Customer Reviews

Xpand Rally

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First, the negatives:
With my ATI/AMD Radeon X1950 GT 256MB video card, I cannot select the Ultra High material setting because it will cause all of the ground and car textures to turn white. At first I thought the Arizona map was supposed to be Michigan in the winter time until I realized it WAS actually the Arizona map. I have to run the material setting at LOW for the game to display properly. The night/low-light rally levels are frustrating because your "headlamps" basically make everything look WHITE without any depth. I found myself driving off cliffs at night because everything looked either pitch black or white.

The positives:
The physics is bar none one of the most realistic engines I have seen for a racing/driving sim. Only GTR2 and Race 07 can compare with XPand Rally. The reason I even looked at XR is because GTR2 and Race 07 do not have any AWD vehicles.

The front-wheel rally cars in XR behave like FWD cars. The lift-off oversteer and torque-steer are present. High performance AWD cars can be finnicky on slipper roads. This is NOT Need For Speed arcade junk! I guess this is why Xpand Rally is such an under-rated game. Many gamers just want something "fun" and not difficult. I've grown up playing the original Papyrus racing "sims" so I am used to a more "realistic" approach to racing on the PC. XR also lacks the brand licenses from top car manufacturers so they resort to silly names like "Cord" (Ford) or "Monsoon" (Mitsubishi) which helps keep the cost of the game down.

The bottom line is that Xpand Rally comes highly recommended if you're into rally racing. The game is dirt cheap now and the graphics are spectacular for its time.

Do NOT buy this game if you expect to it run with Windows Vista or Windows 7. It will NEVER run with these operating systems!! There are NO patches for this, so if you buy it, you will be throwing your money away!!

However, if you run it with Windows XP, it's a GREAT game.

If you have Windows Vista or Windows 7, go out and buy Dirt2 instead.

These guys need to hire a marketing department. Nobody has heard of this game, perhaps because its made in Europe? The physics, graphics, and overall gameplay in this game are awesome, it really is the best rally game for the PC, including the excellent CMR 5. I found this game by accident..it is very hard to find but well worth it. The sequel, Expand Rally Extreme, seems to be impossible to get in the U.S. You'll need a decent system but nothing spectacular..runs fine on my P4 2.4mhz, 1GB, Geforce 6200.