it's been quite some time since my g27 stopped working, and i haven't had the chance to play a proper racing sim since. dirt rally offers incredibly precise controls that work well even with a regular controller. the game features an ok amount of cars, although its campaign progression is a bit odd, making you stick to the same car for too long at times. while the rally physics are fantastic, the tarmac handling on hillclimbs could be better, as it doesn't quite capture the cars' aerodynamic grip and drag accurately. despite that, it's nice to know i can still enjoy more realistic racing games even without my steering wheel. i'm planning to play it now and then until i complete all the championships. update: after playing a bit more, i realized that the six locations repeat themselves, and only new stages are introduced as you make progress. it becomes quite monotonous to come across the same environment over and over again.

this is game 9/71 on my backlog

i am not a car fan, i don't like driving, or driving games, but holy shit, this game is just goddamn mean

from a technical standpoint, for it's age, it looks good, and drives realistically, though i don't know why having a tire burst makes my car always drift to the right no matter which tire bursts

the rallies are fun enough, shit, i could even go mindless and i could easily complete them, and get between 6th-4th, which was good enough fun for me, but HOLY SHIT the races are just... horrible! why is the AI like this? actually, why is anything like this? everyone has the same car, seemingly the same settings and everything, and you have a "joker" turn which is a slower turn that you HAVE to take at least once

THAT SUCKS. By having everyone have the same car, it means that, one mistake, one misuse of the joker turn, one slightly bad turn and IT'S OVER, you're not getting past them again, unless they make a mistake, WHICH THEY DON'T.

so yeah, it's just infuriating, but, i suppose it's not that bad, i played with a controller, did most of the races, but it's not like this game has an ending or anything so i just... didn't care about the more expensive ones, i'll consider this complete, sorry, this game isn't fun for me and i'm unable to grasp the weirder concepts like the engineers and team management, it was okay though, maybe i should stick to arcade racing games, those are just more fun.

Really clean and authentic driving experience that is hamstrung by a career mode that progresses at a snails pace. I have done the same handful of maps probably 2 dozen times each at this point and I am finally getting to the point where I can unlock more races and more of the expensive tier of car. The whole introduction to the game is a learning experience for sure. I think that the game could do a lot better in terms of interactive tutorials, a small free roam map that players can test drive cars and car setups, and a more interactive crowd system like the old school rally games had. The game is completely saved by the driving physics, co-driver calls, and the 3 different rally race types that offer plenty of variety.