Sega Rally Review - Xbox 360

8

Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 8
Audio: 5
Multiplayer: 9
Innovation: 7

Sega may have lost out on the console hardware market, but their games are still thriving. Virtua Tennis 3, Virtua Fighter 5, Condemned, all great games made by the company, and now along comes one of their best selling racing franchises Sega Rally set to enter your loungeroom and provide you with an innovative racing experience unlike any other. Racing your way through a large variety of environments and terrains, and make your own tracks in the dirt and snow is all part of the Sega Rally revolution, but does the arcade racer live up to its expectations, and can its online mode deliver countless hours of fun as promised?

Gameplay

Sega Rally includes four different game modes. Championship: which we’ll talk about later, Quick Race: where you can jump in to a track you’ve unlocked (there are plenty to begin with), Time Attack: where you race against the fastest people in the world on all the tracks in the game, and Multiplayer: where you’ll find 2-6 player online racing, and also 2-player split-screen. There are always a few games happening online, as long as your requirements aren’t too specific. The split-screen multiplayer however can prove to be very entertaining. Racing through the various environments slamming into each other without having to worry about damage is what makes Sega Rally fun, and you’ll find that you can actually gain an advantage in the singleplayer races by using your opponents like a pinball machine around corners.

As many of you already know, the game takes active use of the track in which you race over. There are several different surfaces each with different handling, and it’s up to you to learn the ropes if you want to win some of the harder races. As you and five other cars go screaming round each track, your wheels actually leaves tracks in the snow, sand and dirt. This means that after a lap or two, you can get into the groove that you have left behind from the first lap, and get even faster lap times. It’s quite hard to master, and therefore really shows a whole new level of innovation for rally racing. Unfortunately though, that’s where the interactivity stops. Your cars don’t take any damage, and the sides of the tracks are simply invisible walls which you bounce off. If you’re looking for realistic damage and an interactive environment, perhaps Colin McRae DiRT is where you should look.

Championship mode boasts 102 races over three different race modes, Premier, Modified and Masters. There is no currency, and all cars and decals are unlocked by winning races and spending time with each car. As you progress through career, more cars and events get unlocked, and the difficulty gets much harder. Sega Rally has an unusual learning curve. (continued next page)