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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You'll be playing this for months..., July 18, 2002
Game : V-Rally 3
Platform : Playstation 2
Author : Jonathan Beckett
E-Mail : kafooey@yahoo.co.ukI picked up a copy of V-Rally 3 for the PS2 yesterday evening and played it for an hour or so. I thought I'd share my views with you. In the past I've played GP2 (to death), GP3, GT1, GT2, GT3 (to death), FIA WRC (ps2), Driver, V-Rally 1 (ps1), RallyCross (ps1) and a whole raft of other driving games over the years, so they are my frame of reference. As far as Rally games go, V-Rally 3 is by far the most involving racing game I've seen to date on any system. I'll get to why at the end of this review, but in the meantime I'll go through the various aspects of the game. Graphics
Fantastic. Not photo realistic, but very clean, clear and crisp. The car looks fantastic, the landscape is rendered beautifully, the weather is modelled very well - all in all, it really is rather good. When you're in the pits you see inside the car, and several thousand polygons have been given over to that too - along with 3d mechanics working on the car at checkpoints. Damage to the car is represented very well too - pretty much all of the car can be either bent, broken or ripped off... during one particularly determined dash through a stage I was somewhat shocked to leave the "in car" view and see what a mess I had made of my previously showroom-shiny monster :-) More importantly, the framerate is very fast, and gives a great impression of speed. Sound
What can you really say about sound with a game like this? Unfortunately my PS2 isn't wired into the pro-logic amp at the moment so I can't tell you what the surround is like, but normal engine noises, skids and so on sound absolutely fine. The engine pops and crackles with the best of them. The co-driver is the first one I've encountered that has some intelligence. Upon careering the wrong way up a farm track he shouted "where do you think you're going!" - and while leading the timesheets during a stage he shouted "keep it up - you're doing well!"... I know it's only scripted comments, but it really does affect you (usually causing you to try and show off - ending with the inevitable spectacular accidents). Control
I've only played the game with the joypad at the moment. All control is completely configurable for sensitivity, although I've left it on the factory defaults. At first it seems a bit over-sensitive - you'll find yourself fishtailing around quite a lot, but after a while you learn not to steer too much, and everything becomes more natural. The car reacts as you would expect - not unlike Sega Rally on the tarmac stages. Snow and Ice are a hoot - it's a question of "when does this slip angle on the road become slower than pointing the right direction in the first place". The Game
This is where most titles either win or lose. What's it like to actually play? I have to say that it is the most fun I've had in a very long time. V-Rally 3 is the first racing game I've personally played where there was a good career mode. You start as a "newcomer" with invitations to test for several of the smaller rally teams. The outcome of those tests (via "email" on your in-game desktop computer) is contracts offered to you by various teams. As a driver you are evaluated by the teams based on your experience, speed, consistency and respect for you machinery. The teams are evaluated in terms of the car's performance, team morale, reliability and budget. Once you have tested and signed a contract, you are assigned a "goal" by the team - their expectation of you. In my first season I was expected to finish in the "top 13" of my class that year... I finished 7th in the end (it would have been 5th but for a disaster on one corner of the rally of Great Britain). It really does show how such a small event can change your entire career... Throughout the "year", depending on how the results are going you get e-mails from your team telling you how well/badly you are doing, and maybe invitations to test for other teams if you're doing well enough. You also get tips - as an example I was informed that Ford were upping their budget for the coming year... a month or so later (after a good result) they invited me to test for them. At the end of the season they offered me the contract - and after signing found out they had put full factory backing behind their car, which is now expected to be the most powerful and reliable in the field. Where's the catch you may ask? My contract. I have to finish top 3 or I get fired. Finally a game has a good career mode. Do well, and the top classes and cars are waiting for you. Do badly and you'll soon find yourself taking that drive with Skoda... but then that could always be the season to prove yourself :-) All in all, V-Rally 3 is a wonderful and complete game. It's very polished, looks good, plays great, and the long-term appeal is fantastic. I expect I'll be getting in quite a lot of trouble for spending hours playing it over the coming months. Jonathan Beckett
kafooey@yahoo.co.uk
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good, Arcadish Rally Game, February 2, 2003
V-Rally 3 is the first appearance of the V-Rally series on PlayStation2. Not surprisingly, its graphics are excellent, the cars have many more tuning options, the sounds are better and more convincing, and the fun factor has been raised :-) Unfortunately, however, Track Editor (which allowed the player to create original rally stages and circuits) is not included in V-Rally 3, which is a severe disappointment :-(The main focus of V-Rally 3 is its career mode (appropriately entitled V-Rally Mode). In fact, V-Rally 3 simply CANNOT be played until at least one driver has been created; only then can the various gameplay modes be accessed. The created driver(s) can then be used in V-Rally Mode to progress from the 1.6L FWD (Front Wheel Drive) category up to the 2.0L 4WD (Four Wheel Drive) category of competition. V-Rally Mode is explained in further detail below. Also available are two quick race options: Time Attack Mode and Challenge Mode. Time Attack Mode is self-explanatory. Challenge Mode sets the player on three or more stages, which must all be completed within a specified time limit. One of the best things about V-Rally 3 is that there is rather little time spent in loading each stage. For all the graphic detail, this is quite amazing. It also helps that there is a screen providing information on each stage as it is loaded, providing the player something to look at and consider as the stage is being loaded. The Gran Turismo series, perhaps the most successful racing series on PlayStation and PlayStation2, introduced rally racing in Gran Turismo 2, and then brought it back with many visual changes and a few new venues in Gran Turismo 3. This is likely the first experience with rally racing for many PlayStation and PlayStation2 gamers. While Gran Turismo 2 includes two point-to-point stages (which were unfortunately eliminated from Gran Turismo 3), the Gran Turismo series primarily feature circuits, which are fairly rare in actual rally racing. To this extent, the V-Rally series is much more realistic than the Gran Turismo series, although the Gran Turismo series certainly excels in its vast multiplicity of tuning options. As for the game's downfalls, there are really only three. The first is that there are only six countries, with ALL of Africa counted as a "country" for the purposes of the game; there is still a variety of terrain types in V-Rally 3, but this does make for extremely short seasons. Second, fans of earlier games in the V-Rally series will be disappointed that there is no Track Editor included in V-Rally 3; with the more powerful graphics capabilities of the PlayStation2, it would have been nice to see how a Track Editor would look on the new console. There are also pop-up issues in V-Rally 3 in those instances where the player has a clear view of distant terrain; most of the time, the roadway is immediately bounded by forests, crowds, mountainsides, etc., so this is not always an issue, but it is definitely noticeable whenever there are no tall obstructions alongside the roadway, such as in some stages in Sweden and Africa noticeably. Overall, V-Rally 3 is definitely a fun game, although it is an arcadish version of rally racing overall. Diehard rally simulation fans will likely want to stick with World Rally Championship, but V-Rally 3 will certainly provide some good entertainment value.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rally Good Time, June 14, 2003
I gotta tell ya, I've played some good rally games before, but this most fun I've had playing a rallying video game and I'm more than happy to tell you how addictive V-Rally 3 is. Once you start playing, you know you'll never stop, so let the rallyist in you out of its cage! In V-Rally Mode, you don't compete in championship rallies, you live and breathe rally racing. It s just so immersive.And the car variety is first-rate. In my V-Rally Mode, I'm in my 8th season, have 26 victories and six titles, three in the 1.6L FWD category with Volkswagen Racing and three in the 2.0L 4WD category with Subaru World Rally Team, whose cars carry the Subaru Rally Team USA name and paintjob. All my titles have been three-peats. I own World Rally Championship and enjoy it. I just needed a new challenge and to race as myself. And V-Rally 3 provides just that. As far as downs ar econcerned, I can only think of a few. First, realistic length special stages would do some good esp. to V-Rally Mode. A real life stage averages 15-35 miles. Finland's 1000 Lakes Rally has stages less than 10 miles long, while the recently dropped (by the WRC) Safari Rally Kenya has stages of at least 45 miles in length. One of them is 66 miles long! Oh, and don't forget the super special stages, which are two lap head-to-head races held on specifically constructed dual circuits, kinda like a mini NASCAR race, like those found in V-Rally 2 and WRC. Second, a real (WRC, for example) rally has about 15-20 stages, while the game has only 5. The Safari Rally has about 12 stages, while the 1000 Lakes Rally has about 26. Individual team testing stages would be a cool addition as well. Third, in the game, when you create a driver, its a real bummer that you can't create your co-driver's profile, with features name, nationality and looks.. The driver looks menu needs more options, too. These ideas would certainly work great perhapsin future V-Rally games. But despite all that, V-Rally 3 is one ultra-strong rally racer that's certainly worth a try. I'm going after my seventh V-Rally championship and I still get a huge rush of adrenaline every time the starting lights go out. All those who agree, play this game. Drivers: put on your driving suit, helmet and gloves, tighten your multi-point seat belts and fire up the engine. Co-drivers, get your pace notes ready, tighten your multi-point seat belts and make sure that your voice box is ready to read those pace notes and get your driver safely through the stages. V-Rally 3 Rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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