Then there’s the career mode which, while extensive and time consuming, boils down to boring milestone chasing while you work through longer and more extensive sets of events. Its new buggy racing mode is frustrating and imprecise, without the spot-on handling model of the point-to-point rallying that forms the core experience. As an overall package it doesn’t surpass either of its predecessors, and fails to capture the soul and atmosphere of both, too. The problem is that, despite how great the game ever becomes when you’re behind the wheel, it’s an undeniably dry racer without much character. It’s still tough, should you choose to make it that way, so Dirt Rally fans will still have fun chasing the top spot in courses, but it’s not so limited as to alienate all but the purist of hardcore racing nuts. The entire game is much more accessible from get go, with more forgiving handling models and settings that allow you to go into races without needing to have had considerable practice to stay on the road. That kind of incident can instantly ruin a perfect run, and Dirt 4 is at its best when you’re uncomfortably close to danger, hanging onto the edge of your seat as you hurtle along the precipice of a sheer drop at 70mph.Īnyone that found Dirt Rally to be too difficult with a normal controller will be thankful, though – in the move from Rally to Dirt 4, Codemasters sought to lessen the barrier to entry considerably. Just like previous games, damage modelling is particularly brutal, too – hit a tree and you’ll truly feel it catch a curb going too fast, at just the wrong angle, and you’ll likely spin in hilariously violent fashion.

Read more: Rally Poland is absolutely insane Pair that with the return of authentic rally icons like your co-driver, Nicky Grist, and Dirt 4 properly shines. It's a thrill of the unknown, and it really can be a thrill thanks to Dirt 4’s unparalleled sense of speed. Vehicles themselves are similarly varied, from traditional rally cars to more modern contemporaries that you’d see flinging around courses today, and hopping between them is its own kind of mini gauntlet as you learn how new models handle through the twists, turns and hairpins of a lengthy track that you've never raced through before.

Dirt 3 vs dirt 4