System: Oculus Rift, Rift S
Price at Time Of Review: £18.99
Comfort Rating: Red (Extreme Movement)
Genre: Racing
Input: Racing wheel, Keyboard & mouse, Gamepad
Best Playing Position: Sitting
Multi-Player: Yes
Age Rating: PG
Description: DiRT Rally is the most authentic and thrilling rally game ever made. It perfectly captures the white knuckle feeling of racing on the edge as you hurtle along dangerous roads, knowing that one crash could end it all. With full Oculus Rift support across every game mode, DiRT Rally VR immerses you like never before offering an amazing 90fps experience that puts you in the driver’s seat. Featuring iconic cars from the history of the sport up to modern day, DiRT Rally pits you against the most challenging stages in the world in a variety of conditions and surfaces. You can also take the incredible Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb event and multi-car racing in the FIA World Rallycross Championship.
Review: Remember the days of SEGA Rally? Well, you might want to try and forget those games, because DiRT Rally is a very serious rally simulator and it really shows how much work they have put into it. The handling is realistic, the graphics are beyond anything (especially inside VR) and the amount of gameplay hours it has is pretty much endless thanks to the online matches and time trials.
It does have to be said that this is as close to driving a real rally car as most of us are ever likely to get. Sure it has the physics, graphics and sound right, but once you place the VR headset on the game moves at such a pace that most of us will be feeling pretty queasy the moment the car passes the start line. If you want a quick blast arcade racer, you might struggle to get to grips with this game, but if you like your driving games serious, you need to download this now.
I feel lucky enough to have played all the DiRT Rally series over the years and this version is definitely the very best one. But it does feel as if the VR element has simply been bolted on, it just doesn’t feel natural despite looking amazing. I’m not saying this is a bad game because it definitely isn’t and the Codemasters team can hold their heads high with it. But looking at it from a VR game perspective, it just isn’t as good as Project CARS.
