Playing the long game

Way back in the mists of time i bought a little game by the name of V Rally 3 and instantly fell in love. The game opened with a rip roaring music video that made me a fan of British rock band "A", but that is another post for another time.

The main reason I loved V Rally 3, besides the intro Music and the usual reasons of car handling and graphical/audio fidelity, was the extensive career mode that allowed you to compete year in and year out at both top level WRC events as well as the 1600 FWD series that supported it.

Personally i always preferred to play the FWD junior series, mainly because i wasn't good enough to handle the monster four wheel drive cars, but in a way that made the career mode feel even more real.

There are many drivers out there, hell, there are many sportsmen in general who fall short when they enter the top level of their field. There's no shame in it, not everyone is cut out for WRC. In my case i certainly wasn't, but the game allowed me to fail and retreat to the safety of the junior series where i dominated as the big fish in my own private small pond.

Maybe it was the fact that i tricked myself into feeling better about dominating the lesser event schedule, but to me V Rally never made you feel insignificant for not being successful at the top level. FWD junior rally was challenging, and every year your teams car performance varied adding an extra layer to what was already deep game play. Unfortunately other driving games don't seem able to give me that same warm fuzzy feeling.

When you play GT5 you never feel like you really achieved anything until you compete in the bigger events. Winning the Sunday Cup doesn't mean anything any more, especially when you know you have a 24 hour race series to attend later on in the game. Games like F1 give you little choice but to compete at the top level, and unless you're successful you will likely get little out of the experience.

Thankfully the latest WRC game features a career mode similar to the one found in V Rally 3. You build a career starting in the minor leagues and working up to the top tier 4WD beasts we all know and love. I can only hope that if you fail at the top level the game still makes you feel like you achieved something when you win a Junior championship.

Maybe i just want someone to make V Rally 4...