Those screens look sweet! Wanted to jump into this over the weekend but QB had me hooked instead. Hopefully get chance to play it this evening. From the reviews and vids ive watched im hugely impressed with the console versions after following it on pc for a while...

Codemasters should learn how to make interesting track design and environments from Rallisport Challenge 1&2

No.

They made them from real life rally tracks since this game is trying to simulate a semi-realistic rally experience.

DAMMIT my wheel nearly made it but just got left out of the ps4 compatibility list (fanatec CSR). Had my fingers crossed for that soooo bad, really wanted to play this!! But not if my wheel will be sitting there gathering dust while I use a controller. Which I'm sure will be fun too... just not as amazing. Goddammit.

I really hope this game does well. It deserves to. It's by far the best racing related game out there on consoles to date, and arguably the best rally title ever produced. If it flops on consoles, then console gaming, and it's user base, can seriously fuck off. It'll send a signal to devs not to revert back to old school, hard, challenging sim based titles, and instead continue to pump out the watered down turgid arcady tripe that's been stinking up gaming for the better part of a decade now.

Arcade racers for life. Fun > punishing. That said i will end up buying this, but not for 40 quid. No racing game is worth 40 quid :P

I think Pcars made a statement. Sales on Wheels went up after that game launched. Even though there were a lot of complaints about the games poor condition at release people still supported it because of the more pc/sim like experience. I think SMS paved the way for offering more graphic settings for console users. I think the fact that we're seeing Dirt and the soon to be released AC come to consoles may be partly do to Pcars.

PC or console Dirt is about as perfect as it gets. The last game in any genre I felt this way about was the Last of US.

And to your point MrWhite, I only hope the majority of others feel the same way.

Really hoping codies can do a great F1game now. Rally is cute but I still prefer racing

Looks good. Still waiting on a RalliSport Challenge 3 from DICE. I'll be dead before I get it though.

Gamepad is doable and in the recent weeks I have tinkered around with the settings for it and it feels even better, now being able to place in top 100 to top 500 in the world on some stages. Would still love to have a wheel though to get that extra control that I feel the gamepad for example being able to correct a mistakes easier.

If you are going to play with a pad I can recommend to go into the advanced gamepad settings and change the default values of Steering Sensitivity to 100 (default is 50) and Steering Linearity to 20 (default is 40). Since I changed this I have much more control over the cars and the steering feels less sluggish. Previous to this setting I played over 100 hours with the default settings. Also consider changing the steering deadzone if necessary.

Best racing game EVER. Can't stop playing it.

Are these settings in the PS4/XBO versions?

I assume they are since it's gamepad settings. You should find something called advanced gamepad settings under controls. I don't have the console version so don't know the exact place or name to look for it.

These types of games were selling well before fatigue set in with their arcade iterations, if it doesn't sell well Codemasters are to blame.

The game looks amazing and handling strikes that nice balance of difficult but fun. PCars success proves the console market can handle something with a bit of a bite, but I fret for DiRT rally as it doesn't seem to be getting much coverage, it may have to do with it already being available for months on PC.

I do not think this is amazing in any stretch of imagination. It looks good. DC in some condition and NFS are far superior although obivously those are arcade at 30fps.

This is just my opinion. I think games can look amazing without having to achieve a technical feet. For me it's the overall package that defines a games visual impact. Dirts individual pieces are not great but when but all together they rival any other game in the genre. Like PCars is definitely more of a technical power house but when I go from that to Dirt, Dirt seems more alive, closer to reality.

there is clearly a general racing game fatigue going on that isn;t entirely a developers fault and has been the last few gens. even forza isn't an uber seller and the latest GT only sold just over what the PSP version sold, nothing near it's usual 8+ million... but its up there with the more popular still.

people just don't seem that interested in racers anymore. and when it comes to something as niche as legit rally experiences, i can't imagine this doing much better then richard burns did all those years ago. it's a harsh market tbh. and i fully expect it to go the way of the 3D platformer soon enough. you'll have a couple racer IP's that persist, like you do mario and ratchet and clank. but it's not going to be anywhere as varied as the old PSone/PS2 days.

When you don't have to account for good physics whatsoever then of course you have an abundance of processing power to make your game look pretty.

PCars seemed to be a success so maybe there is hope. Forza had the wind in it's sails (pun intended) with Forza 4 and Horizon then the Xbone came along and created one huge rip otherwise who knows where it could have been unfortunately right now it is the captain of a sinking ship called the HMS Xbone. As for Gran Turismo it is in major need of modernisation if accomplished only then could it be a genuine barometer for identifying the demand for racing games. Driveclub was a mess at launch and don't get me started on F1 2015 (It was released in a state akin to SFV, without the post release support!!! - I told you not to get me started), Need for speed was sent to die with the always online bull and to be honest it just didn't look that fun, sales for the crew seem OK but it was just that, an OK game.

I think that demand is in fact there but every racing game seems deeply flawed right now with the exception of PCars which may account for its relative success (new IP and all).

DiRT rally was always going to be a tough sell but I don't think they are expecting big big numbers I THINK it has done well on PC and console sales are probably just garnish but where I would apportion blame to Codemasters is in the handling of their brand.

Codemasters were generating a great reputation, 'the Rockstar's of the racing genre' every game they released up to DiRT 3 was incredible and with it their name carried cachet. Now releasing DiRT rally in this environment would have been demonstrably better but then they went for cash grabs such as DiRT demolition, GRID Autosport and GRID 2 add the bitterness of F1 2015 and you have a complete sullying (Uncharted woohoo) of their good name and so now when you hear DiRT Rally a game by Codemaster that 10% mark up on sales that the Codemaster brand once carried is all but spent.

So this is what happens when I try a quick reply. You're right in that even if there isn't fatigue of the racing genre there definitely is the impression that there is, which may as well be the same thing. I just hope that it's moreso racing game design that is letting gamers down and not the other way round.

If Dark souls can evolve from cult hit to legit blockbuster, if FF7 remake can exist, if the Witcher 3 can be as good as it is, then Racing games can definitely become relevent again and I HAVE THE ANSWER!!!!!


Wipeout HD Remaster for the PS4, make it happen :). That's guaranteed at least 10 million in sales.

Pcars, AC coming soon, Dirt and F1 so already we have pretty amazing sims. With crew and nfs online only the arcade games has taken a hit.

Loving the game so far, but daaammn is this thing challenging. Granted, I haven't played a sim racer in years, but I am really struggling here. Am I the only one who finds it nearly impossible to win? I have made it up to professional, and still have only won a single race, and managed just third in any championship. It seems third is fairly easy to achieve, but there is a HUGE difference between first second and third. I am usually 20-30 seconds behind first in any race, even when I run a nearly flawless race.

I have the assists mostly turned down but not off, and I'm using a controller rather than a wheel, but the input feels really good so I don't think that is the issue. Also, the career mode is kinda puzzling to me. There doesn't seem to be much structure or indication on what is going on or how to progress. Other than that though, best racing game I've played in ages. Keep these sim games coming!

I play a fair amount of racing simulations, and I am in the same boat as you, coming in around 3rd most of the time (but improving!). It's really just that tough I think. I mean, if you watch a professional rally driver do these stages, it's pretty mind boggling how fast they go.

I mean, just watch THIS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xw8DJY7aZQ

it sounds like professional is maybe one difficulty level too high for you? clubman is maybe where you should be at? i hear if you place top 3 the games difficulty jumps up. and bottom 3 it drops down.