Colin M 2005 Impressions

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:28 pm

plan on picking this one up tonite. Anyone try it yet?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:32 pm

The game is shipping today, one day late, according to the EB Web site. Should be in stores tomorrow unless some EB's get it early tonight.

Out,
PK

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 1:59 pm

Was at EB today to pick up Live and ESPN. Guy at the counter told me Colin be in tomorrow.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 2:02 pm

same here. Went to EB at lunch and picked up ESPN 2k5 hoops.
Said that CM5 will be there tommorow.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 10:31 pm

After just a wee bit of playing. . .

It doesn't feel like new game as much as it feels like a refinement of what I thought was a really good game in CMR04. Career mode is weird, each stage is at a different rally, so I'm having trouble adjusting from stage to stage.

I set it to normal, not advanced, and damage seems super forgiving, repair is usually not a problem. Although occasionally I just drive in the wrong direction and really lose it, then I'm glad damage is as forgiving as it is. I'm driving like an idiot, but have no problem winning in the first career thing. Myabe I should restart with advanced. Career mode looks really long, though, so maybe this is just the baby stages and it gets tougher and with full rallys. Still, I feel like I need damage less forgiving.

The differences are subtle, but there seem to be a lot of little tweaks. There's no control at all over replay, which is a little annoying. Even though you have to stick with the TV-style camera, it would be nice to have a little FF and REW and pause, but whatever. They have an exagerated depth of field effect which seems a little overdone, but I can see what they are trying to do. i still like the replays, when I am patient enough to watch them.

But each stage for me is an intense experience, just what I loved about 04. I feel like online I'm gonna be a mess, I have so many brain farts, like 'oh, you said LEFT?!'

And the options to adjust controls or sound can't be accessed once your in the car, you have to go to the main menu.

I'm psyched about it, no question. Looking forward to some online with the DSP crowd.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 8:20 am

Thanks for the impressions Zep! Hopefully mine shows up today and I can take it for a spin this evening.

Will we be able to hear each other during the stages online, or just between? I can only imagine the # of times we hear "OH s***!"

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:36 am

Keep the impressions coming Zeppo, thanks! What type of options does there appear to be for XBL? Can you setup a true rally type experience for multiplayers on the same Xbox (ie, several people at your house taking tunrs running stages)? That career mode sounds whack, unless those random stages are leading up to full rallies.

As far as your damage concerns, one thing that has always bugged me about Codemasters games is that they have a very good visual damage model, but the actual physical effects leave a lot to be desired. The press releases for CMR 2005 hype up its new and improved damage modeling, but as usual, it sounds like its all visual and does not cause much of a problem for the car. Oh well..I am sure I will be buying the game regardless, that is if I can find it. My local EB does not even have it in their "computer" according to the guy this morning.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:09 am

Yeah, I'm thinking the career mode builds up to big series made up of full rallies. But I'm only guessing. There sure are a lot of things in the career mode, it is long.

The "Championship" mode is just like before, but now you have to be McRae, although you can pick whatever car you want to drive. Sort of weird, but it makes no substantive difference whatsoever. I haven't run one yet with the hard damage settings, so I don't know if it will be a lot better that way.

I remember there being rumors of a huge, almost exponential increase in the number of stages, but it doesn't look like it to me. Browsing through the 'single stage' mode, it seems every rally is made up of 8 stages, and there are maybe 10 or 12 rallies total maybe. I guess maybe it is more than the last game, and if I popped one in after the other I would notice perhaps, but right off the bat, it doesn't appear to be a huge increase.

There is an option in the options (main menu accessible) that lets you turn VC on or off for the actual racing online, and lets you turn the pace notes on or off for racing as well. I can't remember if it is one or the other, or if you can hear both if you want. I haven't checked out the online stuff at all, so I don't know what kind of races you can set up. I hope the ghosts aren't too distracting. I would imagine after the first bit, cars would get pretty spread out, but I dunno.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:17 am

Zeppo:

Quick question about online, as it looks like I'm not getting my copy until next week.

Does everyone start at the same time in an online stage so ghosts litter the screen, or do you start two-at-a-time, one-at-a-time at staggered intervals, etc.?

Apologies if this has been answered.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:18 am

(Double post deleted)

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:34 am

I think this game is going to be a balst with the DSP crowd.
I think it will replace our TOCA2 night!

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 12:04 pm

My first impressions are the game is hard as hell! I started a career on normal and ran the first rally and finished 12th out of 15. Just comparing it to the previous CMR titles, I usually manage to finish in the top 5 all the time. My best finish in the 6 stages was 8th.

There's definitely more of a learning curve here than in previous versions and I'm sure the rally experts will love that, but I can guarantee you that most casual rally fans will be taking this one back or trading it in. I love the game and I love the series so I will be taking the time to try and get better at it, but I'm not so sure others will.

I think the graphics are gorgeous and the engine sounds and co driver sounds exist perfectly together.

The one thing I don't like other than the difficulty is how now you get penalized every time you get off the track. I ran over one if those banners and it got stuck underneath my car and I was only able to go 5 MPH until I shook it free. The same goes for grass. Running into the grass shouldn't reduce your speed from 60 down to 20, but sometimes it does. Pretty much everytime you get out of the main groove, your speed gets reduced greatly.

All in all, I like the game, but it is a little tougher than I expected it to be. I'll just have to work at it a little more.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 12:50 pm

Alright, my copy made it to the store today! Time to go pick that one up. Should get some quality time with it this afternoon/evening and will post impressions when I get a chance...again depending on availability of internet access at home.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 12:53 pm

Just went online with the game. One bad thing, unless I am missing something, there is no co-driver, at least I didn't hear one anyway. I was left to rely on the signs placed at the top of the screen. If they were going to take the co-driver out, the least they could have done was put a number with the diagram at the top. Like 2 right instead of just right, because just glancing up, you really can't tell how severe the turn is.
I hope I just missed something and there's an option to turn the co-driver on somewhere.

Also, the ghost cars are huge...pretty much full size red cars. I raced with one guy, but I bet with 6 or 8 ghosts on the track it will be a clusterfu*k.

I'll go online some more in a bit.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:03 pm

Badgun wrote:Just went online with the game. One bad thing, unless I am missing something, there is no co-driver, at least I didn't hear one anyway. I was left to rely on the signs placed at the top of the screen. If they were going to take the co-driver out, the least they could have done was put a number with the diagram at the top. Like 2 right instead of just right, because just glancing up, you really can't tell how severe the turn is.
I hope I just missed something and there's an option to turn the co-driver on somewhere.

Also, the ghost cars are huge...pretty much full size red cars. I raced with one guy, but I bet with 6 or 8 ghosts on the track it will be a clusterfu*k.

I'll go online some more in a bit.

yeah bad, check the options from the main menu, and you will see the option to turn the co-driver on for online. I don't know if this means the you then can't hear voice chat during the run, or if you can have them both on. But anyway, the default is the co-driver is off, but you can turn him on.

As to the graphical pace-notes, I'm pretty sure the color of the icon represents the number the co-driver would say. Seems it would work, if i could look at the thing without taking my eye off the road. And the icons don't seem very good for the complex bits.

Fshguy · Post by **Fshguy** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:39 pm

I have my game in hand, too bad I have to work...

Looking at the instructions, it looks like there might be an option to handicap players by giving other players a head start.

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:47 pm

I truly hope you cannot hear voice chat during the actual stages. I'll unplug my headset quicker than s*** if you can. Last thing I need is people chatter and yelling "oh f@ck" in my mic as I'm trying to concentrate.

One thing I think would rule though is if you could hear the pace notes through your headset. Would be killer IMO.

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:49 pm

OH.. any options to turn ghost cars off in online mode? This was real bummer in the PC demo and a huge distractor. Hopefully we can remove them or i'm in front all the time. Either on will work.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:51 pm

Zeppo wrote:
Badgun wrote:Just went online with the game. One bad thing, unless I am missing something, there is no co-driver, at least I didn't hear one anyway. I was left to rely on the signs placed at the top of the screen. If they were going to take the co-driver out, the least they could have done was put a number with the diagram at the top. Like 2 right instead of just right, because just glancing up, you really can't tell how severe the turn is.
I hope I just missed something and there's an option to turn the co-driver on somewhere.

Also, the ghost cars are huge...pretty much full size red cars. I raced with one guy, but I bet with 6 or 8 ghosts on the track it will be a clusterfu*k.

I'll go online some more in a bit.
yeah bad, check the options from the main menu, and you will see the option to turn the co-driver on for online. I don't know if this means the you then can't hear voice chat during the run, or if you can have them both on. But anyway, the default is the co-driver is off, but you can turn him on.

As to the graphical pace-notes, I'm pretty sure the color of the icon represents the number the co-driver would say. Seems it would work, if i could look at the thing without taking my eye off the road. And the icons don't seem very good for the complex bits.

Zeppo,
Thanks for the heads up on the co-driver, I'll definitely turn it on. Wonder why it defaults to off?

Also, you said the first rally was easy for you. Did you have an option for more than one car, or did you have to use the little red VW? Just curious because I didn't think I was that bad at the game. I'm wondering if I missed something and could have selected a better car, but I tried moving the d-pad up and down to find another car and there only appeared to be that one available.

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 2:02 pm

Would someone PLEEEEEZE check on an option to turn ghosts off, or at least have them stagger like PK said? I'll be racing with you guys if one of these is possible, and I won't if you can't do one of the above...

mixdj1 · Post by **mixdj1** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 2:08 pm

tealboy03 wrote:Would someone PLEEEEEZE check on an option to turn ghosts off, or at least have them stagger like PK said? I'll be racing with you guys if one of these is possible, and I won't if you can't do one of the above...

I don't think it will matter. You'll be far enough behind us that you won't see our ghosts after the first few seconds of the race.

mixdj1

Fshguy · Post by **Fshguy** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 2:14 pm

mixdj1 wrote:
tealboy03 wrote:Would someone PLEEEEEZE check on an option to turn ghosts off, or at least have them stagger like PK said? I'll be racing with you guys if one of these is possible, and I won't if you can't do one of the above...
I don't think it will matter. You'll be far enough behind us that you won't see our ghosts after the first few seconds of the race.

mixdj1

Well, Mix does have a point there...

Of course, shouldn't be doing some accounting or something?

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 2:44 pm

got my copy at lunch.
looking forward to some DSP Rally madness!!!!

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 2:44 pm

"I don't think it will matter. You'll be far enough behind us that you won't see our ghosts after the first few seconds of the race"

heh heh heh. You just keep right on talking the talk, while I walk the walk. The only ghost I want to see is your burning chassis on the side of the road as I go by...

(In all truth, however...you may be right...)

lnin0 · Post by **lnin0** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 4:18 pm

Hey guys. I'm new to DSP but love what I have read of the reveiws and forum so far. This place seems much more affluent in sports gaming than your average fanboy site.

Anyway, I just wanted to say I don't have a copy of CMR5 yet (only a few hours to go) but I did email one of the Codemasters devs a while back asking about the ghost. I too am distracted badly by the ghost in RSC2 and he assured me that the ghost in CMR5 will be switchable on or off. Hopefully that is the case.