The Bad
Limited Locations
Yes, it’s only one less rally than the last title. Yes, there is a possibility to generate a nearly infinite number of stages. That’s more, right? Not exactly. The lack of WRC license hurts here. Wales without Sweet Lamb? It just doesn’t feel right not having it there. If anything the lack of license could have produced more Rally locations, no longer being tied to trying to get the stages just like the originals. Seems like a missed opportunity, an infinite number of possible stages are great, but with only 5 backdrops it will start to feel familiar that much quicker.
Upgrading Parts
With the addition of a more robust Team Management system comes the new duty of upgrading the team’s facilities. While I do like the addition, in general, there is one area that could use a little tweak. In order to install better parts on the car, one must first upgrade their R&D department. This, of course, is the most expensive upgrade to the facility at 120,000 credits to move up from the base level. The result is that it takes a good number of championships to even be able to improve your ride. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but being able to make those first upgrades to the car sooner would be appreciated. My first championship with even partial upgrades was my 9th one.
The Ugly
Land Rush
Gone from DiRT Rally is the hill climb and back into the series comes Land Rush. In theory, it sounds like a lot of fun, Dune Buggies, Trucks and Crosskarts all playing in the sand. In the driving modes with more assists, it probably does live up to that fun. With no driver aids however it was easily the least fun I’ve had with Dirt 4. If I could get through snow stages without incident in an RWD Group B monster this probably shouldn’t be that hard. I’m not sure I even made it through the first corner in a Buggy without a spin if it even made it that far. Several attempts and various different approaches all yielded similar results. The Trucks were better, but still didn’t really do much for me. Both felt like a good amount of tuning was required to even stay with the pack, let alone seriously challenge them. Rallycross already does that and with slightly more predictable handling. Well, it’s a good thing Land Rush is optional.