DiRT Rally 2.0

I started DiRT Rally 2.0 expecting more of EA Sports WRC and got a lecture instead. The handling is punishing. There is little hand-holding, and a single clipped tree can end a stage. It is superb for rally diehards, but it ranks below WRC because it asks far more of a controller player. I would rather save it for the day the playseat negotiation succeeds. Wheel users who want the harsher, purer rally option should install it now.

Dirt Rally 2.0 still beats the newer EA Sports WRC for me, and it comes down to pacing rather than nostalgia. A stage here runs two or three minutes, which fits an evening gap between bedtime and collapsing on the couch far better than a 40-minute circuit session. It's not on the Series X optimisation list and it shows a little in load times, but the driving itself hasn't aged a day. Every camber shift on a gravel stage comes through the pad in a way that still catches me out. One bad line and the run is over. An older Xbox One game holding its ground against a newer, more polished rally sim purely on how convincing the driving feels is a rare thing to say.