MagpieRacer
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- Wymondham, Norfolk
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Round 9
Dirt Rally - 2015-2016
Car
Volkswagen Polo R WRC
Location
Sweden
Aslia
Algsjon
Spikbrenna
Vargasen
Umea Sprint
With the exception of the underwhelming spin off Dirt Showdown in 2012, the Dirt series took a short hiatus after Dirt 3. The series typically released every year to 18 months, but we had to wait over 4 years for Dirt Rally.
Dirt Rally marked a seismic shift for the series, after the arcade action of Dirt 2 and 3, the fan desire for a rally simulation clearly hadn't gone unnoticed and Codemasters delivered in a big way. Initially the game came via early access on Steam only in April 2015, with limited content which was expanded on quickly, before releasing fully on steam later in the same year and then consoles in April 2016.
The game focussed predominantly on the rally discipline, but it did also feature rallycross in 3 classes including officially licensed FIA World RX supercars and 3 official circuits. Rally came via 6 locations, each featuring 2 long stages, which were then split and reversed to create a total of 12 stages per location. All the stages in the game were based on either real stages or inspired by real roads. Monte Carlo, Greece, Finland, Sweden, Poland and Wales all feature. Car wise, almost every class of rally car was covered, from the 60s up to the contemporary WRC machines of the time. With a few surprises dotted in for good measure, such as the F2 class and machines like the Opel Manta 400 and E30 M3. Hill climb was the final discipline included, with a small selection of hill climb machinery including the then record breaking Peugeot 208 T16, and the legendary Pikes Peak hill climb in its entirety. With full gravel, full mixed and full tarmac variations.
The career mode was simplistic, working through the difficulty levels in a series of championships using the various categories of rally car. Rallycross was similar, working from the basic Mini rallycross up to the supercars. Online featured various daily weekly and monthly challenges as well as a club system. The game had a massive overhaul compared to previous Dirt games, the physics went firmly into the simulation territory, with a real emphasis on car control and stage knowledge. The damage was also a lot more realistic, on the hardest settings it was a huge challenge to win events as you had really look after the car., made even tougher with the removal of rewinds from the previous 3 games.
Reception was mostly positive, rally fans in particular immensely enjoyed the challenge of the game and the real world stages. However it was criticsed by some for being too difficult and not beginner friendly at all.
The Polo R WRC was the cover car in its Sebastien Ogier Red Bull livery, whilst this car was not a launch car for EAWRC, it was added later via DLC. Sweden was my choice for location, it was of course one of the 6 rallies in the first Dirt Rally title, but also, the stages featured in EAWRC are based from the same location, so the likes of Vargasen are in both games. I added Umea Sprint because it is a great closing stage.
Dirt Rally - 2015-2016
Car
Volkswagen Polo R WRC
Location
Sweden
Aslia
Algsjon
Spikbrenna
Vargasen
Umea Sprint
With the exception of the underwhelming spin off Dirt Showdown in 2012, the Dirt series took a short hiatus after Dirt 3. The series typically released every year to 18 months, but we had to wait over 4 years for Dirt Rally.
Dirt Rally marked a seismic shift for the series, after the arcade action of Dirt 2 and 3, the fan desire for a rally simulation clearly hadn't gone unnoticed and Codemasters delivered in a big way. Initially the game came via early access on Steam only in April 2015, with limited content which was expanded on quickly, before releasing fully on steam later in the same year and then consoles in April 2016.
The game focussed predominantly on the rally discipline, but it did also feature rallycross in 3 classes including officially licensed FIA World RX supercars and 3 official circuits. Rally came via 6 locations, each featuring 2 long stages, which were then split and reversed to create a total of 12 stages per location. All the stages in the game were based on either real stages or inspired by real roads. Monte Carlo, Greece, Finland, Sweden, Poland and Wales all feature. Car wise, almost every class of rally car was covered, from the 60s up to the contemporary WRC machines of the time. With a few surprises dotted in for good measure, such as the F2 class and machines like the Opel Manta 400 and E30 M3. Hill climb was the final discipline included, with a small selection of hill climb machinery including the then record breaking Peugeot 208 T16, and the legendary Pikes Peak hill climb in its entirety. With full gravel, full mixed and full tarmac variations.
The career mode was simplistic, working through the difficulty levels in a series of championships using the various categories of rally car. Rallycross was similar, working from the basic Mini rallycross up to the supercars. Online featured various daily weekly and monthly challenges as well as a club system. The game had a massive overhaul compared to previous Dirt games, the physics went firmly into the simulation territory, with a real emphasis on car control and stage knowledge. The damage was also a lot more realistic, on the hardest settings it was a huge challenge to win events as you had really look after the car., made even tougher with the removal of rewinds from the previous 3 games.
Reception was mostly positive, rally fans in particular immensely enjoyed the challenge of the game and the real world stages. However it was criticsed by some for being too difficult and not beginner friendly at all.
The Polo R WRC was the cover car in its Sebastien Ogier Red Bull livery, whilst this car was not a launch car for EAWRC, it was added later via DLC. Sweden was my choice for location, it was of course one of the 6 rallies in the first Dirt Rally title, but also, the stages featured in EAWRC are based from the same location, so the likes of Vargasen are in both games. I added Umea Sprint because it is a great closing stage.
