Dirt Rally 2.0
NOTHING WILL DELIVER SEVERAL MINUTES AT A TIME OF ULTRA-INTENSE CONCENTRATION AND SATISFACTION LIKE THIS. $99.95 | PC, XO, PS4 | www.codemasters.com
BACK IN 2004 the Last Great Rally Game was released. Richard Burns Rally is a rare pinpoint of ultra-hardcore sim physics in a world of arcade Rally games. Then, in 2015 Codemasters released Dirt Rally and it blew sim racers away with unexpected levels of sim authenticity. It was an immediate hit, and being far fresher than the ageing Richard Burns, it game reinvigorated interest in rally siming.
Codies has lifted the game with the successor, which is clearly pitched at the sim scene. You can tell, because the car physics feel terrifyingly, beautifully real. There’s almost no OSD while you’re driving, and tweaking around with the car setups yield appreciable and satisfying results.
As tricky as the handling is, it doesn’t take long to get a good feel for it as confidence builds. After just an hour or two you’ll be flinging the car around like a driving god, and that’s what it’s all about. Rally, by its essence, is a lonely endeavour. Just you, the car and the track. And, the clock. It’s the only kind of racing game where you never see other cars, thus, to be enjoyed properly it must be a totally zoned in experience when you only have yourself to beat. Yes, there are structured championships, but at the end of the day those only reward with a leaderboard ranking. To love this game, you need to love the purity of driving.
Pleasingly Dirt Rally 2.0 is addictively moreish and the headroom to improve your skills and times feels unlimited. For sim racing fans like myself who dabble across many games, this is one to be perma-installed and played when the need to go totally mental in a forest or across a mountain beckons. When you’re really on it the levels of focus and concentration required surpass any other kind of game, racing or otherwise, and that my friends is a huge reason why this is a good sim to own. There’s not a single thought about the real world you’ll have as you drive, it is escapist perfection and a major stress valve!
Out of the box the force feedback is extremely good, if a little soft. Some tweaking here will get things exactly right. My Fanatec CS 2.5 imparts superb car feel, with weight shift (so important in rallying!) beautifully done. You can also get by without a handbrake once your Scandinavian flinging Zen kicks in.
Car setup options are as comprehensive as any hardcore sim, and pleasingly they, along with almost everything else you’ll want to play with when not actually driving, is wrapped up in a simple UI.
Fully modded-up, Richard Burns can still cut it, but here is a new game with new tech that delivers everything a rally simhead will adore. Good job, Codemasters, for this is the new king of rallying.