Codemasters has stuck with the graphical style from the first game. The aging, but still gorgeous Rally Championship looks infinitely better than this, as does Ubi Soft's otherwise weak Pro Rally 2001 . The thing that makes this lack of scenery finesse even more surprising is the high quality of the car models. Codemasters has really gone to town in this department and these are the best car models you are likely to see for a while. For those with some computer horsepower there's environmental and cubic mapping to add that extra shine plus realtime mud and damage modeling.
Most players are likely to use an in-car or hood view most of the time.
The bulk of gameplay time requires the player to look at the scenery not how it reflects off the cars. Don't get me wrong here. CMR2.0 is never ugly, it just seems to be lagging behind the aging Rally Championship . The Lowdown Gameplay is very solid though. Don't be fooled by the hype or the involvement with former World Champion Colin McRae.