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The rallying is superb, but not everybody likes pure rallying. It’s a decent and capable modern racing game, but one that’s demonstrably outshone by Forza Horizon 3 and Driveclub in almost every way. Dirt 4 doesn’t have an identity of its own. Everything feels offensively inoffensive. After the short introduction to the game, no single racing discipline is mandatory, so you can just play what you like, with enough content to make your personal game feel substantial, even before you take it online.īut a game needs more than ‘content’.
#Dirt 4 vs dirt rally trial#
There are more gamey side modes - tucked well out of the way where they can’t offend anyone - where you can partake in some classic microgames like gate crasher, time trial runs with bonuses strewn around the route, and an in-depth tutorial mode. The cars still oversteer and I had to use every trick in the book to win on higher opponent difficulties, but I’d describe it more as ‘worthy challenge’, not ‘actual hell’. The steering becomes more responsive, more assured and – yes, it tells the truth – more fun.
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So I reluctantly switched to ‘Gamer mode’, at which point Dirt 2/3 raise their beautiful heads from the ground. Through no fault of your own, you’re left staring at the barrier, with no ‘Rewind’ button and, depending on your skill selections, a limited number of restarts. Never mind that the gap is closing and will be gone by the time they arrive. They subscribe to the Ayrton Senna school of thought, in that if a gap exists they’ll go for it. This difficulty is exacerbated by overly-aggressive AI. But push even slightly and you’ll inevitably oversteer to the inside of every other corner. If you owned a real dirt buggy, you wouldn’t want to tiptoe around tracks, you’d want to absolutely thrash the thing.
#Dirt 4 vs dirt rally pro#
Rallying is actually OK in pro mode, but it turns out that simulating rear-wheel drive buggies racing in close proximity to each other on a bumpy, loose-surface track makes for an almost unplayable video game. But – and I appreciate I’ll get called a noob for this – I just couldn’t enjoy the buggies, trucks or cross karts on that setting, whether with a pad or a wheel. I love racing games, I know what I’m doing. My initial time with the game was spent solely on Pro handling because that’s what I normally choose by default. Apparently the days are gone where you could have both. Right at the start, you are asked to choose between ‘fun’ and ‘realism’. At least the licensed soundtrack is superb. Every element and detail is incorporated with skill and finesse it simply lacks character, or has been done far better before. There is team radio, but it only passes on basic information and tells you to calm down if you get into a scrape.
#Dirt 4 vs dirt rally drivers#
The drivers have no personality other than a grimace if you fail. The courses have jumps but you won’t get massively airborne.
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It’s got sunshine and dust but the artistic (lens?) flair is AWOL, replaced with diligent, often mundane realism. So Dirt 4 has close-contact racing but milder damage. Since vocal sections of the community have been clamouring for ‘realism’ over fun, anything even remotely arcadey has either been turned down from 11 to 3, or sidelined. These disciplines are back, but scuppered. It became famous (or infamous depending on your viewpoint) for offering a wealth of racing variations, many of which featured over-the-top, automotive mayhem. So the rallying is superb, but main-series Dirt is more than just rally. Every element and detail is incorporated with skill and finesse it simply lacks character