I never really followed World Rally Championship until I got a chance to play Colin McRae Rally. This was back in July 1998. Five years later we are about to get the 3rd version. If you loved Colin McRae Rally 2, you will enjoy Colin McRae Rally 3 even more.

I won't go into a lot of details (we will cover them in a review), but let me just start with saying, that the physics model has been much improved. Driving a car doesn't feel like it is pivoting around its center point. To control the car you must use the accelerator pedal a lot more now. The roads aren't as smooth as before and will make the car unstable at times.

More options on setting up a car means that finding that perfect balance won't be as easy as before. What will be a big help is the telemetry and option to do test runs (shakedown) before each stage.

Comparing the graphics to its predecessor, you won't notice a lot of changes... at first. But when you will see the smoke raise behind the car on a dirty road, your yaw will drop in no time. The cars also get dirtier now and the damage model looks a lot like the one in Race Driver - in a few words, it's a blast. Body parts brake and drop off. Just imagine the hood flying off when going over a jump at 200 kph.

What impressed me the most, are the in-car sounds. There is no point of me babbling about how good they are, you must experience them yourself (demo is planned for May 29th).

This version of Colin McRae Rally 3 is 95% complete and it already feels like a winner.

If you have a question, leave a comment here and I will answer it.