Between plays, we were taken on a tour around the studio and shown several aspects of the game’s development, including a wireframe display of the track. The sheer number of polygons making up the track’s surface is startling. We’re talking millions of 6.5cm (of in-game space) triangles, which react to every tire on every car and then affect the physics of each consequent wheel touch. One day, every game with mud in it will feature this technology. Right now, it’s putting Motorstorm ’s cosmetic-only deformation to shame.

However,  even though we love Sega Rally and we’re relieved the new game feels like a logical evolution of the series, the current build does have some problems. The PS3 version’s frame-rate is choppy (although we were playing it online) and the Xbox 360 version, while easier on the eye, has some tearing at the top of the screen. While we didn’t get to play the PC version, we did see the game running on PC dev kits and it looked very solid, with neither of the console versions’ problems.

Of course, there are still a couple of months of tweaking time and the team is aiming for a locked frame rate of 30fps – something the original game’s Saturn conversion was famous for. But we should stress it’s not game-breaking at the moment, more of an occasional annoyance, but it can start to look scrappy in busy sections. Which is a shame when it plays so well.