13 replies to this topic

[SB]

Why nobody mentioned this game ?

 

None of us has bought it ? I don't believe it !

Anyway I have order my copy and see if I could find sometime coming weekend to do a test run. 

[balage06]

I bought it, I just didn't have the time to try it properly yet. But my initial impressions were pretty good after a couple hours of playing, I think the reputation it has is way worse than what it deserves, maybe the community's expectations was a bit too high...

[mahelgel]

I never got along with the first installment (horrible menu system, and when i first tried it at early access it wasn't all that good and those first impressions probably set the tone for the rest of my "career" in dirt rally), but from what i hear the driving experiece in the second edition is pretty good. I will probably cave in and just get it one day, but i do fear it might be history repeating. From what i hear the Group B cars are pretty scary to drive, so that could make it all worth it 

[vtpachyderm]

I don’t have access to my console (PS4 with wheel) until June. But the game is on my wishlist/cart when I do get back. Enjoyed the first one immensely.

[messy]

Problem with this for me isn't the game (which I'm sure is pretty good), it's the fact that you buy it and get like half the game. With the rest bring added through paid DLC over the next couple of months. Nah, I'll get the full game, not paying 70 quid for game plus season pass.

[MikeV1987]

I bought the first one but didn't play it much, so I'm on the fence about buying this one.

[PayasYouRace]

I decided to buy it because the last rally game I had was Dirt 3. It's very good from where I'm sat, and with an XBox One controller, quite difficult. I'm still playing about with the assists and AI difficulty to get it to where I need it to be competitive.

 

Unfortunately you can't adjust the AI level in career mode. So after an initial first season where I won in the Lancia Fulvia starter car, I struggle to get into the points at Clubman level. I'm a bit more competitive at Rallycross though, and it's a lot of fun too. This is strange because with F1 2018, even in career mode you can adjust the AI level race to race, to keep the game at the right level of challenge, so I'm surprised Codies didn't incorporate it.

 

Currently focusing on the historic series for the main rally game, because I can bring the difficulty to where I want it. i.e. I'll win a stage if I have a great run, but if I just play it safe I'll be near the front. It's no fun if you win easily, but it's also no fun if you're trying your hardest and can only manage 17th on what felt like a solid run.

 

I bought the baseline game, so no DLC. With it there's plenty of cars to play with. All the Rallycross circuits are there with all the top level drivers and cars (it is the official game of the World Rallycross Championship). Of the rally stages, they've done the usual thing of having 2 very long stages in each country, which they then chop up and reverse into smaller sections to bring it to about 10 stages per country, but it does mean you recognise a lot of sections.

 

New Zealand is a bit of a gentle intro, but is still challenging at times, especially in the hairpins where you need to hook into the inside camber or you simply slide out into the scenery. Australia is more difficult. New England is a nice looking autumn set of stages, and the narrow paths make it quite challenging. Argentina is very tough despite being a slow set of stages, as the gravel tracks are surrounded by big rocks. Poland is mega fast and fun and is a mixed surface rally. But it's very easy to end up pinballing between the banks and end up in a huge accident. Spain is the only all tarmac rally, and while I've been told the tarmac physics aren't as good as the gravel, it's probably more noticeable playing with a wheel.

 

There are plenty of options and assists, including how early or late your co-driver calls are. I found the default a little bit too early, as Phil Mills was giving me calls for corners 3 or 4 corners ahead. I prefer the calls to be a second or so before I have to take action for that particular corner.

 

Overall, it's keeping me coming back for more.

[Hati]

Problem with this for me isn't the game (which I'm sure is pretty good), it's the fact that you buy it and get like half the game.

 

This. (+ the fact that I've bought first part but haven't played it yet since Assetto Corsa takes all my driving time.)

 

I'll buy it when complete game is 20€ or something like that on Steam sale.

[messy]

After my faux indignation about the price I bought the deluxe version today.

After an afternoon of (slowly) downloading an update I got a few minutes in. I think it's going to be good. Feels similar to the original game, without the zero gravity jump physics. So that's good. The new countries are good - New Zealand is great, I remember loving that on the original Colin McRae Rally, and it feels pretty authentic, have had a quick go on Poland and Australia too and looking forward to remastered versions of the original DR events over the next few weeks. Good mix of cars, like the new Polo R5 especially but missing 'proper' modern WRC cars again. There are rumours that the Season 3 DLC will be the fully licensed 2019 WRC but I don't buy that.

The Rallycross is great, though. All the cars, tracks, rules, proper event structure, I'm going to enjoy that a lot. Dirt Rally and Dirt 4 had the content, but it was limited. This feels like it's been properly done.

My reservations about this though are that it just doesn't seem as 'special' as DIRT Rally did. The stages, I'd hazard a guess, are fictional. I think you can tell. The stages in the original felt properly different. Hardcore. There was something so satisfying about slithering through Sweet Lamb in the original in the rain, but the stages here feel more like DiRT 4 to me. Also, I don't think the visual detail in the stages is anything like as varied, it's a bit same year and again I honestly think the difference is that the original had the real stages....

I played the original straight after and part of me still liked it much better. That might change, though.

[masa90]

I really like the game. There is few really, really annoying things though.

Random bugs, where the car is positioned inside the ground (yes, you read it correctly) is pretty horrible in a event where you cant restart at all or then it is really limited. Also sometimes your suspension breaks?? or something similar happens before the start of the stage. Usually restart cures this (if it is a race where they are available)

 

And most importantly, ai timing is really, really odd. Sometimes you win by 20-30 secs per stage, yet on next stage one random ai makes few minutes quicker time than anyone. Also why cant I adjust the difficulty on career? That thing is really broken atm.

 

Rest is really good, I love the feeling while driving if I somehow make a good stage (by my standards hah) and the R5 cars are a blast. All in all, everything is just pretty much better, but it does not work completely yet. Which is bit sad and will drive people away from it. They should polished it and then sold it.

[balage06]

I ended up ordering a handbrake.  Even in the first game, I often felt that I would be quicker if I had one, but with the new physics in 2.0 it is almost impossible to steer the car on gravel properly without a stick.

[messy]

WRC8 is out now, and it’s very good.

Being able to choose between Dirt Rally 2 and WRC8 is pretty amazing to be honest, two superb rally sims out there. Having played maybe two, three hours of WRC8 I still think maybe DR2 has the edge for the core driving experience, but it’s bloody close now and what WRC8 offers - full licenced WRC lineup from 2019 plus now some historic categories, 14 locations with several distinct stages for each (rather than one long stage cut up into sections like DR2), dynamic weather, stages that last 20 miles, it might even have the edge depending on what you want from a rally game.

Edited by messy, 06 September 2019 - 23:11.

[blackmme]

I treated myself to the Ultimate Edition in the PlayStation January Sale, so thereby avoided most people’s (justifiable) Pay DLC gripes.

First impressions are great,
I really enjoyed Dirt Rally and although I am completely and utterly rubbish at it I’m absolutely ok with that because the game seems scrupulously fair and it’s my lack of talent (and ageing reflexes) that are the problem!
Every aspect from Dirt Rally seems improved, and my brief run in the Lancia 037 in the Alps was an absolute hoot except for the bit when it turns out that I do t have quite the depth of talent as Walter Rohrl!

Regards Mike

[messy]

It’s really, really good and there’s an absolute **** load of content which was the biggest issue with the original.

I miss Pikes Peak, though!!!