It’s the first time the McRae name has officially been involved with the series since 2009’s Dirt 2 and it’s a welcome return. The key hook of this Game of the Year Edition, to many fans, will be the inclusion of the Colin McRae: FLAT OUT Pack. Nothing like a good long shot, the scenery is stunning at times Gone, however, is the iconic Pikes Peak hill climb and despite the plethora of locations to get your rally driving fix from, DiRT 2.0 is a little worse off with its omission. Content is something DiRT Rally 2.0 Game of the Year Edition is not short of. If Rallycross is more your thing, there’s another thirteen circuits including official courses from the FIA World Rallycross Championship. That’s a whopping thirteen rally locations and more stages than a manned mission to Mars. This includes locations such as Finland, Germany, Sweden, Scotland, Wales, Greece and Monte Carlo to join the original six rally locations of the USA, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Poland and Spain. It’s still not a walk in the park and learning to play on a controller will take time and practice but it is possible and very, very rewarding.Īs is typical of Game of the Year editions, this release includes all the cars and tracks that were locked behind DiRT Rally 2.0’s Year 1 pass. One positive out of this change however, is that it’s easier to play on a controller which makes it far more accessible than DiRT Rally ever was. That being said, moving to a model that causes such a drastic change regardless is an odd choice given how good things already were.
Given wheel support varies between hardware it may just be that our Thrustmaster TX wheel isn’t as well supported as others. Every surface feels pretty much the same and it's much harder to judge where the grip is. However it seems to have made its way into DiRT Rally 2.0 and it’s pretty disappointing. It felt a little lacklustre when compared to its simulation stablemate but then, given DiRT 4’s more arcade leanings, this could be forgiven. McRae’s Subaru and a rally game, simply iconicĭiRT 4 followed two years later, more a sequel to Dirt: Showdown than DiRT Rally and with it a new handling model. Each surface could be differentiated through the force feedback helping you navigate the stage alongside your co-driver’s pace notes. Updated visuals aside, it was the deftness in the handling and the feel, especially if you had a wheel setup, that really set it apart. Steeped in simulation, it was precisely what sim rally fans had been after.
It was with shock and sheer delight then that in 2015 Codemasters released, originally in Steam’s early access, DiRT Rally. This isn’t to say they were bad games but it left those who enjoyed playing sims with a game that would slowly but surely show its age when it came to not only graphics but compatibility. Whilst it strove for realism, the McRae titles slowly but surely tilted towards arcade mayhem. It goes without saying that in reality, the best rallying experience up until recently for full-on realism belonged to Richard Burns’ Rally.
DIRT RALLY 2.0 REVIEW DRIVERS
Don’t get me wrong, I have every respect for drivers in the current WRC Championship and for sheer success no-one gets close to the likes of Sébastien Loeb - yet Colin McRae and his rally game brought forth my first real taste of what rallying was like and I doubt I am alone in that respect. Even now, listing the names of the rally drivers I watched as a kid gives me chills: Richard Burns, Carlos Sainz Sr, Juha Kankkunen, Tommi Mäkinen and of course Colin McRae.
As a kid born in the eighties I’ve been fortunate enough to say I’ve seen some of the titans of motorsport duel it out. When it comes to motorsport icons I count myself lucky.
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