As we look back on the events, which occured that Friday morning, on the eve of the madness and hysteria, which would inevitably unfold, one begins to wonder where it all went wrong and why such a horrific tragedy had to occur.
Admitidly, Colin McRae and his Rally series enjoyed one of the most successful spells in the history of videogames as an annual franchise. It would not matter which year it was for petrol heads, as long as they had an updated and improved Colin McRae sim to play before the year ended, they would be fufilled spiritually and maybe even sexually.
Colin McRae Rally, the first title in the series, was released for the PC and PlayStation platforms in late 1998 in the UK and in early 2000 in the US (would you imagine how behind the Americans were when they bought this game 2 years later? Hell, they were lucky Colin McRae wasn't dead by then or something!). Little did developers Codemasters realise, was that they were making the first step into a very successful era of their history. The game featured real cars and drivers from the 1998 World Rally Championship and Colin McRae's Subaru Impreza was featured on the game's cover. This was a massive achievement for a game to possess such quality in the late 90's but can one imagine the reception that this game would get nowadays, if it were exposed to modern day audiences? It would be slaughtered by critics and the developers would be taken to the gallows to have their tiny penises removed, as stores such as Woolies and WH Smith induct their efforts into the bottomless pit of bargain bin hell.
Attention to detail is very important in todays gaming world of accurate statistics and real copyrighted titles and names. So much so that the average gamer will actually be put off a videogame entirely for the fact that it has no liscenes patched all over it. Why? Because they love Nike and Diet Coke so much that they want to be reminded about it in the virtual world as well as the real one they inhabit? Maybe but the answer for the majority would be that it adds to the overall realism of the title! It is imperetive that videogames are as close to real life as possible...apparently. Otherwise, it's not a good enough simiulation...this is of course why videogames such as Pro Evolution Soccer never enjoy as much success as the staggeringly insuperior FIFA series. It also gave the developers at Codemasters an uphill struggle to go beyond the boundries of liscense, as the first instalment would be the only title in the franchise to use real drivers names.
In any case, it was games like Colin McRae Rally, which set the ridiculously high standards of gamers today to an all time high. Which of course, is seen as a good thing...oddly.
However, now that they had the ball rolling, it was up to Codemasters to make sure it did not lose momentum, as there were more powerful and wealthy companies out there who were beggining to jump on the bandwagon of Rally sport videogames. This second game would feature the 1999-spec Ford Focus WRC, the 2000-spec Ford Focus WRC, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VI Gr.A, Subaru Impreza WRC2000, Peugeot 206 WRC, Toyota Corolla WRC and Seat Cordoba WRC, among other cars. The countries included are Kenya (gravel and tarmac), Finland (gravel), UK (tarmac, mud and gravel), Sweden (snow and ice), Australia (loose pea gravel), Japan (1 stage in challenge mode), France (Corsica) (tarmac), Greece (rough gravel), and Italy (tarmac).
Despite throwing in more cars, weather effects, road surfaces and countries in to its highly anticiapated sequel, Colin McRae 2 still had its fair share of critism. Gamers began to take their first babysteps into the realm of anal over-analysis and commented that 'real life does not slow down in cold weather' (which was of course, a negative stab at the frame rate problems one would suffer from if he was to play the game with the snow weather effects enabled) and 'trees don't pop up in front of my eyes when I drive down the freeway! (again, another frame rate problem, as the draw distance had to be limited inable for the game to run smoothly)
The next title in series however, was set to change the face of Rally games forever in just about every aspect. The game would look better, as it would benefit from the power of a next generation console (This was the first Colin McRae game released for the Playstation 2, as well as the Xbox. A GameCube version was announced but never released because it was shite), it would sound better due to enhancement in Dolby Surround sound technology for improved home entertainment value and it would also be a lot tougher to get through, stretching its season mode to three years.
The series would enjoy years of success following its jump from the PsOne to a multi-format medium despite the fourth incarnation of the Colin McRae Rally series, unlike in the previous three games, having no official WRC team license. All of the cars' liveries were either fictitious or taken from championships other than the WRC. This was seen as an even bigger blow than losing the rights to real drivers names and in the process, upset a lot of fanatics. However, it still had people playing due to the success of the previous titles and the title and presence it had gained amongst the gaming world.
After the annual update, which was Colin McRae 2005 however, the series suddenly fell off the radar and would not be seen until the next generation of console gaming. Judgement Day, was upon the game that was Colin McRae DIRT.
First of all, Colin McRae DIRT is NOT a Rally game. From the minute you start playing the game, the feeling of driving in a Rally sport world championship simulation has vanished. You are now behind the wheel of a mad-man, taking part in what seems like illegal races across barren landscapes and unsuspecting villages. DIRT is everything a Colin McRae rally fan wants to get away from. If one wanted to play a no-limits, off-road driving experience, they would have picked up a Playstation 3 controlpad and played Motorstorm, for a far more rewarding experience.
With the release of Colin McRae Rally DIRT, the series had become everything which it was striving to string away from, in an attempt to simulate the underated sport of World Rally. It was such a waste of time and effort (and not to mention bandwidth) to witness such a profilic title such as the Colin McRae series crash and burn into a firey grave. It seems as if the developers wanted to focus on the damage engine more so than on creating a unique simulation of competitive Rally races.
On a final note, just to rub DIRT in our faces, it appears as if Codemasters quite like the direction it is heading in, as they blatantly ignore the negative reactions from their trusted and once loyal fanbase, with the decision of pulling of George Lucas on the franchise and rebooting the series, to tie in with their new motives for the series. It has been quoted from a reliable source that the England-based publishers plan on 'reflecting their game development efforts to match the driver Colin McRae's lifestyle and attitude'.
The only source, which has been leaked thus far is this image courtesey of IGN...
So wait. Colin McRae wasn't ficticious? Woah, awesome, I hope he's still driving