Colin McRae Rally 3

 Xbox
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 17 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 17
  3. Negative: 3 out of 17
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  1. JugsterJam
    May 13, 2003
    4
    Welcome to the age of powerfull hardware. Colin Mcrae is not there yet. Junk and Jaggie is all you get. If you want to sell the game better add couple more weeks to develop a game with better graphics. We all have to wait for PS3 to come out so the xbox hardware can be used to the max.
  2. StaffanK.
    Dec 14, 2002
    4
    This must be the most overhyped game on the Xbox since... I don't know. I wish the reason for me not being very impressed by this game could be blamed on expectations set too high. Unfortunately, this is not the case, as I would've been quite happy if it were only as good as the other major rally game on the Xbox: Ralli Sport Challenge (RSC). RSC is not perfect, but I'm This must be the most overhyped game on the Xbox since... I don't know. I wish the reason for me not being very impressed by this game could be blamed on expectations set too high. Unfortunately, this is not the case, as I would've been quite happy if it were only as good as the other major rally game on the Xbox: Ralli Sport Challenge (RSC). RSC is not perfect, but I'm sorry to say that Colin McRae 3 is even less perfect. I've never driven a real rally car, but I assume that it must at least resemble driving a regular car (only much more intense). This is were Colin McRae 3 fails. The main problem with Colin McRae 3 is that the driving experience simply does not feel right. The feeling you get is like driving a tank on soap, even when on tarmac. The car does not track - when you turn, the car rotates around its center axis, rather than follow the track of the front wheels. The result is that the car always seem to glide its way round the track rather than roll on its wheels - this looks real silly. Despite the car always seem to be gliding on a layer of slippery soap, it is surprisingly easy to stay on the track. It's almost like there is a magic force that prevents the car from sliding too much. If, however, you still happen to slide into the ditch, chances are that you wont get much farther away from the track than that, since most tracks are lined with (sometimes invisible) "barriers" that you can't pass. You are pretty much forced to drive on the road, and on the road only. There are very few places where you can drive outside of the road to e.g. find nice jumps to run over ;-) Speaking of jumps, the car doesn't seem to be very keen on jumping. It must be this mysterious force again that keeps the car down (well, it jumps, but not very much). This may be realistic, but it is boring. Since much of the fun (in my opinion) with racing games is to drive around finding cool ways to crash the car, the inability to get off the road and making high jumps feels very limiting indeed. When it comes to damaging the car however, this is the area where Colin McRae 3 shines. Since the car is modelled with very high detail; when you crash things fall off realistically. You can see the motor under the hood, doors open, etc. The only problem is that the game doesn't offer many opportunities to see this. There are only three views available (from behind, from inside and from the hood) while in game, and you have no control of the camera during replays. If you do something cool, chances are good the camera misses that completely. There are many more issues that help spoil the fun, for example: you hardly ever see any other cars in the game. All tracks are single player only, except the last "super special track" that end each game event. But even then, the two competing cars run on different tracks that runs in parallel. You never get the chance to bump into any other car; which may be realistic, but boring. Even when you and your friend play split screen, you will _not_ see each others cars! It's like, even if two players play the same track at the same time on the same screen, the cars are not there at the same time! This totally ruins all the fun with playing multiplayer. My advice to people looking for a racing game like Colin McRae for the Xbox is: Make sure you check out the competition (i.e. Rallisport Challenge) before buying Colin McRae 3. Most likely, you will end up with RSC rather than Colin McRae simply because RSC is _fun_ to play, and Colin McRae 3 is _boring_. +Realistic damage modelling -Car does not behave realistically.… Expand
  3. DanF.
    Mar 17, 2003
    2
    You cant play as any other car but the focus, also not a wide range of cars.

Awards & Rankings

24
#24 Best Xbox Game of 2003
69
#69 Most Discussed Xbox Game of 2003

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. Sports Gaming Network
    76
    CM3 has only a fraction of the features of "CM2" and fails to add significant upgrades. While the sound, driving, and stages are excellent, the game ultimately comes up short.
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  2. Xequted
    76
    Bad points aside, if you are looking for one of the most realistic racing games available.
    Read full review
  3. GamePro
    90
    As always with the McRae series, the sublime handling of your car is what makes this game so appealing.
    Read full review
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