Digital Illusions CE's 2004 rally sequel combined 90 career tracks, destructible cars and online racing for up to sixteen players.
RalliSport Challenge 2 is a 2004 Xbox rally game by Digital Illusions CE. It added career mode, damage, tuning and Xbox Live multiplayer for up to sixteen players, and it sold 410,000 units by December 2005, below its predecessor's sales.
RalliSport Challenge 2 is a 2004 rally racing game for the Xbox, made by the Swedish studio Digital Illusions CE and issued by Microsoft Game Studios. It added a career mode, a deeper damage model and online play through Xbox Live. Critics praised its visuals and handling, but sales fell short of its predecessor.
What is RalliSport Challenge 2?
RalliSport Challenge 2 is a rally racing game released for the Xbox in 2004. It was a sequel to RalliSport Challenge from 2002 and brought in a career mode, extra cars, new track types, and night driving and ice racing settings. The game aimed at a more realistic and varied rally simulation than its predecessor.
Development began immediately after the first game appeared in March 2002, and the project took two years in total. Producer Karl Magnus Troedsson said most of the architecture was changed, and the new game was built from scratch with fresh environments and circuits.
Lead designer Patrick Bach said the goal was closer resemblance to genuine rallying. The team upgraded physics and damage, widened roads and lengthened the stages. Product manager Adam Kovach said player feedback had pushed the team toward more content, which the career mode then expanded.
An Xbox rally game built around destructible cars, career depth and online racing for up to sixteen players.
How did the Xbox Sports Network shape the game?
It opened the list of racing games in the Xbox Sports Network, a set of licensed sports titles built around Xbox Live. It was also the last title released under that brand, which was cancelled in March 2004 after several titles underperformed.
Program manager David Bridgham said the game had been built from the ground up to support Xbox Live. Online tournaments and leaderboards were central to that design, and the announcement came in September 2003, when the game was shown at the Tokyo Game Show and other trade events.
Microsoft and Digital Illusions CE displayed the game at several events: the Tokyo Game Show in September 2003, another event that month, and E3 in May 2004.
What modes and tracks does the game offer?
RalliSport Challenge 2 includes Rally, Rallycross, Ice Racing, Hill Climb and Crossover races, along with Time Attack and Single Race modes. Most race types carried over from the first game, while Ice Racing and Crossover are new, and the career mode ties them together.
- Rally: a point-to-point solo race.
- Rallycross: a looped course with three rival cars.
- Ice Racing: a race on a slick circular track.
- Hill Climb: a sprint up a slope to the summit.
- Crossover: a looped course in which racers swap lanes.
The career mode contains 90 tracks spread across four difficulties, named Amateur, Pro, Champion and Superrally. Completing career tracks unlocks more than 40 rally cars as well as new courses.
Time Attack races pit the player against recorded lap times, and Single Race games can be played alone or against the computer. Between races, players can adjust their tuning, including the tyre type for different environments, the gear type and ratio, steering, brakes, power and suspension.
How did damage and handling change?
Damage and handling were the main additions over the original. Collisions damage several components of the car, and many parts, including windows, doors, hoods and wheels, can be destroyed completely. The interface lets players watch the state of their car as the damage builds up.
Major damage reduces performance, including speed and handling, so damage during a race can reduce performance. The tuning options between races allow players to counter some of these problems by changing how the car responds.
Critics also focused on how the cars handled. Eurogamer found the handling convincing and natural, and GameSpot said each car drove slightly differently from the others. Game Informer took a more critical view, arguing that the cars pivoted too much and that some of the skill and danger had been removed.
Which multiplayer features did it include?
Players could host or join lobbies over Xbox Live or System Link and race with up to sixteen players, compared with four in local play. The Xbox Sports Network supported round robin and single elimination tournaments, along with seasons of races for individuals or teams.
The network also offered web integration. Players could track statistics, message one another, take part in forums and receive notifications on the Xbox Sports Network website.
GameSpot noted that with collisions switched off, opponents appear as coloured outlines rather than full car models. It also found it odd that collisions decided how many cars took part in a race.
Online play on Xbox Live remained available until 15 April 2010. The game returned to online play later on the replacement Xbox Live servers, known as Insignia.
Who wrote the music?
The soundtrack included songs by Tom Salta, a recording artist and composer whose work on the game was his first major video project. The tracks came from his 2004 debut album, 2 Days or Die, and were developed under the Atlas Plug name for media licensing.
Salta's publisher pitched the music to Microsoft before the songs were finished, and Microsoft licensed them. Salta described the tone as aggressive and energetic, which suited racing. Volvo later licensed his music for several adverts for the S40, which used footage from the game.
How did RalliSport Challenge 2 sell?
By December 2005 the game had shifted 410,000 units, far short of the 900,000 its predecessor managed. It was therefore a commercial disappointment, even though it reached the charts in several markets, including a UK peak of 13 in May 2004.
| Market | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|
| UK sales chart | Peak position 13 | May 2004 |
| US EB Games chart, all consoles | Peak position 10 | August 2004 |
| Japan | Peak position 9 | October 2004 |
| Total units sold | 410,000 | As of December 2005 |
David Jenkins of Game Developer called the sales disappointing and doubted the game would last. Results elsewhere were a little stronger, as the table shows.
How did critics respond?
Critics were generally favourable, according to Metacritic, and GameSpot named the game the best Xbox title of May 2004. It was also nominated for Racing Game of the Year at the 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, a prize that went to Burnout 3: Takedown. GameSpot also ranked it second in its 2004 Best Driving Game category.
Reviewers praised the visuals more than anything else. Eurogamer called the game a technical achievement and a new benchmark for driving games, GameSpot admired the road and track textures, and GameZone singled out the weather effects. Several reviewers described it as the most visually impressive console racer of its time.
The handling drew a similar mix of praise and doubt. GameSpy described it as accessible without losing realism, and Xbox Nation said the controls were light enough to spare newcomers frustration. Game Informer, as noted above, felt the model was too simplified.
The multiplayer features were praised too, although not without reservations. GameSpy said the game made a strong case for Xbox Live, and Electronic Gaming Monthly called the online play flawless. IGN said track layout and technical problems left many courses impractical with a full sixteen-car field.
How is the game remembered today?
Retrospective reviews rank RalliSport Challenge 2 among the top racers on the console, and they tend to focus on its technical achievement at launch. Eurogamer, writing in 2006, still ranked it as the finest arcade rally game. Hyper called it a tragically overlooked title, praising its multiplayer and replayability.
IGN called it one of the top racers on the console and a longtime favourite. Sanches, in a driving-game survey, praised the single-player content and varied events, and described the environments as among the largest and most technically advanced of their time.
