Codemasters drive rally sequel forward

Codemasters have assembled a 30-strong development team for the sequel to their phenomenally successful and critically acclaimed Colin McRae Rally. PC and PlayStation versions are currently in development for the game, which is expected to release in 2000 (still sounds funny, that).

Colin's switched from Subaru to Ford so the emphasis will be firmly placed on the Scotsman's new Focus, and Codemasters promise that the sequel will significantly improve both the visuals and the gameplay.

"While the graphic power of the sequel is the most immediate difference, the heart of the game - its structure and content - is where we're doing the majority of the work," said Guy Wilday, the game's producer. "We're taking everything that was raved about the original and building on it. We're engineering a wealth of new gameplay mechanics and race styles that we're incredibly excited about, but we're not revealing details for the present. I will, however, promise that the second Colin McRae Rally game will be the defining moment for off-road racing games on the current PlayStation system."

Naturally, he would say that, but the original was pretty damned good. And heck, we're looking forward to it. Nearly as much as the eclipse (unless you're reading this on Thursday!).