Gaming Target - GameCube: Pro Rally

Written by Daniel Ekman on November 11, 2002

Full Review: A work of art gone awry or an average title from the start?

Pro Rally is a rally simulation game much in the vein of Colin McRae and V-Rally. This means that the player is competing in championships around the globe, driving cars such as Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi Lancer, to arise victorious and stand at the top of the winners' stand. It also signifies that there are no head-to-head battles, as all competitors start at relatively long intervals, so that the race is basically against the clock. In the past there have been a number of impressive entries in this genre and what Ubi Soft brings to the table is something that at least on paper looks like a serious contender. Plenty of game modes, multiplayer features, tight gameplay and marvellous graphics were promised, but in what areas does Pro Rally really deliver? Read on to find out.

First off, the modes of play in the game are quite plentiful even if a couple have to be opened up. There are versus modes, the obligatory time trial, a trophy mode and, of course, the championship mode itself, which here is called simply Professional. Professional is where it's at, but before one is allowed to even begin the championship there's school to attend. There are many tests and all have to be passed to be allowed to drive in real competitions. While this might sound like a good idea, it's not; the challenges are quite difficult and could potentially hinder an inexperienced player from ever getting to the championship at all. There are quite a few ways that the school idea could have been better implemented, but the developers, for one reason or another, chose not to.

When the action begins there are a couple of elements that impress, but also some that don't. The graphics department, for example, is definitely a mixed bag. On the one hand the draw distance is impressive and there is no pop-up whatsoever, but on the other, the landscapes are rather drab with bland textures and little variation of the vegetation. All trees in the game seem to cast identical shadows, and as there is no movement of the shadows there is of course the possibility that the developer opted to go with simple textures to imitate the real thing. Shadows flicker upon the hood of the car while passing by beneath trees, though, so there must be some programming trick that the developer has utilised to replicate real-time shadowing. Lighting is used sparsely with only the odd reflection on the car, which further contributes to the impression of plainness.

Any rally game falls short if it can't deliver a solid physics engine. Graphically, Pro Rally might not be the top dog, but with slick and polished gameplay everything would be forgiven. Sadly, this is not the case. The title's basic controller setup has the left analogue stick control the steering while breaking and accelerating are left to the L and R buttons. The A button is used for the hand brake; B and X change gear while Y alters the perspective. It sounds quite all right thus far, but when one starts driving it is directly clear that this game doesn't succeed to reach its lofty goals. Most frustrating is the fact that the car acts totally unrealistically. In some cases this is not a bad thing, but in Pro Rally's case the feeling of the car is that of a huge ten-pound tinfoil toy. Even if the controls are responding well at all times the floaty feeling doesn't go away, and the fact that hard breaks and fast accelerations make the car stop fully and propel lighting fast in an instant, respectively, doesn't help much.

Apart from the physics engine, the title shares quite a few things with other games in the genre. Narrow roads and a co-driver that relays information about turns and jumps are both the norm when it comes to rally games and that's no different here. One is, as usual, competing in different countries where concrete, mud and soil roads must be mastered in both rainy and snowy conditions. The car can be tuned and the correct tires must be affixed before any race. This becomes even more important as the game chooses neither settings nor tires depending on road conditions automatically.

There are lots of tracks in Pro Rally and it could be a good idea to try some of them out in Time Trial or Versus Mode before diving headfirst into the Championship. Whatever mode one chooses to play, however, the feeling of mediocrity will be there. The aural experience isn't anything to call over one's neighbours for either. With dinky collision sounds and sharp engine noises, Pro Rally's sound effects don't succeed in rising above average. As for the music, the harsh critic might say that the term abysmal feels inadequate when it comes to describing it. In short, there are better games out there both on current and past systems that are better choices than this half-hearted effort.