Rush Rally 3 makes me feel like a Timo not a Tim

Since her birth late last year, Ada, my Cornerite-specced PC, has hosted around sixty different games and game demos. Of that sixty, I can’t think of any that have entertained me as consummately as the astonishing Rush Rally 3.

“Astonishing”? Somehow the £12 RR3 paints its pretty pictures…

…and weaves its mesmerising spell using just 364 megabytes of code and assets.

Because most of the in-game models are “driven by simple textures and created procedurally” and old hand Stephen ‘Brownmonster’ Brown is now a master of his art, we end up with a relatively cheap rally sim that is simultaneously lightning-quick, plausible, challenging, friendly, feature-rich, and improbably easy on the eye and ear.

Judicious use of motion blur and artful scenery placement means you’re unlikely to find yourself wrinkling your nose at roadside views as you hurtle along. Yes, when you pause a replay to grab a screenshot or admire a particularly spectacular slide or prang, Stephen’s austerity approach to polygons and textures does sometimes break cover. However, knowing that this approach is the reason the game goes like a bullet and has absurdly brief load times, discourages graphical grumbling.

I’d love to be able to tell you that RR3’s physics knock Richard Burns Rally’s into a cocked crash helmet, but I can’t. What I will say is that Brownmonster’s motion, mass, and grip equations are sufficiently sophisticated to con me into into thinking I’m a Timo not a Tim at regular intervals. They encourage me to both go like the clappers and listen intently to every word my co-driver utters. They ensure I ruminate and test-drive carefully before purchasing a new ride with cash hard-earned from rally, rallycross, time-trial, and skill challenge participation.

Although it’s much easier to stay on the road in one of the sim’s nippy, sure-footed hatchbacks than in one of its poky/pricy ‘R’ and ‘S’ class steeds (especially if you’ve adapted said hatchback to suit your driving style), driving hard-to-handle monsters like the Mission Xenon RS with all the aids turned off can be absolutely thrilling and lead to blisteringly quick PBs.

Hamfisted wheelmanship not only increases the risk of mangled bodywork and knackered wheels*, it leads to performance-degrading wear and tear that can, over the course of a six-stage rally, kibosh your chance of securing a podium spot. After every couple of stages there’s an opportunity to undertake repairs, but inevitably there’s never enough time to fix everything. On numerous occasions I’ve limped across finish lines in cars seriously handicapped by too many cut corners, clumsy gear changes, and violent handbrake turns.

* The effect of wheel/axle damage on handling is all too believable.

And yet somehow RR3 never feels unforgiving or elitist. Stephen understands that not everyone has access to a wheel and pedal set, that some of us aren’t too proud to corner with help from-colour-coded braking lines, or let the CPU change gear .

The car and rally unlock system manages to motivate and tantalise without fostering frustration. Want to rally and time-trial in the sim’s version of the Lancia Stratos? You’ll need to complete a few rallies in a humble Mini or Clio equivalent to earn that privilege, but in the meantime you’re free to appetite-whet with ‘Maxle Special R’ test drives anytime you please.

Decent sound effects, a workmanlike camera system, robust multiplayer, Steam workshop support, an array of enjoyable/whimsical ‘skill games’, and a sprinkle of easter eggs  also help explain why RR3 feels such good value.

Returning to the sim earlier this week I discovered a mammoth 12-mile long US stage I’d not noticed before.

As the Honourable Company of Video Game Reviewers excommunicates any member who writes a review that’s completely free of criticism, I’ll end this wholehearted recommendation by savaging Rush Rally 3’s awful African ungulates. Without doubt the sim’s least convincing components, the motionless giraffes and zebras in the Kenyan stages are so silly I can’t even bring myself to include them in a screenshot.