There's nothing better than driving down country lanes on a warm summer's day when the only people around you are the ones cheering you on. That's until either a) you crash at high speed into a farmer's field or b) your navigator tells you to go the wrong way. In a few weeks time, we'll be getting ourselves dirty again, and putting our pedal to the dirt tracks as World Rally Championship 3 hits the shelves.
As you've probably guessed by the title, the name of the game here is rally, with WRC3 looking to effortlessly tread the gap between those who demand authenticity from their rally games, and those who just like driving a car round a corner at high speeds. All of the teams, cars, drivers and locations including the Rallye Monte Carlo have been crammed onto the disc in full digital glory, in order to keep the petrol heads happy, and there's been an extra effort to capture the engine noises too. While cars on F1 games tend to make a high pitched mooing noise, in World Rally Championship, the sound's been taken directly from the car itself. but there are plenty of features to please rookie drivers too. With auto brake, auto transmission, and stability help, it should be fairly straightforward for drivers of all skill levels to pick up a controller and start sliding.
Ice, ice, maybe? Could be water.
Luckily, there's been an effort to spice up the usual race, race, race format here too, with a variety of mode and options awaiting. Introducing the new challenge system where you're put through your paces in a number of skill based sections that ask you to smash through targets, drift as much as you can, beat the boss or perform a particular manoeuvre, each of the challenges not only helps breaks up the action, but also lets you unlock items that you can play as, on, or with in your future races. One of the more intriguing challenges, Crash and Run, scatters a number of crates down the course - normal ones, that give you points for smashing through them, and ones with skulls on that take points off. Pushing your driving skills to the limit, and forcing you to take courses in a completely different way, Crash and Run is just one of the eight challenge modes on offer.
The latest video shows a full race or "stage" as a rally car slithers its way up and down mountains and finishes by the seaside for an ice cream and a donkey ride. World Rally Championship 3 is out 12th October and available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Pre-order now, and you'll get a code for a classic 1964 Mini Cooper S, the car that redefined the rally - or, if you fancy taking the wheel for yourself, there's a demo out now on Xbox Live and the PSN.
