- [Luke Reilly] DiRT Rally 2.0
is a first rate return to the more serious side
of Codemasterers' off-road catalog.
It may be hot on the heels of DiRT 4 with a couple
of tricks pulled from its friendlier stable mate,
but make no mistake,
DiRT Rally 2.0 reasserts this spin-off series'
reputation as the premiere rally simulator
of the modern era.
(upbeat hyped music)
DiRT Rally 2.0 is designed primarily for hard-boiled
rally enthusiasts and returning fans
so new players may struggle initially.
While the original DiRT Rally was eventually augmented
with a pile of tutorial videos
and DiRT 4 features a fully-fledged
DiRT Academy Training mode,
there's none of that here in DiRT Rally 2.0.
It's a case of learn on the job or perish.
(car crashing)
For players who were turned off
by the first games ruthless AI,
DiRT Rally 2.0 features a difficulty slider
similar to the F1 series rather than the several
AI presets included in the first game.
At its weakest the AI in DiRT Rally 2.0
can be soundly trounced even after making
a big error or two so the barrier for success
has been lowered a bit.
At normal difficulty levels and higher however
it can be tough to top a time sheet
after even a single mistake.
DiRT Rally's reputation as Dark Souls on gravel
remains in tact.
(upbeat electronic music)
Failing to make the jump from DiRT 4
is the procedurally generated stage system,
Your Stage, which I still think has a lot of promise.
DiRT Rally 2.0 opts for handcrafted stages
like the first DiRT Rally.
The game with stages touched by artists
rather than algorithms is that they do have
noticeably more character and being bespoke
there are numerous little idiosyncrasies
and unique elements that you wouldn't
necessarily get from a computer stitching together
a bunch of tweaked track tiles.
It also means stages that more closely
resemble actual rally locations.
The downside of course is that sticking with
pre-made stages means we're back to having
just a couple of long stages per location
chopped up into segments to run forwards and backwards.
Running repeatedly over the same ribbons of road
quickly becomes sapping.
To its credit DiRT Rally 2.0 stages are
the best looking in the series to date
especially in the wet and Codemasters has added
surface degradation to them
which adds an extra dimension to tackling particular stages
especially in Argentina and Australia.
The further down the running order you start,
all the way down to 150th,
the more rugged and churned up the track surface will be.
Thick grooves of gravel will tug tires to and fro
and I really had to fight to keep my car pointed
in a straight line on a heavily disturbed surface
with grip at a premium.
(gentle drum music)
I played on Xbox One X with a Thrustmaster TS-XW
racing wheel and a PS4 Pro with a pad
and the game was well suited to both.
I quickened up my steering settings with the wheel
because it felt a bit sluggish by default
but changed nothing on the pad.
DiRT Rally 2.0's driving dynamics are a delight
and it feels like low-speed handling has improved.
It seems easier to deliberately break traction
on loose surfaces at slower speeds than before
allowing me to better rotate certain cars on the throttle.
A huge huge highlight is the new Rg T class
particularly with the original DiRT Rally's
rear-wheel drive Group B cars absent from this sequel.
In real life Rg T is a tarmac base cut
for production GT cars,
but DiRT Rally 2.0 unleashes these beasts on mud and gravel.
At first glance it may seem a little absurd
to tackle loose surface rallies in
high horsepower rear-wheel drive V8s
but in practice it's a hell of a lot of fun.
Throttle control is key here
with the right amount of beans
only small steering inputs are necessary
to negotiate corners.
It's a delicate dance.
Ah, and they sound fantastic!
(car engine revving)
The audio elsewhere is typically brilliant
from the pops and farts and belches of engines running rich
to the wheel noise and kick up as you careen
over all the different surfaces.
Though I did crank the latter up a bit
from its default level.
Veteran co-driver Phil Mills' pace notes
are clear and robust.
- [Mills] Open to the crest, 30.
- [Reilly] Though his post race banner needs a bit of work.
- [Mills] That felt good, but let's check the times.
- [Reilly] We came last Phil.
We crashed three times back there.
We literally crashed into the finish line.
(electronic music)
Career mode is similar to the original DiRT Rally
tasking players with building a garage
and a team and for some reason you'll need
to be online to access it.
I understand why being online is a requirement
to access the daily and weekly asynchronous
challenges against other DiRT players,
but why single player progression is tied to it isn't clear.
This could be a problem if connectivity is an issue.
Career mode is a bit stingy with cash
but there's also a collection of stand alone championships
you can dive straight into like a driver for hire
which is a decent concession to those
with less time to grind and micromanage.
The Official World RX series is included here
to immediately dive into also.
Eight tracks are featured and Catalunya, Silverstone,
and Mettet make their debut here.
(upbeat electronic music)
DiRT Rally 2.0 feels great, looks good, and sounds fabulous.
It doesn't take long until you're redoing the same stages
over and over and career mode is a little plain
but DiRT Rally 2.0 is a confident rally racer
for serious rev-heads.
Stern, focused and harder than a woodpeckers lips,
it's as tricky to tame as its predecessor
but doing so is as satisfying as ever.
For more Codemasters car capers
check out IGN's previous verdicts on DiRT 4 and F1 2018.
(upbeat electronic music)