DiRT Rally by Codemasters on Steam Early Access
So a new entry in the DiRT franchise has literally just popped up on Steam Early Access. Codemasters is putting together DiRT Rally which goes back to the edge of your seat rally racing that many of have been wanting. As several reviews have clearly stated – No Gymkhana.
At first glance the game looks very impressive and by the description of real rally stages, car setup, team mechanics, and car repair it sounds like an impressive and difficult blend of driving and management. In fact, if we jump back over a decade, it reminds me of Mobil 1 Rally Championship which I thought was incredibly fun and challenging game.
If my memory serves, it had something like 250 miles of actual rally stages and not only was it hard to drive, the car constantly took damage. Even if you didn’t slam into barriers, rocks, logs, etc, there was the constant wear and tear on the car and you could only repair it during certain sections. And then you only had a certain amount of time allotted so more than likely the car would still be broken in some respect and you’d have to plan careful to the next stage. Not only that, some of the stages were 15-20 minutes in length so you really had to concentrate and plan. It was glorious!
DiRT Rally seems to bring back a lot of those elements. And if it really does, it’s going to be a must have. I had a great time playing DiRT 2, but it was more arcade style and you could beat the hell out of the car and it would still keep going. You may lose a little time with that spectacular barrel roll, but you could still keep going. I don’t believe it’s going to work that way in DiRT Rally. It doesn’t look like you get Flashbacks or resets, so once you cock it all up, you have to live with the consequences.
If this is the game I think it is, it too will be brilliant. The description sounds right on the money for a real rally racer and from the reviews a lot of people are already singing it’s praises. And again, No Gymkhana.
As stated, the game is Early Access, which seems to scare a lot of people these days. I’m not sure it’s seen as a negative, I like Early Access and getting feedback on what’s working and what’s not. It’s not just about bug reports, but shaping how the game should play and making sure Gymkhana doesn’t creep into the game.
The cost is a dash high for Early Access and it’s initial release. Normally you jump at the discount, but the game is looking good enough that I might overlook that and just get it anyway. I’m still putting in hours on Grid Autosport, but I’m more than willing to put that aside for the opportunity to race through the forest at breakneck speeds!
