Many years ago, Sega released a rally game that caused a sensation among fans of the genre. Fasten your seat belts and let yourself be guided by this review which will tell you everything there is to know about Sega Rally on the Xbox 360.
Overview
Even if this game starts by offering us all the most classic game modes, we must admit that it is not uninteresting. The fast race allows you to take a vehicle and participate in a few seconds in a race, the time trial, as the name suggests, will require you to beat all the best times on each circuit and the multiplayer will require you to use skill to win fierce races against the world's best players. Finally, there is the championship mode that will keep you going for a few hours. In championship mode, several difficulties await the player, with many categories divided into sub-categories made up of three races that must be linked to collect points. These will then unlock new classes of vehicles as well as cars only playable in other modes. In the end, the title offers more than thirty cars of all brands and models.
Gameplay
Sega Rally gameplay is still very arcadey. One button to accelerate, one to brake and a little common sense will suffice to steer and counter-steer. The braking is precise, the acceleration is frank and the wheels spin to take more or less tight turns. It's a style that made the reputation of the license; you need to get used to it to appreciate it. On the other hand, we must not rely on the differences between the vehicles to play on these sensations. Indeed, it does not matter which car you choose, whether it is modified, a classic, a two or four-wheel drive since in the end, the reactions are very similar.
Still, it will take the right timing to achieve perfect laps. At first glance, it's easy to learn and fun. But it will be enough to evolve a little to realize that an approximate behavior which guaranteed the first place in the amateur category will not be enough any more in the expert. The artificial intelligence is well balanced, and the challenge grows as the hours spent driving his car. A real plus that allows excellent accessibility without forgetting the regulars of the series.
If the gameplay of this Sega Rally is genuinely flawless, at least if we understand all the subtleties, it is quite different on the diversity offered by the game. However, the circuits are not varied, and we often find ourselves repeating the same ones. As a result, there comes the point of saturation from which monotony takes over to make way for boredom. The collisions are rather catastrophic since the vehicles bounce around and they even manage to overlap after a jump or a tight turn.
Graphics & Sound
The game is beautiful, it is fluid, colorful and the panorama is enchanting. The level design was inspired, which will only delight all lovers of beautiful landscapes. Add in more some details giving a minimum of realism to the game (the mud which sticks in real-time on your bodywork, like snow, gravel, etc. with everything cleaned during the passages in the puddles), and you get a title that flatters the retina without being transcendent. However, we regret to see wet, icy or completely frozen surfaces while always having good weather. Managing the weather in a game of this magnitude would not have been too much to offer even more immersion. But the charm works when you turn up the volume a little to listen to your English-speaking co-pilot who gives valuable information to initiate a turn in peace. The music and engine sounds, for their part, perfectly accompany the game for a very appreciable result.
Conclusion
The fact remains that Sega could have worked a little more on its title. There are only a few different tracks, the collision bugs are sometimes gross, and the lack of weather does not help to vary the pleasure of the game. Too bad we get bored after a few hours of game time. Beautiful, fun, easy to learn; it offers a more than convincing experience. The artificial intelligence is also well-calibrated. Sega Rally does not create a revolution, but it marks an evolution in the series that is nice to see.
