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RTTP: Dirt Rally 2.0: Sammy, please listen to the calls!

I dumped this game a while back because I just couldnt get along with it. The cars just seemed too difficult to drive and my wheel set up is trash. For whatever reason, I decided to give it another go but on a controller and holy hell, everything is clicking (more on that later).

This game is a sim done right. You can dial in aids to assist you but they dont totally neuter the game. You still need to understand the calls and make the appropriate adjustments but you arent fighting the car as often and you can be a bit more ham-fisted with maneuvers. With the aids off you must have an understanding of the layout of the car you are driving, the tires and their relationship with the different surfaces, weight distribution, etc to win even on medium difficulty. Bombing down a skinny dirt road at top speed definitely gets the palms sweating and you are never more than a split second mistake away from a huge wreck that could knock your times out of contention, or worse, destroy the car.

This really does feel like the closest approximation of driving a rally car that I've experienced in a game even after playing the latest WRC offering.

The graphics have also held up really well. I am playing the PS4 version on a PS5 (I dont know of any next gen upgrades made) but the game looks better than WRC10 (native PS5 version). Hauling ass down a dirt road covered by trees with light only peaking through to blind you is a wild experience. There are some muddy textures but overall its a very convincing recreation of the real deal.

Controller v. Wheel. So my wheel set up is terrible, I went with the cheapest and smallest possible solution since my console is in the living room but it just doesnt work properly. The pedals slide all over the place and the stand is not very sturdy so any time you need to turn the wheel past 180 degrees, it would flop all over. I would be trying to control the car while also trying to keep the wheel set up in one place. Also, one of the big things is that you MUST need immediate access to the handbrake at all times, which is difficult on a regular wheel set up trying to touch one of the face buttons while you have the wheel cranked upside down mid corner. I'm seriously considering dumping some cash on at least a better wheel stand. That said, the game is still more than playable on a controller and its possible to have a great time with it.

My only gripes with the game is that the Lancia Stratos still seems undrivable without aids on and the difficulty seems kinda all over the place. When I set the difficulty to the medium range(if I dont crash) I can consistently win on most dirt stages by several seconds, but when it comes to tarmac, I get my ass handed to me. Its hard to find the goldilocks point where you are being challenged but not blown out of the water. I also remember Monte Carlo being damn near impossible due to all the ice but I haven't tried it again since revisiting the game.

Lately you can pick this game up with all the expansions for $15 or less and if you are looking for a challenging, high quality racing game, this is definitely something you should check out. Its a shame that EA has picked up Codemasters so we will probably never see a 3.0


dirt-rally-dirt-rally20.gif
 

Klik

Member
What wheel are you using? I have g29 and i tried new Fanatec DD GT and the difference is mindblowing..

I really hope Dirt Rally 3 will have PSVR 2 support on PS5
 
CMR2.0 still the best

I remember really liking this game (back on PS1? I cant remember) but its been so long I dont remember much of the actual game.

Dirt 2 is still the best Dirt game.

For the arcadey base DIRT series, absolutely. If you want a sim though, absolutely not.

What wheel are you using? I have g29 and i tried new Fanatec DD GT and the difference is mindblowing..

I really hope Dirt Rally 3 will have PSVR 2 support on PS5

G29
 

Kruza

Member
DiRT Rally 2.0 is an awesome game! I still do most daily challenges on a regular basis!

Here is a recording of an entire daily challenge stage run done yesterday:

 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


Evolution of DiRT Rally Games 1998-2022
Includes Gameplay From ALL Colin McRae Rally Racing Video Games

All the gameplay recordings, gameplay, video editing, and thumbnails are made by me (Game Evolutions) with added commentary for each game. This is an updated version.

📌 All CMR DiRT Games in the Evolution:
0:00 Colin McRae Rally (1998) - PC & PlayStation
1:03 Colin McRae Rally 2.0 (2000) - PC & PlayStation 1
1:58 Colin McRae Rally 2.0 (2002) - Gameboy Advance (GBA)
2:33 Colin McRae Rally 3 (2002) - PC, PlayStation 2 & Xbox
3:22 Colin McRae Rally 04 (2003) - PC, PlayStation 2 & Xbox
4:21 Colin McRae Rally 04 (2003) - Mobile (Java/J2ME)
4:42 Colin McRae Rally 2005 (2004) - PC, PlayStation 2 & Xbox
5:44 Colin McRae Rally 2005 (2004) - PlayStation Portable (PSP)
6:29 Colin McRae Rally 2005 (2004) - Mobile (Java/J2ME)
6:48 Colin McRae: DiRT (2007) - PC, Xbox 360 & PlayStation 3
7:50 Colin McRae: DiRT 2 (2009) - PC, XB360, PS3 & Wii
8:45 DiRT 2 (2009) - Nintendo DS
9:14 Colin McRae: Dirt 2 (2009) - PlayStation Portable
10:02 DiRT 3 (2011) - PC, PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360
11:06 DiRT: Showdown (2012) - PC, PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360
11:48 Colin McRae Rally Remake (2013) - iOS, Android & PC
12:25 DiRT Rally (2015) - PC, PlayStation 4 & Xbox One
13:21 DiRT 4 (2017) - PC, PlayStation 4 & Xbox One
14:16 DiRT Rally 2.0 (2019) - PC, PlayStation 4 & Xbox One
15:18 DiRT 5 (Latest Update 2020-2022) - PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S...

The sound of the first Colin on the ps1 is still recorded in my brain.
 
Reinstalled myself to give VR a blast, seems to have a hefty graphical hit that doesn't get better on Ultra so looks similar to the original on PSVR :messenger_grinning_sweat:

Still can't get the hang of RWD cars for the life of me either, which is shame as I wanna bring glory to the Sierra Cosworth
 
Reinstalled myself to give VR a blast, seems to have a hefty graphical hit that doesn't get better on Ultra so looks similar to the original on PSVR :messenger_grinning_sweat:

Still can't get the hang of RWD cars for the life of me either, which is shame as I wanna bring glory to the Sierra Cosworth

Yeah, they are daunting to say the least. Even the old Escort gets pretty unwieldy. You just have to catch the drifts real early and manage the yaw with a delicate throttle....I still crash them tho.
 

sn0man

Member
Sami listen to the calls.👨‍🍳:messenger_blowing_kiss:

I’m still futzing around with Dirt 1.0 on steam. I may need to consider 2.0
 
This game I got in 2020 on a Steam sale for £5 ended up buying a wheel set up for £260 and haven't stopped playing the game. It's one of the best driving games out there and doesn't get enough attention.
 

Kruza

Member
Reinstalled myself to give VR a blast, seems to have a hefty graphical hit that doesn't get better on Ultra so looks similar to the original on PSVR :messenger_grinning_sweat:

Still can't get the hang of RWD cars for the life of me either, which is shame as I wanna bring glory to the Sierra Cosworth

Tuning a car's setup properly can make it easier to drive -- especially for the RWD types. The Sierra Cosworth is extremely difficult to drive under the default settings.

I find it best to soften the suspension and raise ride height a bit whenever driving over stages with bumpy roads and covered by loose surfaces (Finland and USA for examples). Meanwhile, I look to stiffen suspension and lower ride height whenever driving over asphalt-based stages with minimal or no bumps (Spain and Germany for examples).

Aside from these points, I concur with what HellforLeather posted above in regards to careful throttle management while drifting in a RWD car. I hope this helps.
 
Tuning a car's setup properly can make it easier to drive -- especially for the RWD types. The Sierra Cosworth is extremely difficult to drive under the default settings.

I find it best to soften the suspension and raise ride height a bit whenever driving over stages with bumpy roads and covered by loose surfaces (Finland and USA for examples). Meanwhile, I look to stiffen suspension and lower ride height whenever driving over asphalt-based stages with minimal or no bumps (Spain and Germany for examples).

Aside from these points, I concur with what HellforLeather posted above in regards to careful throttle management while drifting in a RWD car. I hope this helps.
Heck I've not even touched the tuning for suspension I've only really bothered with tires changes and left them on default. Do the tweak make major changes to handling at all?
 

AMC124c41

Neo Member
Still have this game installed on my PC with all the DLC. Nothing better has arrived in the rally game space. I used to only play Richard Burns Rally and now only this because all the other rally games kind of suck when it comes to the actual driving physics. I'm afraid that since Codemasters has acquired the WRC licence they'll dumb it down for the masses and it's going to suck again.
 

bender

What time is it?
The original Dirt Rally is probably my favorite game ever than I'm absolutely pants at. I don't think I've ever won an event. I've tried to get into Dirt 2.0 but I think picking that pre-order Porsche screws me over because it feels like I'm driving on a block of ice. I really only ever used the Mini Cooper in the original.

I do miss the RSC games from the OG Xbox. More fitting for my skill level I guess.
 
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Kruza

Member
Heck I've not even touched the tuning for suspension I've only really bothered with tires changes and left them on default. Do the tweak make major changes to handling at all?

Tuning the suspension setup (springs, dampers, anti-roll bar) can make a big difference in handling along with ride height. The adjustments that are made have to make sense relative to each part though. What I mean by this point is that -- as an example -- softening the dampers and anti-roll bar on a car won't make much difference if the ride height of the car is not raised enough to accommodate for the extra travel of these parts whenever the car rides over a big bump on the road at fast speed. Due to not addressing the ride height setting the car could bottom out while landing from a big bump, which would completely negate any adjustments made to dampers and anti-roll bar.
 
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hollams

Gold Member
Wondering once the WRC license goes to Codemasters if they will have to release a yearly rally game like Nacon has since they've had the license. I know they do that currently with F1. Would that be a good thing ?
 
Tuning the suspension setup (springs, dampers, anti-roll bar) can make a big difference in handling along with ride height. The adjustments that are made have to make sense relative to each part though. What I mean by this point is that -- as an example -- softening the dampers and anti-roll bar on a car won't make much difference if the ride height of the car is not raised enough to accommodate for the extra travel of these parts whenever the car rides over a big bump on the road at fast speed. Due to not addressing the ride height setting the car could bottom out while landing from a big bump, which would completely negate any adjustments made to dampers and anti-roll bar.
I'll try it out today.
 
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