Richard Burns Rally Demo

Although there are many rally sims out on the market, very few of them actually capture the atmosphere of the competitions, mostly because of the arcade mechanics and the poor handling simulation. However, from time to time, one title manages to combine all the right elements and deliver a unique experience, one that truly captures the essence of rallying.

Richard Burns Rally is one of the games that swims against the current of the industry, by making the races very difficult and devoid of any arcade influences. Thus, there are no invisible walls to keep you steady on the track and every botched turn can send your car spinning, or worse. Basically, you really need to learn how to handle the vehicles properly, otherwise you stand no chance of winning a competition.

After you get the hang of driving the cars, you might be surprised that there are a few other obstacles lying ahead, literally. Holes, rocks and small dents in the track can pose significant difficulties, especially if you do not pay enough attention and you run into them at full speed. Since there are over thirty five tracks available in the game, you can be certain that it would take a lot of time to learn the placement of every impediment.

As previously stated, you won't always be able to avoid the obstacles out on the track, which means that your car will have more than its fair share of encounters with trees, walls and various other solid objects. In case you become overconfident and you enter turns too fast, the possibility of flipping a few times through the air is almost guaranteed, especially if you also happen to hit one of the omnipresent bumps. Naturally, every dent is accurately depicted on the car, since almost everything can bend or fall off during the race.

Visually, there are very few bad things to say about game, other than the fact that some tracks lack detail when it comes to the surrounding landscape. The same can be said about the spectators that watch from the side, since there have around five faces between them. The graphics quality is satisfactory, though, and it shouldn't distract you from the game in any way.

Richard Burns Rally reminds everyone of how racing simulators should look and feel, by making it as difficult as possible for everyone to go through it. This happens to be one of the flaws as well, since it may prove to be too difficult for some people out there, which might cut a bit from its popularity ratings.