Review: Sega Rally (PS3)

For an innovator, the fall from grace of Sega Rally has been dramatic, with the last attempt for the Dreamcast proving to be a bitter disappointment.   With its arrival in the arcade and subsequent Saturn port, the original managed to deliver rallying thrills with only a handful of circuits and vehicles.   Hopefully this latest version has been worth the wait.

Just how much the Sega Rally series has declined is simply measured by Gamestyle’s lack of excitement before commencing the experience.   The publisher has consistently failed to revitalise old titles for a new generation, with the ongoing decline of Sonic being a perfect example or reanimated Alien Syndrome on the Nintendo Wii.   Time can certainly be a healer but our initial scepticism was not helped by a lacklustre demo, which seemed indicative of the main course.

Playing through Sega Rally is an empty experience, a soulless journey that fails to gel.   All the expected components are on offer such a single player campaign; time attack and an online mode, with plenty of unlock able bonuses to entice further play.   Although it must be said that these mainly comprise of extra vehicles and paint scheme, which on the whole are not going to enhance the enjoyment factor.  The structure of the main mode sees you completing three rally stages and good performance will unlock the next meet, allowing you to progress further.   And that’s about it, so the rallying better be good.

What is admirable is the fact that Sega Rally offers a variety of imaginative environments and enjoyable circuits.  You can tailor the handling of your vehicle, which at times is welcome as you can often find yourself up against mud, tarmac, snow and water, depending on the rally stage.  Bizarrely these surfaces do not matter much in the scheme of things, as you can only briefly select more grip or more speed, depending your driving style.   

The handling of your vehicle is admittedly not helped by the lack of rumble with the PlayStation 3 system currently.  Still, this omission did not hamper the feeling of connectivity with Sony’s enjoyable MotorStorm.  Yet Gamestyle cannot escape the feeling of floating across these aforementioned surfaces, as Sega Rally lacks any believable physics instead pursuing an arcade feel.   The unnatural illusion persists whenever you through the car into a bend, its all too easy to simple floor the accelerator, or bounce off the scenery with little detrimental impact.   A tactic the developer has tried to implement is with the introduction of tire tracks, which remain visible for the duration of the race.  These are supposed to improve your grip if you remain on such a course, but Gamestyle often deviated from this scalextric parade and did not notice any decline.  Overall its inclusion results in a choppy ride that will irritate some players more than others.

The artificial intelligence of your opponents is also worth criticising as it follows the same principles laid out by the Ridge Racer series.  That is an illusion easily shattered as the pack of five pulls out ahead and then you simply overcome each by improving your lap times.  It is very difficult not to finish in the top two with such a system and while this is acceptable in the arcades, home play requires more depth.   

Visually Sega Rally is the equivalent of a Ford Mondeo, never turning heads but offering reliable performance.   The detailing on each track is good, but the actual palate and presentation of the graphics again pushes it towards the arcade market.  It is extremely bright and colourful, with a solid emphasis on speed and touches such as trains and helicopters that you come to expect in such releases.   The brash colours almost give this release a cartoon look that would capture attention in a crowded arcade.   At home many punters will be expects next generation graphics to go along with the experience and not something that looks like a segment from an episode of the Simpsons. 

If Sega Rally had been released eighteen months ago then we would have been more receptive to its limited driving experience.  However since them Gamestyle has tackled MotorStorm and Colin McRae DiRT, both of which are superior and push the Playstation 3 more visually.   Sega Rally cannot even compete with either title in terms of driving experience, or even the WRC releases for the Playstation 2.  Frankly its just another ‘they shouldn’t have bothered’ renamination from Sega, when the fans deserve much more.

Rating: 5 / 10

Words by Jason Julier