on a so-called easy stage set in Japan I waited for the lights to go out then: Bam! The closeness of the surroundings felt like a Far Cry jungle scene and there was no room for error. Great! Finally a rally sim that doesn�t have 6 wide track widths!

Having played the PS2 version it was apparent that with the correctly configured wheel it�s a lot easier to drive and I could trailbrake and balance the car. The feeling of grip is there too, much like in NR2003. I tried a few views also. The bonnet view seems to be clear though the incar view was sparse compared to other titles it doesn�t take anything away from the experience.
I love the message that comes up stating that perhaps its best to go to rally school first. I would recommend this to anyone. The rally school is based loosely on the Forest Experience School and if you want to complete a stage without crashing it is best to go here first.

I noticed some FPS slow downs especially when the car got sideways. We were running on a P4 3GHz with a Geforce FX something, I'm guessing it was one of the higher detailed cars as the general quality was high. However Luke informed me that they did get it working reasonably with a 1GHz and a gfx card better than the nVidia MX range.

The wheel configuration is also good. You can have multiple controllers such as a Speed 7 pedals with a MOMO wheel and ActLabs shifter for example. At the test we didn�t have force feedback so it�s difficult to gauge what that is like. You can also map you controller using �filters� which enables you too set the throttle and brake range and how linear they are, etc.