It's beautifully done, has an excellent racing engine, challenging game play, gorgeous scenery, and a degree of realism that has totally grabbed me, though I was never into rally games before. Colin McRae II is as polished and addictive as GT2, though in a slightly different way. The only thing I don't understand is its relationship to the also excellent original Colin McRae. In Rally mode you pick one of a relatively small number of cars, then begin your campaign that takes you through rallies in different countries. Racing feels incredibly realistic and makes Sega Rally on the Dreamcast look and feel primitive.
Championships are at three different levels.
At the Novice level you can get used to the game. Intermediate is where you'll spend most of your time in. You need to finish a country in sixth place or better to advance to the next country, and that can be challenging. Getting to the adanced mode is next to impossible as you have to finish first at the end of all rallies. The only frustrating aspect of the game is that there are some spots where the car can get caught in spots where it's almost impossible to get out of, thus jeopardizing your entire campaign.