Dakar Desert Rally Free On Epic Games Store Soon, PC Patch Here

Dakar Desert Rally Free On Epic Games Store Soon, PC Patch Here RD.jpg
The news follows the initial cessation of post-release support for Dakar Desert Rally, then a U-Turn and now a free giveaway.

Good news for those persevering with the Dakar Desert Rally, as a patch for PC players has arrived.

Arriving today, 12th February 2024, a ‘stability update’ is now queued for download. According to developer Saber Porto, it focuses on “reducing crash rate issues in single-player and multiplayer modes, as well as on loading screens from the Roadbook Editor and Replay Mode.”

The full, and minuscule, changelog is listed below for the hotfix.

In January, following the release of a USA DLC map, it was announced that no further support was planned for the official game of the Saudi Arabia-based rally raid. This decision was then reversed just over a week later, with updates to be published if they were to amend ‘stability issues’.

Dakar Desert Rally Free Epic Games PC Patch

Dakar Desert Rally Free On Epic Games Store​

The game, which features a Forza Horizon-aping open world ‘sport mode’ alongside more ‘serious’ options that more closely resemble the real-world event will also be soon free.

Between the 15th and 22nd February 2024, PC players will be able to download it for no charge via the Epic Games Store. Art of Rally was handed out in a similar promotion earlier this year.

Will you be adding Dakar Desert Rally to your collection? Let us know in the comments below.

Dakar Desert Rally PC Hotfix, 12th February 2024, changelog​

  • Resolved an issue that was contributing to a gradual escalation in the frequency of crashes, ensuring a more stable and reliable performance.
  • Adjusted the bike’s engine sound during the race
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About author
Thomas Harrison-Lord
Thomas Harrison-Lord
A freelance sim racing, motorsport and automotive journalist. Credits include Autosport Magazine, Motorsport.com, RaceDepartment, Overtake, Traxion and TheSixthAxis.

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Comments

Mantas Jokubauskas
Honestly, while the physics are a bit meh sometimes, I could recommend the game purely for the navigational racing purpose. Turn on the Professional mode for actual fun, and challenge your navigational skills instead - honestly, I don't really think there are alternatives for this.

But, if you want something like Rally Racing (DirtRally/WRC/RBR/etc.), this isn't really that type of game.
 
David Mann
Looking forward to getting this in my Epic collection (>200 titles, all free, I've played maybe five or six :p ). I've always wanted to try a game like this, and Free is the right price.
 
Sigwolf
TeddyBearx said:
the crew motorfest is far better, I prefer paying the crew motorfest and playing it.
Sadly even free some games are still bad.
Click to expand...
Great, if your looking strictly for an 'offroad environment', enjoy Motorfest. Neither is going to win an physics awards, but The Crew probably does a slightly more credible job.

If someone is interested in recreating the Dakar experience, Motorfest adds nothing. Dakar Desert Rally has a whole host of issues, but unfortunately nothing else out there does a better job at capturing the event itself. It looks great while playing, and came be amazingly immersive when navigating at the high levels.

If you want the best rally sim, their are a lot of better options. If you are a fan of the Dakar event itself, nothing else has it, and it is worth picking up on sale, quirks and all. For free it is an absolute no-brainer. If you don't really care about the featured event, this title certainly won't change your mind.

If you're actually a Dakar fan, don't miss grabbing it for free and spending a little time with it. For me, it scratches an itch that no generic rally game can.
 
T
Sigwolf said:
Great, if your looking strictly for an 'offroad environment', enjoy Motorfest. Neither is going to win an physics awards, but The Crew probably does a slightly more credible job.

If someone is interested in recreating the Dakar experience, Motorfest adds nothing. Dakar Desert Rally has a whole host of issues, but unfortunately nothing else out there does a better job at capturing the event itself. It looks great while playing, and came be amazingly immersive when navigating at the high levels.

If you want the best rally sim, their are a lot of better options. If you are a fan of the Dakar event itself, nothing else has it, and it is worth picking up on sale, quirks and all. For free it is an absolute no-brainer. If you don't really care about the featured event, this title certainly won't change your mind.

If you're actually a Dakar fan, don't miss grabbing it for free and spending a little time with it. For me, it scratches an itch that no generic rally game can.
Click to expand...
no thanks. even free is too much, they have to pay me to play with the dakar game ;)
 
TheDoctorSteam
I bought the game on Steam a couple of weeks ago for half price and I've had a lot of fun.
I just finished the sport mode and now I started the professional mode, I have already played 60 hours and I have had a great time.

For me, the game only has one problem, the crash to desktop errors, they are not so common, but it is unacceptable that a game goes on sale in that condition.

For that reason I don't recommend the game to my friends on Steam, but if the game is free on Epic, I think anyone who is interested should try it.

PSA: The game doesn't make good use of the GPU so if you have a way to undervolt/underclock your video card it will probably improve your gaming experience.

:)
 
Luciano Santos Filho
Kevin Troschinski said:
The german would say:

"You don't look a gift horse in the mouth" :D

So why not try this out...
Click to expand...
LOL, RD is also culture.

I didn't know this saying was so universal.

In Brazil we say "de cavalo dado não se olha os dentes". Something like, if the horse was given, you don't look at its teeth.

I enjoyed the first Dakar game for what it is. As already mentioned, the driving is odd, but the navigation aspect is quite unique. It can be enjoyable, and I honestly didn't have a good idea of how cross country actually works prior to playing the game.

For free, I might check this one too
 
Kevin Troschinski
Premium
Luciano Santos Filho said:
LOL, RD is also culture.

I didn't know this saying was so universal.

In Brazil we say "de cavalo dado não se olha os dentes". Something like, if the horse was given, you don't look at its teeth.

I enjoyed the first Dakar game for what it is. As already mentioned, the driving is odd, but the navigation aspect is quite unique. It can be enjoyable, and I honestly didn't have a good idea of how cross country actually works prior to playing the game.

For free, I might check this one too
Click to expand...
delpinsky said:
Exactly!
"A caval donato, non si guarda in bocca", as we say in Italy :D
Click to expand...
ok to make it correct, like you in your langauges, in german it must be:

"Einem geschenkten Gaul, schaut man nicht ins Maul"
 
3zer
„Darovanému koni na zuby nekoukej.“ - that´s Czech for that good old saying about a gift horse. :) I paid full price for DDR back then and I don´t regret it now, given the amount of fun I had with it last year. As others have pointed out, it is unique in several aspects, mostly the navigation, which is cool and pretty realistic within the confines of a virtual world, just don´t bother with the arcade mode. On the other hand, there is a lot of wasted potential there, which leaves a sour aftertaste. All in all, if you´re a fan of Dakar, you don´t have any other choice, anyway.
 
FinFan
There is really no risk in getting a game for free other than maybe loosing some time. Despite all the bad things I heard I wanted to try it anyway. Was waiting for a very low price.
Well, doesn't get lower than this.
 
Alex72
Nice but physics made me skip this one. Navigating night and day in sunshine, rain and snow sounded awesome to me, but the driving physics just wasnt there for me.

Maybe ill test again.
 

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