"The best rally game ever - Autumn 2004." If Codemasters' new trailer for Colin McRae Rally 2005 is to be believed, we're only one season away from experiencing the finest bout of high-speed car-dirtying action yet seen on PS2.
The movie demonstrates yet another graphical leap for the series which, as fans of McRae 04 will no doubt testify, is no mean feat. Aside from featuring vehicles that are becoming increasingly indiscernible from their real-life counterparts, the game's new stages (some of which are now on German soil, in addition to the eight existing locations) now benefit from interactive scenery.
Misjudge a turn and fly into a tree, and the oversized shrub will shake on impact, losing a few leaves in the process. Such collisions will also impact your driver's vision, blurring your view temporarily and leaving the opportunity for a subsequent crash wide open. The already superb damage engine has also been improved; even the lightest of touches can now scrape away the paintwork.
As for the game itself, the core championship mode has now taken second billing to a multi-discipline career challenge. Rather than jumping straight into a full professional rally season, you'll now have to earn your stripes, beginning in the lower leagues of club rallying and gradually working your way up through a mammoth 300 stages of competition. The 4WD championship is still available if you don't want to get there the hard way, though.
The mainstay modes - single rallies, racing individual stages - remain, but sociable drivers will be pleased to learn that McRae 2005 now allows for online rallies with up to eight competing players. Codemasters knows its rallying games, but with the next WRC title and SCi's new Richard Burns Rally also visible in our rear view mirrors, it'll be interesting to see if it can substantiate its bold claims.