Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past, oh, 5 years, you must have heard of Colin McRae Rally. This iteration for the 2005 season brings not only updated graphics to the number one rally game but also a swathe of cool new bits and bobs and more trees.
With over 20 different events making for 300+ stages through Australia, the UK and Finland (to name but three), Colin will definitely keep you listening to the co-driver's race notes (now with customisable language... though they make more sense in English) because those trees are never too far away.
Add to this the 30+ cars from all the rally classes, including modern rockets like the Ford Focus and Subaru Impreza WRX, through to classics like the Peugeot 205 and the Sierra Cosworth going via some oddities like VW Beetle Rsi, and you've got almost as many cars as there are trees in the Welsh stages.
Colin gives you loads of different ways to race: first there's the Championship mode where you step into Colin's jump suit and take on everyone in the 4WD class, then there's the simple quick race and the Career mode which rips you through all the classes unlocking new cars along the way from the lowly club rallying through 20 different classes of events up to the 4WD diamond series World Class. All include trees.
Did we mention the trees? As usual with rally you'll become very, um, intimate with the trees. If (-read when) you hit them you're rewarded (ahem) with a nice blurred effect and some falling leaves, oh, and some damage. Damage can range from giving you a slight ding in the paintwork to completely screwing up your cooling system passing through shattering the windows and ripping off the bonnet on the way. All of this is thanks to the updated Colin McRae Rally Damage System. Just remember that the repairs are limited by time and don't come up after each stage.
The best thing about Colin McRae Rally 2005 is the online multiplayer where you race against real-time ghosts of up to 8 players at a time. It's definitely worth trying out between mates.
Oh, it's got trees in it too.

Say what you think about this game
Chat about this game on the Forum