DiRT Rally 2.0 DiRT Rally 2.0 - Codemasters Masterpiece

[Paul Jeffrey]

DiRT Rally 2.0 – Codemasters Greatest Achievement yet?

Following on from the surprisingly impressive DiRT Rally of 2015, Codemasters have plenty of expectation resting on their shoulders for the new game – and they have seriously delivered.

The wait for a true successor to the fabled Richard Burns Rally has been a long and often frustrating journey for rally fans, with many pretenders stepping into the ring only to be seemingly knocked straight back out again, including it has to be said Codemasters themselves - although the original DiRT Rally was certainly the closest yet to dethroning the widely acclaimed king of rally games.

Despite lacking an official World Rally Championship licence, and initially shipping without some of the more popular content from the original title, DiRT Rally 2.0 immediately comes out of the starting gates with plenty of headline grabbing new features and goodies, over and above the original title and even introducing things that have yet to be seen within the rally game genre.

Dropping the well-intentioned but poorly executed stage generator from Dirt 4, Codemasters have instead switched their attentions to developing deformable surfaces within this new release – introducing a crucial element of the real world category into the simulation and opening up a significant aspect of strategy and tyre management that was so starkly missing from the first title.

Codemasters have done stage deformation very, very well, adding to DiRT Rally 2.0 a significant increase into the depth and richness of the driving experience, whilst also increasing the useful playability of the game. With this new feature active on all locations within the title, in theory each pass of the same stage can present a wholly different driving experience, depending on the conditions of the roads and weather at the time of departure, as well as your running order in the rally itself. Start further back; expect to encounter a less than ideal road surface when out on stage.

This aspect alone makes DiRT Rally 2.0 worth the price of entry for me, and is one of the single biggest improvements Codemasters have made to any of their racing game franchise in the last 10 years. It’s that good.

The feel of the road under your wheels, and the way the car reacts to those different road surfaces, is improved considerably over the original game – itself a step above the competition in the rally game marketplace. Codemasters have clearly spent much time fine-tuning the car reaction to different racing surfaces, and these details shine through clearly when strapped into your virtual car of choice.

While we talk about cars, DiRT 2.0 does a very respectable job of presenting a nicely entertaining selection of vehicles right from the very off – with various different classes of car represented in the game more than making up for the lack of a modern WRC licence. Returning once again are the Group B monsters from the 1980’s, however Codemasters have attempted to mix things up a little by sprinkling a wide variety of different cars into the sim – so lovers of modern machinery still have something to enjoy thanks to the R5 class – featuring such beauties as the Skoda Fabia and VW Golf amongst others, while those of us with longer memories get a bonus with plenty of historic content – the ultimate king of which has to be the 90’s Group N era and the stunning Subaru Imprezza of Colin McRae, still iconic some 24 years after the great Scotsman took to the stages of the world in that wonderful car.

Traditional point-to-point rally cars aside, DiRT Rally 2.0 also does a very good job of representing the FIA World Rally cross category of racing – with plenty of content from the main series and various support categories available to do battle over what appear to be significantly updated and improved rally cross stages. More of which are set to come in future DLC packs for the game.

DiRT Rally 2.0 Full Car List

This category really has stepped up over the original DiRT Rally in almost every way, now offering a very convincing and visually stunning experience for players to enjoy. WRX has impressed me the most this time around, really stepping up in every aspect to present a very, very enjoyable representation of the category within DiRT Rally 2.0.

Moving on to the driving experience itself, I need to talk about wheel support for a little while – boring I know, but worth a few moments of your time.

I am using the SimCube OSW Direct Drive wheel for this test, and it needs to be noted that this isn’t a supported device out of the box, so some fun and games need to be had in order to get it working and producing force feedback within the sim. Plenty of google searching and overwriting of internal game files later, the wheel is now a functioning device within DiRT Rally! However, although “working” and producing force feedback, at least at this early stage I’ve been left very underwhelmed by the level of detail the force feedback is producing through my wheel. Ok, I’m getting some weight in the wheel, and the absolutely major hits and jolts are registering, but the very fine detail and the small things that communicate from the road surface to the car just aren’t present at the moment, which has frankly left me feeling a little bit disappointed.

The surface detail just doesn't feel present in the game, leaving me the impression of driving over smooth surfaces no matter what car I choose. I suspect this is specific to my own wheel, however increasingly I'm hearing of others with similar experiences, using different wheels, so that could be something to keep an eye out for as more and more people gain access to the title. What I will say however, is that the physics do feel more convincing than DR1, with more of a weight transfer feel than the previous release, and generally just stepping up the feeling over and above the original release.

DiRT 2.0 Supported Peripherals

Now to be fair I’m hearing plenty from the community about how they feel the handling of DR2.0 has improved over previous games, so I’m left wondering if it is more down to my own wheel configuration, coupled with the fact OSW isn’t supported out of the box, that is leaving me with a numb ffb experience from the title. With this in mind, during my review I am going to deliberately step away from further ffb and handling discussions, as I can’t be sure exactly which parameters are affecting my experience at this stage. I will say however, with the OSW patch and my current settings, for a driver at my (low) level of skill, the handling and feedback experience is ok, if a little "flat", although it certainly doesnt reach the heights achieved by so much else within the game…

… and those heights are very high indeed.

DiRT Rally 2.0 is shaping up to be the thing that pretty much every sim racer has been wanting to see since the glory days of Richard Burns Rally back 2004, small issues aside – hard-core, visually stunning, plenty of gameplay depth, audibly outstanding and with enough detail to present a game that you just want to keep heading back to for more and more punishment out on the stages.

Oh, and it finally has good mouse support to !

As for a career mode, DiRT 2.0 does play around with this idea, but somehow feels like it hasn’t quite gone far enough to capture the imagination over longer periods of time. Here you can hire and fire people for your team, however as a long time doubter of the usefulness of career mode style gameplay features, the lack of any depth in this department isn’t something that will keep me awake at night – anything that delays going out on stage – the actual core of the game – is best kept to a minimum in my opinion, and is a sideshow at best. It’s also worth pointing out that all cars and stages are accessible from the off, so no need for any long grinding through the game to get that car / rally combo you’ve been wanting to try.. Thankfully.

DiRT Rally 2.0 does some things very well, and some things can on occasion feel a little bit under loved, almost as if the studio have been that keen to make the action on stage as best as it can be, leaving the stuff on the edges of the driving experience a little bit behind the main gameplay itself. Frankly, this is something that is very easy to overlook, as the good things within this title are just exceptional, and more than make up for any of the small annoyances here and there.

Does DiRT Rally 2.0 deserve the unofficial crown as king of all rally Sims past and present? I think so, and by quite a margin.

DiRT Rally 2.0 will release February 26th 2019.

If you want to discussion the game with our passionate community, and read about the latest news, check out the RaceDepartment DiRT Rally 2.0 Sub Forum for a great place to share your mods, catch the latest news and chat about the game with our community. Give it a go, just keep it DiRTy!

Like what you see here at RaceDepartment? Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow us on social media!

 ​

 

[Helldriver]

It´s okay for me now to wait for the VR release.
Until then, they got enough time to fix the weak FFB and add some OSW Support.
I´m waiting for the real DIRT 2.0 and not going to buy DIRT 1.94 .

 

[JaimeDK]

Huge disappointment with RD and @Paul Jeffrey, sorry folks I'm not going to be a premium anymore, looks like you get paid by companies to just advertising their products no matter how bad at launch is.
I thought in this community I could find honest reviews of simracing titles but as It has been said here a shitty FFB plus selling a game in pieces and so on... If I contribute is to make you free and independent from the big companies not just to say masterpiece to something like DIrt 2.0.

 

[mclaren777]

I just got done playing DR2 for roughly 2-3 hours and I feel like its sim-ness is a notch below the original DR.

This game is so far behind RBR in terms of physics, I honestly don't think they should be compared.

 

[BazzaLB]

I just got done playing DR2 for roughly 2-3 hours and I feel like its sim-ness is a notch below the original DR.

This game is so far behind RBR in terms of physics, I honestly don't think they should be compared.

I'm in two minds about this myself. I'm not sure if its the lack of detail on the FFB in DR 2.0 that's making it seem this way. As for RBR... well, I don't think the difference is that huge. I play RBR with all original physics though. RBR tarmac is pretty ropey and snow is way too slippery although great fun in RBR. Gravel? I don't think its such a huge difference personally if you run the similar spec cars. Similar driving techniques work in all 3 titles.

I must say though, New England USA looks very cartoony in DR 2.0, but then again so did Finland in DR1 (although maybe to a lesser degree).

 

[MarkR]

Really misleading title, what exactly is a masterpiece. Broken FFB?

The FFB is not broken. The wheel can be used to drive the cars, it reacts realistically to surface changes and is far more intuitive out of the box than several other titles.

It seems the level of vibration in the rim isn't to some tastes but to suggest the FFB is broken is just nonsense. try the same stage back to back with a control pad/wheel and you'll get a much better perception of just how much feedback the wheel is giving.

 

[UMC 22]

Huge disappointment with RD and @Paul Jeffrey, sorry folks I'm not going to be a premium anymore, looks like you get paid by companies to just advertising their products no matter how bad at launch is.
I thought in this community I could find honest reviews of simracing titles but as It has been said here a shitty FFB plus selling a game in pieces and so on... If I contribute is to make you free and independent from the big companies not just to say masterpiece to something like DIrt 2.0.

This is a pretty ludicrous comment, to be perfectly honest. You think RD is paid for reviews just because you've read a review that you personally don't agree with?

A review is nothing more than the personal opinion of the person doing the review. Opinions are like a certain body part... everyone has one. All Paul has done here is state his opinions on DR 2.0. He thinks it's great, he thinks it is a materpiece. So what? He's entitled to his opinion, in the same way you are entitled to yours. So to refuse premium membership based on one persons opinion of a game is pretty lame, in my opinion. But then, you're not even premium anyway so it's not like RD is missing much, is it?

For future reference, reviews are there to allow people to make their own choices. You don't just read one, you read many. You combine those many to get different views on the aspects of a game that are important to you, and then decide if you want to buy or not. And, if you don't like the game after that, you can get a refund if you've played two hours or less on Steam. But putting all your eggs in one basket in expecting one review to give you all the info you need is a bit dumb.

 

[MarkR]

With Metacritic running a solid 86 and all 21 reviews positive - all over 80 - it's pretty clear this is a masterpiece of a game. Codies have also managed to make a racing game the game popular with the mainstream gaming press - no easy task these days.

I'm starting to think RD has been overtaken by whingers and whiners. Most of the negativity here comes across as snobbish elitism - there are suddenly so many experts on rally car wheel feel, when the wheel works perfectly well. Most are actually just saying the wheel doesn't feel like my preferred game. One point has been picked on and run with, it's a repeating negative trend here, little balance is shown in what people say. As usual you hear more from the few complainers than the people who are enjoying the game.

As for the price/DLC issue the game could easily be bought for less than £40 with all the DLC included on PC and console.

Perhaps people should look at what this game does offer instead, it is fabulous, and actually a game. As with F1 building up the team and developing the car is fun. Most of these sim games are desperately dull affairs yet Codies have managed to pair realism with a playable enjoyable game.

The faux outrage and negativity do nothing to build a gaming community, no wonder this remains a niche pastime.

 

[JaimeDK]

This is a pretty ludicrous comment, to be perfectly honest. You think RD is paid for reviews just because you've read a review that you personally don't agree with?

A review is nothing more than the personal opinion of the person doing the review. Opinions are like a certain body part... everyone has one. All Paul has done here is state his opinions on DR 2.0. He thinks it's great, he thinks it is a materpiece. So what? He's entitled to his opinion, in the same way you are entitled to yours. So to refuse premium membership based on one persons opinion of a game is pretty lame, in my opinion. But then, you're not even premium anyway so it's not like RD is missing much, is it?

For future reference, reviews are there to allow people to make their own choices. You don't just read one, you read many. You combine those many to get different views on the aspects of a game that are important to you, and then decide if you want to buy or not. And, if you don't like the game after that, you can get a refund if you've played two hours or less on Steam. But putting all your eggs in one basket in expecting one review to give you all the info you need is a bit dumb.

I'm just saying it looks like they pay you . Period. This sentence says everything:

Ok, I’m getting some weight in the wheel, and the absolutely major hits and jolts are registering, but the very fine detail and the small things that communicate from the road surface to the car just aren’t present at the moment, which has frankly left me feeling a little bit disappointed.

Please, if you had that experience with the wheel, how you can say masterpiece?, if they fix it in the future, then make a new review and say Masterpiece, brilliant, fantastic or whatever your personal opinion but having problems with the wheel and saying is a masterpiece? is just smells rotten to me, sorry.
I was premium until January and that is just the last drop to convince me to not being premium anymore, I have more arguments, like giving unnecessary arcade games news and also I don't like F1 and this looks monographic sometimes.
And if that's your style of reviews, just being too nice with the dev's I'll never be agree, we need more bytting criticism nowadays with greedy developers never finishing their products and selling them by pieces. We can't just accept how industry is moving to a pay per every little thing in a DLC.

Please not get upset, is my humble opinion.
Cheers!

 

[Thug-Life]

Tweaking "device_defines" on input/devices folder, make a huge diference on FFB.

 

[RaceWasGood]

Tweaking "device_defines" on input/devices folder, make a huge diference on FFB.

Sadly that's not the case for me. The FFB got a bit heavyer/stiffer for sure, but that's not what's missing IMO. I was looking for more "road detail" (in lack of a better word) and tried to increase the ffb_friction as well, but that didn't do it either. I'm on a Fanatec CSW V2 btw.

It's not a disaster and totally driveable, but far from perfect if you ask me.

 

[mantasisg]

As much as I have checked about DR2, it seems like it is a mixed bag just like DR was, some of it seems rather impressive simulation, and some seems like... well some of it is just for other players.

Can't decide if it is worth time. And money.

 

[Shad3R]

For me its not a masterpiece but im having a blast with the stages in this Dirt Rally 2.0 game, i think they are 100 times better than his predecesor

 

[Mark Ratzenbacher]

I respect the authors opinion, but when looking at DR 2 vs. DR 1 to me its like :

-Exagerated Lightning/Shadows/Colours/Reflections making it look unreal
-Physics feel less immersive
-current FFB is not comparable
-overpriced DLC with the base game not giving the complete experience

How this summarizes a "masterpiece" is not explicable to me. Or is it there a typo in the title and it should´ve read "DR 2.0 - Codemasters massive piece of $***" ?

There is rarely a critical review, that´s making these articles to appeal dishonest.

 

[KittX]

I'm just saying it looks like they pay you . Period. This sentence says everything:

Please, if you had that experience with the wheel, how you can say masterpiece?, if they fix it in the future, then make a new review and say Masterpiece, brilliant, fantastic or whatever your personal opinion but having problems with the wheel and saying is a masterpiece? is just smells rotten to me, sorry.
I was premium until January and that is just the last drop to convince me to not being premium anymore, I have more arguments, like giving unnecessary arcade games news and also I don't like F1 and this looks monographic sometimes.
And if that's your style of reviews, just being too nice with the dev's I'll never be agree, we need more bytting criticism nowadays with greedy developers never finishing their products and selling them by pieces. We can't just accept how industry is moving to a pay per every little thing in a DLC.

Please not get upset, is my humble opinion.
Cheers!

For God's sake, stop this "greedy devs" conspiracy. Earlier on devs could release "finished" or better dare I say, accurately masked the flaws, titles because publishers gave them time and money. And once product reached day one of sales - thats it folks, move on to something else. Yeah, there were post release support, but what was it? 1-2 patches? Nowadays this scheme starts to skew, if you look at profits per title. Plus everything becomes much more complex and requires more manpower and work hours than in those good ol days.
From what i can sense, and this is pure speculation, don't take this for granted - the actual team working on Dirt title has now very limited budget, manpower and time. And codemastrers probably isnt that interested in pushing this team and title forward because it doesn't generate much profit. To me looks like DR2.0 is their fight or flight title, and the small team, or what's left of it, is pushing everything they can to get it better with resources they left having from dirt 1-3 times, and by the way they promote it, if they don't success to hit some value of profits, they're done.

 

[Jonathan Young]

Such a shame - sounds like this is close to being great but not quite there. For me, communicative FFB is essential not only to let me know what’s going on with the car, but for immersion. If the wheel is numb, I’m taken completely out of the game. Slightly annoying, because I was hoping to get into this while waiting for ACC 0.6 to be released No matter though, I can wait for a patch.

 

[JaimeDK]

For God's sake, stop this "greedy devs" conspiracy. Earlier on devs could release "finished" or better dare I say, accurately masked the flaws, titles because publishers gave them time and money. And once product reached day one of sales - thats it folks, move on to something else. Yeah, there were post release support, but what was it? 1-2 patches? Nowadays this scheme starts to skew, if you look at profits per title. Plus everything becomes much more complex and requires more manpower and work hours than in those good ol days.
From what i can sense, and this is pure speculation, don't take this for granted - the actual team working on Dirt title has now very limited budget, manpower and time. And codemastrers probably isnt that interested in pushing this team and title forward because it doesn't generate much profit. To me looks like DR2.0 is their fight or flight title, and the small team, or what's left of it, is pushing everything they can to get it better with resources they left having from dirt 1-3 times, and by the way they promote it, if they don't success to hit some value of profits, they're done.

Did you realize that Codemasters isn't a little Brit company anymore?, they are owned by Reliance Entertainment from Reliance Group which are not small at all.
First Dirt rally with snow stages in game, now a fu**ing DLC, why?, why should I pay extra for what it was in the first title?, I just hate that way of selling games, sorry.

 

[flykas]

I guess complaining comes from that people would like to see some progress in sim racing category and this isn't it. I guess it is a good game, but it is just a remake with the same old physics engine that is not actually suitable for creating sim games. And there would be no need for such criticism if devs wouldn't promote it as simulation.

 

[69Harder]

Tweaking "device_defines" on input/devices folder, make a huge diference on FFB.

A clear proof that the developers dont quite get what ffb is all about !

 

[samcar304]

The simulation value of a game can be measured not only by its physics but also by the immersion provided in simulating the experience. For example F1 games don't have the physics of rF2, iRacing and AC for arguments sake but they provide the player with a simulated experience of being an F1 driver.

If i'm wrong i'm more than happy to eat my words but describing something as a "sim" can mean many different avenues and attributes than just the physics engine.

 

[balage06]

I have an issue with the soft lock on classic rally cars. I tried with both 900 and 1080 degrees set in the Thrustmaster control panel, but the issue remains:

After calibrating the T300 in-game and turning the soft lock on, the hand animation is fine with rallycross and modern rally cars, but it is off with classic cars (the virtual wheel turns less than my actual movements). If I set the "Cockpit driver & wheel" option to "Wheel only", then everything is fine, but I can't seem to correct the hand animation. Anyone else with the same problem?

(Btw I see everyone is complaining about the FFB, but It feels ok in my case )