With Colin McRae Rally 04 already on the shelves, has the official game left it too late to make up the lost ground? The clear advantage WRC 3 has over the pack is the inclusion of all the cars, drivers and courses that make the actual thing such a muddy success. While McRae 04 has tried to overcome this by taking the emphasis away from playing as the buck-toothed Scotsman, WRC 3 enables you to race an entire season as any of the drivers and teams (except Colin, of course). It's an astounding prospect: 14 satellite-mapped locations, from Australia to Finland, all comprising nine stages, can be raced competitively. Add to this, novice, professional and expert levels of competition plus evolution, extreme and concept car options and you're looking at one huge game - even before you begin to tinker with the individual settings of each car. Only the lack of online gameplay lets it down.

Old WRC hands will get an immediate hit when the game starts up because the look and feel have been impressively revamped. WRC 3's graphics are as smooth as a baby's bottom - a massive improvement since we previewed it back in OPS2#39. And it's fast - at times, gut-wrenchingly so - due to the level of ground speed detail and the excellent joypad/steering wheel feedback. Cobbled streets judder satisfyingly beneath you and the loose gravel surface sounds and feels like it's skittering into your wheel arches. It's a great leap on and will have your white-knuckling the D-pad as you play.

Large stages can last over five minutes, even if driven well, and you'll have to pay attention to your co-driver to stay on track - wrong moves cost precious seconds. However, Evolution wants everyone to take part, not just the rally mentalist, so has incorporated an arcade feel to the novice level that allows the most haphazard driver to feel competent. But that doesn't change the fact that the game is still nigh on impossible to win every time on expert - a balance that many racing games struggle with.

If the other WRC instalments piqued your appetite you're going to devour this whole. WRC has always been a different dish to McRae but this year in particular it delivers the definitive rally experience with adrenaline thrown in by the bucketload. Essential for anyone who's ever dreamed of being mostly in control of a mud-spattered car on a hairpin bend.

Graphics 90%
The best yet. Smooth, shiny and detailed.

Sound 90%
Primal Scream soundtrack and great effects.

Gameplay 80%
Easy-to-pick-up rallying that's hard to perfect.

Lifespan 80%
Huge array of courses and vehicles to explore.

Overall 90%
WRC captures the thrills and spills without resorting to petrolhead fanaticism or uber-technical detail.