RalliSport Challenge 2 is the first official XSN Sports racing game (Project Gotham Racing 2 isn’t part of the XSN Sports lineup), so players will be able to set up their own leagues, track their statistics and do everything you’re used to doing in Links 2004. It should also be no shocker that the game relies heavily on Xbox Live for its multiplayer modes. Rally, rally cross, hillclimb, ice racing and the new crossover … it’s all here, and it’s all online.

Like traditional rally racing, RalliSport Challenge 2 includes some time attack-like modes where your performance on a given track is compared to the leading times of other racers around the globe. Consider it the time-ranking equivalent of the Kudos leaderboards in PGR2, and you’ll understand how it works.

In the real world, that’s essentially where the racing would end: you and an invisible opponent duking it out over milliseconds. Since this sequel has nearly twice the tracks of the original RalliSport Challenge, that would seem like enough to bide your multiplayer time. But remember, this is a videogame, so RalliSport Challenge 2 includes a multitude of head-to-head options, all of which are available for Xbox Live, system-link and split-screen games. And yes, four people are supported per split-screen game. Single-console partiers can go about their rejoicing.

The new crossover tracks are some of the most fun options when it comes to multiplayer games, because they most closely approximate what Americans think of when we hear the term "racing": multiple laps around defined courses, with an occasional hay bale or oversized tire as a barrier. These tracks are laid out so the end of the first leg is actually the beginning of the second, essentially placing two opponents half a lap apart. This is a great way to balance the solitary feeling of traditional rally racing with the head-to-head aspect, because you’ll seldom see the second car, save for an occasional dust cloud or audio cue when you pass nearby on your separate spans. Or unless you completely bite and let your opponent make up that half-lap difference.

If you opt for one of the other multiplayer modes, the races are tire-to-tire, meaning they involve everyone at the same starting line waiting to get their drive on. Whizzing around corners while the engines of a Volvo Amazon and Ford GT70 scream nearby is both a bizarre and exhilarating experience. It’s bizarre in the sense that rally should, by all accounts, not involve another car that nearby. It’s exhilarating, though, in the sense that other cars are indeed that nearby and could easily bump you off a mountainside in the hill climb mode.

Yet therein lies one of the Achilles heels of the build we’ve been playing: loose handling that allows you to be easily bumped off in the first place. I’ll be the first to admit I’ve never driven 65 mph around a 45-degree corner on a muddy road in a VW Beetle RSi. There are just some things the wife won’t let you do. Still, I have a sneaking suspicion that even at that speed and on that surface, the car would have a little more "weight" to it than the cars currently do in RalliSport Challenge 2.

It’s not just the mud, either. Sure, you’d expect cars to slide all over when ice racing, but even driving over tarmac with tarmac-specific tires can feel a bit squirrely. In fact, although you can fine-tune the suspension and swap out tires before each race, the cars almost universally handle with too little heft. To be perfectly blunt, it often feels like cars are hydroplaning around completely dry corners. Here’s hoping the developers add a bit more tack to the tires and junk to the trunks by the time the game releases.

Keep in mind that even with the loose handling, everyone is subject to the same low-gravity physics, so multiplayer games can be as much about cookies as they are about career milestones. The only real downer, then, is that the swerve-fest in a split-screen game leads to a lot of on-screen movement, which in turn exposes the game’s early framerate problems. In a single-player game and Xbox Live, RalliSport Challenge 2 cruises along. But when two or more racers play on a single screen, things start to slow down, primarily around nasty corners and in mid-crash. Of course, even Halo had framerate problems in early builds, and that one turned out just fine.

The HUD, though, can also detract from a split-screen game, and that’s probably less likely to change. The default setting has the progress bar and on-screen map often interfering with your view of the road, and with the smaller screens of a split-screen game, you need all the visual real estate you can find. Like the tire and suspension options, the HUD is completely customizable, but it’s a shame that making the road more visible means the next corner will come up unexpectedly. A simple map in the bottom left corner would do the trick, but alas, it’s not currently there.

With these minor issues aside, RalliSport Challenge 2 is on its way to becoming the next great Xbox racer. The graphics, even in this preview build, show the polish of a new game engine. The audio, in spite of the requisite whiny engines, is fabulous. Even the new windshield camera is nice, because you can watch the windshield wipers sweep accumulated snow out of view on the ice racing tracks.

But the multiplayer aspects are ironically where this game will hold its own, even against PGR2. RalliSport Challenge 2 is a different game with a different style of racing, and as such, it probably won’t find the commercial success in the United States that PGR2 continues to enjoy. Fans of rally cross, though, will find a fantastic if not surprising head-to-head game that satisfies their competitive appetite for rally racing. There are a few kinks still left to work out, but if the cars find a little more weight and the split-screen framerate finds some consistency, the rally mode in Gran Turismo 4 had better watch its back.