Rally game that is fun, realistic, rich in options and especially so playable, so you can spend 6 hours in a row with it and you won't even notice that the window has darkened in the meantime. DiRT Rally 2.0 meets all this and is an incredibly addictive ride.

At the same time, the recipe seems simple - it was enough to take everything good from the original DiRT Rally and make it even better. After that, however, they were able to release DiRT 4, which was still a good game, but those qualities were already fluctuating in some areas. They were so afraid of which side to play with this game, and fortunately (for all fans of the old CMR and DiRT Rally), they leaned towards an experience that is more challenging, but more interesting and absorbing. Once again, Codemasters are flirting with simulation, and although their ambition is not to overcome Richard Burns' now well-wired, DiRT Rally 2.0 is still a realistic-looking game that will bother you and let you lament for your track mistakes.

However, I should clarify one thing at the beginning. I still adore the first part of DiRT Rally, but it must be acknowledged that it was often too masochistic. The contestants were incredible times here and you had to train for tens of hours in the game before you got to win the championship comfortably. Until then, you had to satisfy the lower ranks and rely on the AI ​​riders not riding consistently, giving the game a more believable feel. There was not one opponent who would always take the first positions, but more in the game. This is also what a number two can offer you, but at the same time Codemasters made it more accessible and also offered lower levels of difficulty for those who want to get into it more easily, or just want to win more.

I have to acknowledge how the Codemasters have fought to expand the game in this respect. DiRT Rally wasn't for everyone. Two already. I do not mean that it is like Need for Speed ​​- that it can sit and win right away. It is a game that you can gradually adapt and with its depth and workmanship pulls newcomer, who thanks to her will love the world of realistically focused rally games. He simply comes in here, chooses a lower difficulty, turns on some of the help tools and can play the game. Do you already have this stage behind you? Turn off your aids, get more difficulty, and go to the dust and mud to show your real skills.

The hat down that they were able to bring a game that is complex and deep, but at the same time accessible with a wide scalability of what it is supposed to demand from you. If I want to pinch one thing that personally surprised me here, it is this fact that will allow it to enjoy its catchy gameplay to a wider range of players. All this includes control options. If you play on consoles, gamepad control is a little more comfortable and friendly, so you can play decent times with it. However, the game is sewn for steering wheels on all platforms (I have reviewed the Logitech G920) and if you settle for having your steering wheel set this time a little differently than in the unit, you will enjoy the fun with it. The setup options are lacking, the support is quite wide, and nothing impresses when the feedback gives you a "plucked" butt, a puncture on the right front tire, or gravel in the wheel arches.

She will jump a little and since I have praised something, I have to mention something that deserves to be thrown away in the game and these are bugs. There is certainly not much here, and although it cannot be said that some of them literally spoiled the game, whether it was complicated to play it, their presence in such a quantity will certainly not please them. Most often it is a problem with car models, when something that should be in there will be out of the blue. For example, a part of the axle, a wheel, once even a door glass from a suitcase flew over an opponent's car in rallycrosse. The first time it amuses you, when you reoccur, you start to ask yourself if it really couldn't be removed when testing quality.

However, the game will not please fans in the area of ​​content, which is not very small, but it is quite inconsistent with it. There are a lot of new things to do, but some of the things that you liked in the previous section are missing. Let's go to licenses first. Traditionally, there is a lack of a WRC championship license and all associated with it as it has an exclusive WRC series. However, the official FIA World Rallycross Championship license is back, which will certainly please fans of this motor sport branch. It is no longer a pleasure to miss the hill climb on Pikes Peak, which was a huge enticement of the first part and it is definitely missing.

If you want to ride right now, try all the game cars and all the tracks and environments you have, you can go for a quick ride or time trial. This option is ideal for those who want to get the most out of the game content right away. However, the focus of the DiRT Rally 2.0 is clearly the career in which you can find both rally and rallycross as well as challenges that change every day or weekly, with no ranking (even cross-platform). In your career, you can continually jump between modes and if, for example, you get tired of a classic rally stage, there is nothing easier than going to rallycross circuits and getting some points in the championship.

However, you must realize that you are building your own teams here in your career. So you're not picking teams or contracts, but you're starting from scratch, with basic mechanics and one (cheap) car. In the case of a rally part, you go from the 60s, to which cars such as the Mini and Lancia Fulvia are inseparable. It is practically the same in rallycross parts, with the difference that even the lowest class of vehicles is relatively modern. But it takes time and experience to gradually get higher through different lower championships to the top. You earn points, cups, and as you go higher, each subsequent season is longer and more challenging, with the game really getting more difficult.

Career, no matter which mode you choose, is very well balanced and you won't have any money to lose, but you won't be poor either. You always have them just enough to buy a new car after the season, upgrade something on it, hire new technicians (who also bring with them various bonuses), and most importantly you will still have repairs. Indeed, DiRT Rally takes the damage seriously. It can make driving difficult for you, or even take you out. In addition, you are also transferring it between events, so you really need to find the means to always get the best possible car. In addition, there is only a limited amount of time available between rally stages, so you may not be able to fix yourself enough. So you have to choose whether you prefer to repair something under the hood or want to watch the car and shake it.

The game is definitely not lacking in depth and it is just and just that it is not just about riding. Here and there, especially if you lose track of time, you need to take a moment to breathe out and some light management will fit in here to "relax". Whether you are driving a classic rally or doing rallycross, you have a common bank and the resources are in your career between them. This is not only about money, but also about the mentioned mechanics. So if you hire a mechanic that reduces the cost of engine repairs, you have it lower in rally and rallycrosse. You can also earn extra money with the aforementioned challenges, where you get a reward based on your score in the tables and the higher you get, the more money you get.

Rallycross is about multiple cars at the same time, which combines asphalt and unpaved surfaces, with one event consisting of several qualifying rounds, two semi-finals and the final of the final. It is based on the times, interesting is the system of total scoring, but in the race itself you have to count on the fact that it is a sheet metal and a wheel on the wheel. The contestants often don´t give you anything here and the artificial intelligence goes even through you. However, some predecessor errors are repeated. One is that in Sweden (overall, the game offers 8 rallycross circuits from different parts of the world), artificial intelligence tends to wipe out in the same place where it happened in the previous section. The second is a higher difficulty AI, when opponents run incredible times in their simulated qualifiers, but when you get the same in your qualifying, you can spend a few seconds. Thus, the simulated real driving times do not act consistently.

Rally is a classic you know for years. Before you, the stages are divided over several different environments around the world and it's about times. But I will start again with something worse and these are gaming environments that lack variability, specifically there is something directly winter. Instead of narrow roads with deep gorges, Argentina is next to it, but there is no snow. Furthermore, you will find the USA, New Zealand, Spain, Poland and Australia. Of course, there are differences between them, but you would expect more variable environments. Especially when Monte Carlo, Sweden and Germany are missing, which will arrive later in the DLC.

However, it is necessary to pick up the tracks themselves, on which the rally riders again participated and it is to be seen. As you twist the curves, the blood in your veins solidifies, you lean along with the car, your eyes push it into the correct skid to prevent you from spinning. They are narrow, dangerous, even the smallest mistakes are decisive for them, and all of this keeps you entertained. Again, Codemasters must be praised for how great they have adapted to these tracks with Phil Mills. You will get used to it very soon and in time you will start driving blindly according to its instructions and into turns that you do not see.

There is also an online mode that could be handled more user-friendly, as you have to click through online options through an unnecessary menu, but it is important that online works well and you can create events yourself based on your chosen rules ( for example, you are also influencing the setting of assistive aids, whether you simply join someone. DiRT Rally 2.0 includes browser-based multiplayer games, the details of which you can see to find the one that fits you the most.

We could also imagine better performance graphically, but DiRT Rally 2.0 couldn't be said to be good anyway. Compared to the predecessor, there were pleasant changes to better lighting, an environment that will draw you even more, but also the car models have improved. You could add even more, but the game still looks good and also moves well, which is most important. There is also a game sound that completes the overall authentic atmosphere. The screen menus are accompanied by annoying melodies, but the rest is peak. You feel and hear horses under the hood as you rush through the forest, ideally in the dark and during the rain, when the weather complicates your driving, but you enjoy it even more because the game looks and sounds better than usual.

Although the DiRT Rally 2.0 has its drawbacks, you would definitely appreciate not only the uphill race, but also some locations that should be clearly here. Nevertheless, it is a great game, which takes the best of its predecessor, which still has some interesting news and improvements. It looks better, sounds better, still plays great, is stitched on the steering wheel, and once you fall, it won't let you go. Also positive is that the game is still deep and challenging, but more welcoming to newcomers, making it easier for you to reach and players who are rally simulations alien. More than 50 cars from different stages of the rally and rallycross history are just such a cherry and everybody can choose their own from the rich offer.