This title screams pure rally and seems to nail almost everything that makes rally games appealing to me. Long nice tracks, lengthy championships and a great sense of realism without unnecessary bells and whistles. Being spoiled with later titles like the Dirt series, as far as the feeling of driving goes, I initially thought the cars were a bit slippery. There was barely any grip to speak of even under perfect conditions. I got used to it pretty fast though and half way through the game I was driving like crazy through dense forests, narrow mountain trails and treacherous mud tracks.
"I really can't imagine playing anything else than Colin McRae Rally 04 at this point."
The driving feels great, there is always times to improve and nothing gets in the way. Just pop the game in and off you go. I can not tell you if this game is like driving a real rally car and competing in a championship because I do not even have a drivers license. I am only coming at this from a general gamer's perspective, and one that is not very in to driving games as a general rule of thumb. But once every blue moon I go for a virtual drive, and I really can't imagine playing anything else than Colin McRae Rally 04 at this point. I have found my go to driving game. Pure rally bliss!
