So DiRT Rally represents a promised return to form, with a heavy focus on hyper-realism, utilizing all the processing power of the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and current-generation PCs.
As screenshots and videos can attest, DiRT Rally is a beautiful-looking game. If you’re in the cockpit view, you can really only catch glimpses of the outside world that Codemasters has crafted. Take the camera out behind the car for the best view. Included in these virtual landscapes are sweeping vistas, dry grasslands, and forests so dense that you easily get lost staring into the abyss of tree trunks. The world around you looks so good, it’s a shame you have to whiz right on by the sights.
DiRT Rally is not an easy game, this is a simulator, first and foremost. There are in-vehicle assists, such as ABS, traction and stability assists, but these only help so much. With tracks that have unpredictable routes which you can only learn by driving through them repeatedly. DiRT Rally has a learning curve that casual gamers may never be able to overcome, which is unfortunate if anyone was curious enough to try the game out, only to get frustrated in the early stages, not knowing that practice really does help in a game as seriously realistic as this.
As you make your way through a stage, your spotter is constantly dictating the course’s next turn or feature. He does this by using true-to-life pacenotes. For those unfamiliar with these, in real-life rally races, each driver has a co-driver whose chief task is to alert the driver to what lies ahead. A dictation such as “Left 6 over crest into Right 2 keep in” indicates that an easy left turn up and over a hill is followed by a rather sharp right turn, where it is recommended that you stay on the inside in order to best be lined up for the next feature. The co-driver sounds so authentic, I think Codemasters must simply have taken a professional co-driver, and had them dictate these virtual courses in real-time.
Speaking of sound, whether it’s the whir of a turbocharger, the slosh of tires whirring through the mud, or the unfortunate ticking of a damaged radiator, Codemasters have done their homework when it comes to capturing the sounds of rally racing.
DiRT Rally also focuses on its core mechanic, which is rally racing. As a result, there aren’t a whole lot of modes to play. There are a few other event types, such as rally cross and hill climbs, but they are not the stars of the show. Generally, you race through the open championships in order to earn credits, hire engineers, and purchase new cars. Your team has an overall rating, and the more miles you put into a car, the better upgrades your team can unlock for that individual car. Engineers can also raise their skill levels over time, and if you don’t like the performance of one, you can let them go, though since you’ve already paid for their contract you’ll end up wasting some cash.
You can take your race online, and participate in rallies with others. Rally racing really is perfect for online competition, because its asymmetric nature means that lag is not an issue: the best driver who drives the course the fastest, wins. Plain and simple. There is also a custom championship mode, where you can mix and match your favorite stages. With over 70 tracks, there are a lot of combinations possible here, and fans will become experts at these courses in no time. You can also expect to earn every car with in-game credits.
