I officially take my hat off for the Codemasters. No other game developer has managed to rack up that much positive vibe in such a short time. The first glimpse of their changed focus was the Grid Autosport, which thankfully made up for the not so great Grid 2. In fact the Grid Autosport’s return to proper racing roots gave the nick name Grid “Apology”. And now it’s time for the Dirt to be back to it’s roots of a no-nonsense rally game. It seems that they have even pushed the bar so high that people almost immediately started comparing it to Richard Burns Rally. So has the decade of RBR’s monopoly come to an end, or did Codemasters decide to play it safe and went for a more accessible route of a casual racer?
First of all, let me make clear that neither of these two games deserves the comparasement. While yes, RBR is known for it’s minimalistic approach and absolutely ruthless physics, it’s over a decade old. It was beyond advanced back in the day, but the times have moved on and so have we. On the other hand Dirt is still feeling a lot more arcade-like, but don’t let me fool you. It’s still tough as nails and nearly impossible to beat, especially on later levels. On top of that it’s graphics are considerably better, and when you look at the car variety that is presently available to use, it’s hard to justify sticking to the good old RBR.
Speaking of car variety. What I have in front of me is the list of cars and classes of cars which we can expect in later stages of the game, and it makes me giggle like a little girl who is about to get the ice cream she wanted for the whole day. There are expected to be 16 classes of cars, 10 of which are either complete or partially finished, and a total of 69 cars. Say what you want, but there’s plenty for everyone to be happy about. And don’t let me forget about different types of racing available to play around with.
On first glance you only have 3 types of racing – rally, hillclimb and rallycross. However, if you peek under the surface, you’ll realize that every series is divided into different categories, raging in difficulty from “nearly impossible” to “don’t even bother trying”. And if you find the AI in the game too difficult, or even too easy, feel free to join in on the fun online and get to do the same thing you were doing in career mode, but with far less in-game credits award.
This slowly brings us up to the latest update that was delivered by Codemasters, which features the long awaited PVP mode. PVP mode allows people from all over the world to go against each other in very intense rallycross racing, as well as it brought us three new cars to play with. I have to say, the quality of the connection to the servers, seemingly non-existent lag and a great system to keep people close to the competitors of their skill level has made the game even better than it already was before. I’ve spent a few hours playing against real people in Dirt Rally and for the first time I didn’t feel lonely. Previously all of the competitions would take place in the time-trial environment, and to see actual people and to see how you stack up against them is an unbelievable pleasure.
Obviously with Dirt Rally being an Early Access game there are a lot of things to iron out, but even if they were to release it today, it would already become an instant hit. Then again, hasn’t it already?
Full list of cars that are to be expected:
1960s:
Mini Cooper S
Lancia Fulvia HF
Saab 96/V4
Renault Alpine A110 (French flag on the corner of the card, considering the other cars in the class, by exclusion it can only be the Alpine)
1970s:
Fiat 131 Abarth
Lancia Stratos
Ford Escort Mk II
Opel Kadett
1980s RWD:
BMW M3 E30 Evo Rally
Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500
Renault 5 Turbo
Opel Ascona 400
Group B 4WD:
MG Metro 6R4
Audi Sport Quattro Rallye
Ford RS200
Peugeot 205 T16 Evo II
Lancia Delta S4
Group B RWD:
Lancia 037
Mazda RX7
Opel Manta 400
Renault 5 Maxi Turbo
Group A:
Ford Escort RS Cosworth
Subaru Impreza 1995
Lancia Delta HF Integrale
Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205
Rally F2:
Vauxhall Astra Kit Car
Peugeot 306 Maxi
Renault Megane Maxi
Seat Ibiza Kit Car Evo (2 I believe)
WRC 2000s:
Ford Focus RS WRC (2001-)
Subaru Impreza WRC2002
Citroen Xsara WRC (2003-)
Skoda Fabia WRC
Peugeot 307cc WRC (2004-)
WRC 2010s:
Mini Countryman Rally (This one will likely be replaced by the Mini Countryman WRC, as in the final version by Prodrive, not the concept)
Ford Fiesta RS Rally (This one will likely disappear)
Ford Focus RS WRC
Citroen C4 WRC
Rally R1-R3:
Citroen DS3 R3T
Ford Fiesta R1
Ford Fiesta R2
Rally R4:
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X
Subaru Impreza WRX STi (N14)
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
Rally R5:
Ford Fiesta R5
Peugeot 208 T16 R5
Citroen DS3 R5
Rally WRC 2015:
Citroen DS3 WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
VW Polo R WRC
Hyundai i20 WRC
Hill Climb Classic Unlimited:
Audi Quattro Pikes Peak S1
Peugeot 405 T16
Peugeot 205 T16
Millenworks Toyota Tacoma
Rod Millen Toyota Celica
Hill Climb Modern Unlimited:
Ford Fiesta Olsbergs MSE
Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak
Suzuki SX4 Monster Sport
Millen Hyundai PM580
Doran Ford RS200
World RallyX/GRC:
Citroen DS3
Ford Fiesta
Peugeot 208
Volkswagen Beetle
Skoda Fabia
Subaru Impreza Hatchback
Mini Countryman
Ford Fiesta GRC Lite
For more info check out the Dirt Rally website here.
