''Dirt Rally'' (stylised as ''DiRT Rally'') is a

racing simulation Simulated racing or racing simulation, commonly known as simply sim racing, are the collective terms for racing game software that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire ...

video game developed and published by

Codemasters The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in Oct ...

for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

. A

Steam Early Access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...

version of the game was released on 27 April 2015, and the full version was released on 7 December.

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 i ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

and physical PC DVD versions were released on 5 April 2016. The

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, whi ...

and

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...

versions, developed by

Feral Interactive Feral Interactive is a British video games developer and publisher for macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows platforms. It was founded in 1996 to bring games to Mac and specialises in porting games to different p ...

, were released on 2 March 2017. A sequel, '' Dirt Rally 2.0'', was released in February 2019.

Gameplay

''Dirt Rally'' is a

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

focused on

rallying Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

. Players compete in timed stage events on tarmac and off-road terrain in varying weather conditions. On release, the game featured 17 cars, 36 stages from three real world locations -

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

and

Argolis Argolis or Argolida ( el, Αργολίδα , ; , in ancient Greek and Katharevousa) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese, situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula and part of the ...

- and asynchronous multiplayer. Stages range from 4 to 16 km. Subsequent updates added three more locations in the form of

Baumholder Baumholder () is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, in the Westrich, an historic region that encompasses areas in both Germany and France. The town of Baumholder is the administrative seat of the like-named ''Verba ...

Jämsä Jämsä () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, about southwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of (), which make it the second largest town of the Central Finland after Jyväsk ...

and

Värmland Värmland () also known as Wermeland, is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are '' ...

, as well as rallycross and

player versus player Player versus player (PvP) is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between human players. This is often compared to player versus environment (PvE), in which the game itself controls its players' opponents. The terms are mos ...

multiplayer modes. Codemasters announced a partnership with the

FIA World Rallycross Championship The FIA World Rallycross Championship (official abbreviation is World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the FIA in conjunction with series promoter Rallycross Promoter GmbH (founded by Red Bull and KW25). From the inaugural season in 2014 ...

in July 2015, leading to the inclusion of the Lydden Hill Race Circuit (England),

Lånkebanen Lånkebanen is a road racing circuit situated near Hell in Lånke, Stjørdal, Norway. The venue opened in 1987 as the first asphalt track in the country. It is used for a variety of motorsports, including rallycross, go-kart and motorcycle raci ...

(Norway), and Höljesbanan (Sweden) to the game. ''Dirt Rally'' features a large number of vehicles in a wide variety of classes, and 16 manufacturers. It contains cars from the 1960s, 70s, 80s,

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles ...

Group R In relation to motorsport governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, Group R refers to a set of regulations providing production-derived vehicles for rally competition. The Group R regulations were created in 2008 as a gradual ...

, 2000s and 2010s modern rally, Rallycross and

Pikes Peak Pikes Peak is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, in North America. The ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, west of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. The town of Manitou S ...

, with cars having up to 10 liveries, as well as the lineup of the 2015 season. In terms of image quality, a full 1080p resolution is delivered on both PS4 and Xbox One, with post-process anti-aliasing, along with matching art and effects work, whereas the PC version includes Steam Workshop that consists of preset setups made from each vehicles by users that helps benefit races from different terrains from different tracks (though the game holds up to 100 mods as subscribing to more than 100 mods will not function).

Development

''Dirt Rally'' was developed by Codemasters using the in-house Ego engine. Development began with a small team of individuals following the release of their 2012 video game '' Dirt: Showdown''. The team has emphasised a desire to create a

simulation A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of Conceptual model, models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or proc ...

with ''Dirt Rally''. They started by prototyping a handling model and creating tracks based on map data. The game employs a different physics model from previous titles, rebuilt from zero. To recreate authentic car sounds, the developers recorded nearly fifty real world rally cars by placing up to ten microphones in each car's engine bay, at the intake, above the exhaust, and inside the cabin. The audio mix depends on the player's camera location, and also the surrounding environment due to modelling of reverb on each stage. The audio team also captured details such as gravel kick-up, waste-gate chatter, and the whine of straight-cut transmissions. They primarily recorded on-track rather than on a dyno in order to capture off-throttle deceleration. An early version of ''Dirt Rally'' was showcased to journalists in late 2013, but the game wasn't officially announced until in April 2015. It was released for

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...

on digital distribution service

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizatio ...

. Game director Paul Coleman said that it was important to publicly release an unfinished build of the game so that the development team could get feedback from players. He expressed an interest in releasing ''Dirt Rally'' on consoles in the future but said that it was not possible, with it being an early access game at the time, then lent his voice as the game's English-speaking co-driver. Codemasters intended to introduce new cars, locations, and modes in monthly content updates, and make gameplay tweaks throughout the early access process. The full version of the game was released on 7 December same year. The game was released on

and

on 5 April 2016.

Reception

''Dirt Rally'' received "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. ''

GameStar ''GameStar'' is a monthly-released PC gaming magazine in Germany. It is the best-selling German-language magazine focused on PC gaming and it also hosts the largest video gaming-related portal in the German-speaking internet. Content The pri ...

'' gave the game 90% and said "''Dirt Rally'' is the best rally simulation at the moment and one of the best racing games of all time. Beginners will find it to be quite difficult". ''

GamesTM ''GamesTM'' (styled as ''gamesTM'') was a UK-based, multi-format video games magazine, covering console, handheld, PC and Arcade games. The first issue was released in December 2002 and the magazine was still being published monthly in English ...

'' celebrated the change of direction, saying "this is the best thing the 'Dirt' name has ever been associated with and rallying enthusiasts are sure to be relieved that the obsession with the kind of American slang that was only partially hip in the 90s has been overcome and removed". Play magazine said that "it doesn't patronise with gimmicky mechanics, nor is it a dry, joyless simulation". ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'' praised the physics model, graphics, and the range of cars, but said that the "Hill Climb and Rallycross modes feel half-baked". Italian version of ''

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EG ...

'' agreed too: "All we can hope for is new content - more cars and tracks". ''

GamesRadar ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites '' Total Film'', '' SFX'', '' Edge'' and '' Comput ...

'' highlighted the game's unforgiving nature: "Tires burst, radiators overheat, and you can frequently find yourself hobbling over the finish line with a slack time simply because you’ve lost control of your car once in an otherwise clean and competitive race". ''

GamesMaster ''GamesMaster'' is a British television programme which originally aired on Channel 4 from 1992 to 1998. In 2021, it returned for a new series on YouTube and E4. It was the first UK television programme dedicated to video games. Dominik Diam ...

'', ''

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed ...

'' and IGN agreed. VideoGamer.com praised the game's "incredible speed",

PlayStation Universe is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divis ...

stated that it was better than '' Richard Burns Rally''. '' Official PlayStation Magazine'' said it was "the most exhilarating driving game Codemasters has created in years, and undoubtedly the best rally game on PS4", with '' OXM'' adding "without question the best rally sim ever made". On the contrary, ''

PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ...

'' wrote: "Unfortunately, though, in physics and handling detail, it falls a little flat. The lack of any sort of precarious feel when flying over ice and mud is an absolute shame, and the amount of forced assistance is a disappointment. Anyone waiting for a new ''Richard Burns'' will need to carry on waiting". Evo praised the audio, saying "at times, ''Dirt Rally'' excels. The sound design in particular is excellent, as is the wide variety of cars on offer. The audio in ''Dirt Rally'' really does deserve special mention. Not only is it some of the best we’ve heard in a racing game, it serves real purpose, with the co-driver almost perfectly matching his pace notes up with a stage". Of the graphics, they added: "While it definitely can’t come close to the production values of the likes of a '' Gran Turismo'' title, there is a lot of visual flourishes that impress with ''Dirt Rally''". The '' Australian Official PlayStation Magazine'' said the game worked well with a steering wheel. ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...

'' compared the game favorably to its rivals, stating "'' Sébastien Loeb Rally Evo''’s handling remains nowhere near as satisfying or convincing as ''Dirt Rally''’s superlative scrambling".

Stuff magazine ''Stuff'' is a British consumer electronics magazine published by Kelsey Media. History ''Stuff'' was first published in Britain in November 1996 by Dennis Publishing. A bimonthly title, it followed the success of magazines such as ''FHM'' a ...

stated that this was "a game that leaves ''

WRC 5 ''WRC 5'' is a racing video game based on the 2015 World Rally Championship season. The game was developed by French developer Kylotonn and published by Bigben Interactive for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, ...

'' eating gravel". The game reached number 1 in the UK PS4 physical sales chart, and number 19 in the European download chart. It reached number 2 in the UK multiformat physical sales chart in its week of release, only behind ''

Quantum Break ''Quantum Break'' is a 2016 science fiction action-adventure third-person shooter video game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft Studios for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One. The game centers on Jack Joyce (Shawn Ashmore) ...

''. The month after the release, ''The Official PlayStation Magazine'' listed ''Dirt Rally'' as the 16th best PS4 game of all time. ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' listed it in their top games of 2016.

TechRadar ''TechRadar'' is an online publication owned by Future and focused on technology. It has editorial teams in the US, UK and Australia and provides news and reviews of tech products and gadgets. It was launched in 2007 and expanded to the US in ...

included the game on their list of the "10 best racing games on PC". Octane magazine put it at #1 on their list of the best sim racing games. At the

BAFTAs The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

, the game was nominated for the award for best sports game of 2016. ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 ...

'' gave it their award for best racing game of the year.

Gameplanet Gameplanet was a video gaming website that provided news, reviews, previews, videos, and other information. It was the largest video gaming website in New Zealand. Gameplanet New Zealand despite having the same name with the biggest specialized ...

listed it as one of their best games of the year. Alphr put ''Dirt Rally'' in their top 5 PS4 racing games.

PCGamesN ''PCGamesN'' is a British online video game magazine focusing on PC gaming and hardware. It has a full-time team of over a dozen writers and is the oldest owned-and-operated site within publishing group Network N. History Parent company Net ...

said it was in the top 3 most realistic PC racing games.

References

External links