by Matthew Bacon

Last year, I purchased a Sony PlayStation 2. I did so for one reason only, Gran Turismo 3 (GT3), a racing game like no other which is widely accepted a modern classic and a benchmark for the platform. Wishing to expand my collection of games (and being a huge driving game fan), I decided to purchase the recently released V-Rally 3. I was attracted to V-Rally 3 for several reasons; its long and thoroughbred history, because it was the No.1 selling game at the time, and finally because it was by Atari!

That's right, V-Rally 3 is one of the many new releases by Infogrames under the Atari label. So, does V-Rally 3 live up to the hype, and more importantly, the Atari name?

The game opens with a trailer which is both visually and audibly impressive. From the offset, it is clear that the V-Rally 3 development team at Eden Studio know a thing or two about the PS2. Once the opening trailer has come to an end (you can skip it if you like), you're presented with the following four main options: Drivers, V-Rally Mode, Quick Races and Options.

However, before you can race, you must first create a driver profile for yourself (you can create as many as you want, providing your memory card has the space). It is relatively quick and painless to complete, requiring you to select your first and last names (real or fictional), nationality and   appearance.

Once a profile has been created, you're free to access the game's two driving modes, V-Rally Mode and Quick Races. For the novice driver, the Quick Races mode is arguably the better one to choose as it allows you to get your teeth stuck in straight away. After selecting Quick Races, you must decide to drive either the Time Attack or Challenge (both of which can be played with up to four players).

Time Attack
As the name suggests, Time Attack, finds you (the driver) racing over a single track against the clock. Of the 24 tracks in V-Rally 3, only six are initially available for the Time Attack novice. The tracks are spread evenly among the following six countries; Finland, France, England, Sweden, Germany and Africa. Each track presents its own particular challenge which provides the driver experience of driving in a variety of road and weather conditions.

After selecting the track, the next step is to select which car and team you're going to race for. Thanks to the power of advertising and corporate sponsorship, V-Rally 3 includes a wide selection of cars and manufacturers in both the 1.6L FWD and 2.0L 4x4 categories, including;

• Citroën Saxo and Xsara
• Fiat Punto
• Ford Puma and Focus RS
• Peugeot 206 1.6L and 2.0L
• Renult Clio
• Opel Corsa
• Volkswagen Polo
• Rover MG ZR
• Subaru Impreza
• Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII
• Honda Accent
• Toyota Corolla
• Seat Cordoba

With such a good selection of cars to choose from, it can be hard to make a decision. However, to help the decision making process, full statistics are available for each of the cars to show its strengths and weaknesses.

Once you have selected the car your are going to drive (I usually select the Subaru Impreza, Toyota Corolla or Opel Corsa, as I own one - Corsa that is!), it is time to head over to the team's garage where you can tweak your car for optimal performance before the race. You can tweak everything from the stabilizers, suspension and gearbox to the tyres and brakes. However, any settings that you tweak affect the overall balance of the car which could have disastrous consequences. The results of any tweaks that you make can be seen in the top right of the screen which displays the car's top speed, acceleration, grip and performance.

I will admit that for all my tweaking, I generally found that the default settings were hard to improve on.

You can also adjust your driver's preferences such as the gearbox (manual or auto), steering, acceleration and brake settings. I found this feature particularly useful as I personally found the default steering setting far too sensitive.

After the garage, it's time to load the track (which happens extremely quickly) and start racing!

Race time
As you can see from the screen-shots below, the scenery in V-Rally 3 is nothing short of stunning, although in my opinion, the people in the crowd look far too flat (like cardboard cut-outs). However, after I noticed how the car gets gradually dirtier as the race progresses, all was forgiven!

It is these small touches that make V-Rally 3 so enjoyable, like the animals running across the track and the choice of samples used for each of the car engines - spot on! However, one area Eden Studios could have spent more time recording and refining is the co-driver samples and artificial intelligence which are a disaster. It is like listening to a broken record or the voice reading out the telephone number after phoning directory enquiries.

Now if you drive anything like me (in the game - not in real-life), you'll soon find yourself smashing your car up good and proper. Now, unlike most other rally games, V-Rally 3 features life-like bodywork damage! So now, whenever you hit a tree, you can see the bumper crumple and front headlights shatter :-)

Of course, you don't want to smash your car too much, as with the damage option switched on, any bumps and scratches that you sustain will dramatically affect the ability of your car. Trust me, driving a rally with a puncture is no fun at all!

After completing a Time Attack, V-Rally 3 includes a feature packed replay option so that you can watch back that awesome side-ways slide you did... or that double flip, triple barrel roll off the cliff!

The replay feature allows you to fast forward and rewind as well as select from a range of camera views including those below (which you can also use when driving). I especially like the helicopter and cinematic views that automatically cuts from one view to another like on TV. Although, in my opinion, the cinematic view needs some improving as it is not as smooth and slick as the one in GT3.

However what GT3 doesn't have, and V-Rally 3 does, is a rather cool replay feature with added telemetry (speed, brakes, grip and gear). Now, not only can you see what you did wrong or right, you can analyse exactly why!

Like a Challenge?
Selecting the Challenge mode in Quick Races presents the novice driver with the choice of entering either the VW Polo or Citroën Saxo Challenge. The VW Polo Challenge consists of a four stage rally while the Citroën Saxo Challenge consists of a three stage rally. The aim of both is, of course, to acquire the fastest time after driving all of the stages - which is harder than it sounds!

This mode offers a good blend of both the Time Attack and V-Rally modes and allows you to hone your driving skills, experiment in the garage and learn the tracks (which will definitely come in handy when you progress to the V-Rally mode).

V-Rally Mode
The V-Rally Mode, is really what the Time Attack and Challenge modes are preparing you for. Your career as a rally driver begins in the 1.6L FWD category. Here you battle it out with 15 other drivers to win the season and secure the title and promotion. However, before any racing takes place, you must first sign a contract with one of the teams. This process begins by reading and replying to the e-mails found on your computer in your office (an odd navigational concept, but it works).

From within your office, not only can you browse your e-mails, you can also;

• View the drivers' points and rankings.
• View the teams' points and rankings.
• Read your teams' goals for you this season.
• Read your personal goals.
• Access the press book containing the seasons records.
• Save your game to PS2 memory card.
• Quit the V-Rally Mode and return to the main menu.

Following a successful test drive with one of the teams (consisting of a time attack), you will be offered a contract with them for a single season. Whether you're offered a contract for the following season depends entirely on meeting the seasons goals set for you by the team

Each season consists of four rallies (six in 2.0L 4x4 category), which in-turn consist of a mixture of racing and service stages (that feature some nice animations). At each service stage, you can find out what the forthcoming stages have in store for you including the weather and road conditions. Here you can also fix any damage that you've done to your car, but only within a 30 minute timeframe (so you must therefore prioritise anything that needs fixing!).

Consequently, not only must you drive as fast you can in each of the rally stages, you must also think tactically. For example, if the rally consists of four rally stages but only two or three service stages, you will find that one or more rally stages follow each other. Therefore you must sustain as little damage as possible in the first rally stage as you will carry any damage over to the next.

At the races
Now I have found it beneficial to not simply drive flat out all of the time as when damage occurs (and it will happen), the ability of you car does suffer. For example, smashing into a tree or clipping a rock can dislodge the front bumper which then rubs against the front tyres, slowing the car down! Any damage that you incur is helpfully displayed on screen. So drive carefully, but not too carefully!

Over the course of a season, you will experience driving in April showers (quite authentic), fog (very authentic) and snow (not as authentic) and a range of road conditions including ice, tarmac and gravel. You must therefore listen to you co-driver's instructions carefully as he calls out each twist and turn, or alternatively keep an eye out for the on-screen prompts. As I mentioned earlier, the samples used for the co-driver soon get repetitive - which is a shame.

Assuming that you meet the seasons goals set by your team, you will be offered a contract for the following season. However, should you do exceptionally well, you may find yourself being offered contracts by other teams. Although there is no financial incentive to change teams, you may find that other teams are able to offer you a faster car which might enable you to clinch the title and move on to the 2.0L 4x4 category!

I have just begun my fourth season. This season I find myself driving for Toyota, in the 2.0L 4x4 category, having gained promotion after winning the 1.6L FWD category last season with 95 points! Beat that ;-)

Conclusion
I will admit that my first impressions of the game were not favourable. However, with a bit of perseverance (tweaking the settings to suit your driving style), V-Rally 3 is a game you will soon lose yourself in. But remember... it's only a game!

MyAtari magazine - Review #2, November 2002