DiRT Rally 2.0 - Ain't no ordinary Rally, it's evolved!

Back to Australia and the R5s today for some Time Trials in the Citroen C3. Feels good to actually have some grip after spending a while in Monte Carlo with the snow and ice. Though the HDR contrast can be a little excessive at times, it might be bright in Australia but sometimes the glare can be over the top.

Ok, so the bonus challenge today is one of the Monte Carlo tracks uphill in a H1 FWD. Poor Lancia Fulvia. It just doesn’t have much power even fully upgraded. It’s still a very fun track though.

The Daily AI challenge is fantastic today guys, I highly recommend it if you get the chance to play today. It’s one of the New England tracks in Group A car. My Lancia Delta Integrale still feels like it’s underpowered when I’m trying to power it through the corners, but at least with the Tier 3 upgrade I did before the race, it doesn’t feel as underpowered as it used to.

Plus, my god, this course is so fantastic because you’re going at high speeds through most of it, and the Lancia Integrale is actually controllable enough at those speeds that you’re likely to be thrilled as you drive through most of it. Just soooo fun. Seriously, give it a try if you’ve been able to make enough money to buy a Group A car.

And lastly, I guess I’m a glutton for punishment because they had a Daily Challenge for the Rally GT category, and even though I was thinking I’d never voluntarily drive this thing again, it’s so pretty isn’t it?

Of course, that’s not what it looked like at the end of the course. I still find it borderline uncontrollable, but I was still able to finagle it into a respectable time on a wet Poland course. I have to admit, it was kind of fun driving a Tier 7 Porsche, despite the fact that it’s not designed to be driven, just to be looked at.

Looks like we’re getting the category added late to the original DiRT Rally, Group B RWD. In my opinion the hardest category to drive in the game.

Looking at that video, I’m so glad I’m not getting Sweden. On the other hand, maybe I should have gotten the season passes. If they didn’t integrate the new tracks into the campaign, and the way to play them is through the challenges, then I could have just avoided those particular challenges. It might end up being more cost effective than buying these other cars and tracks.

I wasn’t able to log in yesterday, and that really bothered me. That’s what I dislike about this daily engagement thing they’ve got going on. I feel like I have to log in once a day and play at least one of the daily challenges. So when I’m not able to do so, it hits that OCD part of the brain. You strayed from your daily routine! What’s going to happen now?

Well, nothing is going to happen. I just will have to spend less money repairing that Skoda that must be made of gold. Every time I drive it in a daily challenge, I win about 20-40k in money. But then I have to repair my car, which usually costs around 46k. It’s always a net money loser, unlike the other cars, which are all much less to repair.

I’m really going to miss Clubman difficulty. It really is perfect for me. I have to fight tooth and nail for every first place finish. I have to do the best run that I can do to get 1st place. It’s all very exciting.

But I know at the end of this championship (which is coming in two more races), I’ll be promoted. :-( That’s going to suck.

Any advice for someone in the market for a controllable (on default turning) Group B RWD car for $2? Should I get the Opel Manta or the BMW M class?

The Opel Manta would probably be the car of choice for you, similar to the original DiRT Rally it is the more tameable of the Group B cars. The BMW M1 Procar is probably the faster of the two on paper, but that comes at the cost of it being more lively. Though neither of them are quite as lively as the Lancia 037 was back in DiRT Rally, that was a beast of a car to try and control.

The Lancia 037 was definitely my car in this category in the first game, and it was pretty much uncontrollable. But in retrospect, it was easier to control than the Porsche 911 in this game.

Awwww geez, I thought I’d get to play this morning before getting ready for work, but there’s a 9.5 GB update today.

Am I the only one playing this?

I finished the Australian part of the Clubman Championship ahead of my close AI rival by less than half a second after 6 stages, grabbing my first 1st place finish. I’m currently driving through New England in the Alpine. It’s tough. I’ve already used one restart on my first race. As the cars get faster, these tracks with long straight sections with subtle turns get more and more potential death traps.

I haven’t in a few weeks. (Blame Factorio.)

I did tap the brakes in my real-life car coming down the gravel road from my pistol range to shift weight to the front wheels so I could attack a turn more sharply, though, so it’s clearly still on my mind.

I am still playing it on the Career mode on Pro. Try to do a rally a day, currently using the Golf on R5. I think I prefer the tracks to DR1, I don’t feel you need to have memorised them in this one as much, there are a still a few dodgy calls here and there of course.

I should do more of the challenges but so many games to play!

Unfortunately been busy lately, which has severely reduced my free time to hop on and play. Hopefully, should have some free time right around the time Sweden releases though.

I think Sweden is scheduled to come out tomorrow.

I am slightly tempted, just to see if different call notes make a difference. Overall I have enjoyed the call notes in the second game a lot better. They seem to be more careful about always telling you where you should be coming up on a crest, and the addition of “extra extra long” and “unseen” modifiers is appreciated as well. In general the calls give me a better picture of what’s coming, which should make a difference in Sweden where I just couldn’t learn the track despite doing it hundreds of times, since it all looks the same.

Viral gif from first game

So Sweden happens to be a bit snowier this time round compared to the original DiRT Rally. While the gravel surface under the layers of snow does appear with the stage surface degradation, it still isn’t as exposed as it was in the first game. Studded tires provided a decent bit of grip through the stages, so it will not feel as slippery as the snow and ice in Monte Carlo did on Winter tires. The road seems maybe a tad wider too, giving just that little more wiggle room. The pace notes from Phil are alright as well so far.


Possibly a bit easier to get the hang of this time around as long as you drive within your limit to learn how the car will react in different scenarios (e.g: cornering, on throttle, etc) before trying to max attack for fastest times.

Has anyone figured out if the new tracks will be incorporated into the campaign/career mode like in the first game, or if only the original 6 locations will show up in career mode?

I’m almost done with my current career, just had to restart my 5th leg in New England for the 3rd time this morning. After the 6th leg, I’ll be done and get promoted from Clubman, then I’ll see if Monte Carlos will be incorporated into the next career stages.

Yeah, the DLC locations get included into the career mode selection pool. So far only six locations at a time are selected for the Rally Career so you get a randomised selection from the base locations and whatever DLC locations you have owned. Or should that be enabled on Steam? I haven’t tested it but I imagine Sweden DLC owners can probably turn off\on Sweden, for example, appearing in-game via the Steam Game Properties menu -> DLC sub-category and unchecking\checking it.

I just did Monte Carlo in the career mode it was fun. Similarly the patch notes mentioned Sweden would be incorporated into future My Team events I believe.

So this is obviously someone who has this course memorized down to the millimeter. No HUD help, no voice instructions, just driving the course at full speed like it’s no big deal.

So what’s the verdict on this one at this point? I really enjoyed the first, though I didn’t really get all that far with it. I don’t have a wheel and will not be getting one, and I’ve read that this requires a constant online connection?

In short, am I better off going back to spend some more time with 1, or picking up 2 at this point?

Pick up 2. It’s really good. It’s more quality content. It sounds like all the tracks from the first game will eventually be added to the 2nd game via DLC. So I’m going to buy all the tracks I enjoyed in the first one again in the second. It’s got slightly improved physics and a slightly better feel, and it’s got tire degradation. I think I’d rather do the original DiRT Rally tracks in this new engine. For example, Monte Carlos is great in DiRT Rally, but the way you slip and slide on the ice in the sequel version of the physics just feels more like real life.