Beyond the expected content of a rally game (driver assistance, varying road conditions, etc.),
Mobil 1 Rally Championship is a full simulation of the British rally event which bears its name. The actual Championship Mode puts you through six individual rallies, each containing six stages themselves. If it hasn't sunk in yet, that's a lot of track! Championship Mode takes up most of your game time, but for those looking to just experience British rally racing, there's Arcade and Time Trial Mode, plus a split-screen two-player. A few earned perks are the ability to race all Arcade tracks in reverse, effectively doubling the already huge layout, and a chance to move up to more powerful cars. Which would be great, except... and how can I put this deftly? Great course plans, graphics and car choices aside, the handling and control in
Mobil 1 Rally is pitiful. There's no way anyone could play this game with Colin McRae side by side and not see the difference. If EA had released
Mobil 1 earlier, it might have stood a chance. At this point, with several good rally games on the market for PlayStation (Need For Speed and Colin McRae), it's hard to imagine that
Mobil 1 Rally Championship can make much of a dent.
Some of the things I like: The car choices are excellent. In a stroke of brilliant design, each vehicle is introduced with a brief voice-over detailing the car's specifications, heritage and contribution to the British rally. Especially because some of these aren't well known in the U.S. (Seat, Skoda, etc.) this 'backstory' idea wins big points for EA. The sheer number of default cars is excellent, but the Volkswagen Golf was my personal favorite. Having each rally stage introduced is also nice, highlighting challenges and characteristics to watch for. Also in the 'good' category is how much detail obviously went into track design. These are hard tracks, and if it's possible to overlook control issues, there's a ton of racing in Mobil 1 Rally. Narrow lanes, frequent obstacles and rough conditions create a challenge level that doesn't pamper anyone. The best thing by far about course design and programming in Mobil 1 Rally must be the sense of elevation in each track. It's a small thing, but not even in Colin McRae did one experience such a strong feeling of rolling down steep hills and bouncing through choppy dirt moguls. Too bad the cars move around like koalas on ice...