Why the most expected games screw up big time? There is so much hype over them, there is so much paper consumed and so many bytes on the forums that you get to count the days left until the release of the game like it was your birthday. You think producers will surprise you, but most of the time you'll feel cheated and you'll swear you'll never spend your money so foolishly again. Unfortunately, reality sucks. The hope dies only in the end so next time you'll do the exact same thing. Well, it's all about human nature! I heard once at a TV station someone saying that true pros are the ones who don't make the same mistake twice (it was about racing in Formula 1). We do it all the time. I was cheated by Colin McRae Rally 3 and the fourth part will probably have the same effect. I still hope the next title of the series will do the right thing because I have faith in Codemasters. Does faith weaken us?

When the Colin McRae Rally 3 demo showed up on the Internet I played for days. Well, cars are not exactly my primary obsession and I've never driven a real one so maybe this is why I prefer arcade racing more than sims but CMR has always had a certain flavor. I've never found frustrating the moments when I hit a tree or rolled and so, losing precious seconds. Unfortunately the game features just two modes: Championship, where you assume the identity of Colin McRae and race along with other drivers in different parts of the world and Stages which contains the same tracks, unlocked during the first mode. That's it! No multiplayer, no time trial, no ghost car.
In Colin McRae Rally 3 you have to improvise. If you want to play time trial you have to restart a stage after you've finished it. There is a hot seat mode containing a split screen or alternate mode, but you cannot access that if you don't have at least two controllers, one keyboard not being enough for two players. I was getting all nervous so I plugged in my trusty game pad and this way it let me finally play with my brother. Once you begin the stage in split screen another bad luck comes up. It eats so many of your computer's resources that after a while we gave up. I was staying in front of my computer, looking dumb like a stupid, lost, unfortunate, spoiled puppy and I was wondering: Is this Colin McRae Rally 3? It'd better not be. I'm not surprised they've already announced the fourth part.