World Rally Championship II Extreme Preview

  Earlier this year, World Rally Championship was released to the PlayStation 2. Boasting a solid all-around score, WRC was definitely the rally game to own for the PS2 as well as being a heavy competitor to Xbox's RalliSport Challenge. Sony is at it yet again, and WRC's successor is looking better at all ends.

   WRC's visual presentation was just as superb as its other aspects, and things have only improved. The particle effects were intricately rendered, showing off impressive sprays of water on the roads, and the water dissipating into the air as your tires tread on them looks just as convincing. Likewise, the environments are vast and lush, and they were recreated well, and with help from a satellite, roads and trails were easily and accurately created.

   The cars themselves have also been improved significantly, sporting more than twice the polygons from its predecessor -- 20,000 for each. And as you and your fellow racers traverse the roads, you car will come in contact with many environmental effects, and the car will take damage and alter appropriately. The damage system has also been improved, and basically any type of crash scenario will leave your car with the war scars to prove it.

   The single-player and multiplayer aspects of the game have been lengthened and expanded upon, too. Six modes in all are present in the single-player side of things while the multiplayer aspect also offers up various modes via split-screen, and with 115 stages to be included, rally racing will stay fresh for a while. Players shouldn't have to wait long in between races any longer, either, since the load times will only be about five seconds or so.

   We hope to see World Rally Championship 2 Extreme shortly after its overseas release, as the game is coming along excellently. We should have more media on the game in the future, so stay tuned for some screen shots.