#DRIVE Rally Review

There is nothing like a well-crafted arcade racer. They are fun and tricky to grasp, and once you get used to how a racer plays, it gets even more entertaining to dive deep into the mechanics. I’ve played lots of arcade racers back in the day, and I still do—that being the old classics, of course. Nowadays, it is very hard to find a racing game that scratches the itch of the classics from the late 90s to the early 2000s.

Back when licensing and getting an important company’s name out wasn’t such a big deal, it was a great idea to make a rally game based on real-life events, such as the British Rally Season or the World Rally Championship. Some other developers have focused on their seasonal games, like Colin McRae Rally or Richard Burns Rally games. They weren’t tied to any coalition or sponsored by any big rally event, but they were also successful in bringing arcade games to the mainstream.

As I mentioned, now that many players are seeking vintage-styled racing games, some developers have started picking up on many requests to bring the genre back. An intriguing racing title called Old School Rally was released in Early Access a few months ago. Don’t get me wrong—I do not like Early Access games—but Old School Rally promised and delivered—and is still delivering—what people have requested for a long time.

It had a theme and approach similar to the first two Colin McRae games, and with a banger drum and bass soundtrack, people immediately fell in love with the game. And now, a few months later, #DRIVE Rally has been released, and I honestly do not know what the dev team chose as an approach or wanted to bring a unique experience from the start for people who want to play rally games.

This reminds me of how a design direction can take a game in a different state despite its clear intentions. Comparing Dirt Rally 2.0 to Dirt 5, for example, they are completely separate from each other, yet they are in the same batch of racing games. While Dirt 2.0 takes the approach of realism, while Dirt 5 gives more of a casual vibe. Applying that to #DRIVE Rally, it’s obviously a casual title- in fact, a bit more casual than other rally games.

#DRIVE Rally provides two modes to race, Championship and Single Rally, just like any other rally game out there. However, things get a bit different once you choose the championships. There are currently four regions to race, each including a massive map. Like in real-life rally events, some runs are effectively on the same roads but in different configurations.

I am glad we do not have the limitations of previous generations, as rally games are only used to provide a few stages. Meanwhile, #DRIVE Rally has 24 stages, ranging from 2 to 10 kilometers long. By the way, get ready to hear notes in different accents every time you get into a different championship. I do not know why, but a region-appropriate co-pilot sounds okay. However, #DRIVE Rally could have added an option to have only one voice for notes.

The obvious reason is to give the game a personality. However, I would like to take you back to 2004-2005, when Evolution Studios worked on official WRC games for consoles. The co-pilot there was so realistic and full of personality that I thought it was something I had never heard of. Depending on the mood, ranking, status, pace, and driving style, our co-pilot would comment and share his personality. One of the more underrated parts was that he would update us on broken parts, too, which would give us an idea of being cautious.

#DRIVE Rally’s co-pilots also have personalities, comment on crashes and good paces, and even talk about how fast we are going. But these are all hidden behind the loud noises and incomprehensible chatter. By incomprehensible chatter, I mean the accents and random fake sponsor talk with special names plastered all over. It feels quite distant and dated, so it would have been better to keep one voice for all and let that be the person you need to hear all the time.

Pace notes, yes, another crucial part of rally games. They are okay in #DRIVE Rally, sometimes well-generated because the stages are intervened with each other. However, they also get delivered quite late because of random comments the co-pilot gave before the turn. Most of the time, due to the high amounts of focus you have to do while watching the road, you steer or fine-tune your acceleration/deceleration properly. However, the pace notes are shown as subtitles and nothing else.

Turning back, even the simplest rally game like Sega Rally or WRC 2000 would at least let you know which turns are coming by showing an image of the turn. In fact, the mechanic is still used by high-standard rally simulators like EA Sports WRC or Dirt Rally 2.0. The absence of pace, not images, makes the game look dull and empty.

It wouldn’t be a proper rally game review without talking about the driving physics. I am sure everyone’s waiting on that, and to not disappoint, the driving physics are quite great. The cars really feel proper on their own background, such as a compact car weighing less and being easy to control, while a sedan with an FR drivetrain feels quite heavy to steer. Of course, depending on your driving style, your output will be different.

One thing that didn’t make any sense was the calendar system, which is the set of stages you have to go through. I understand that having a schedule like in a real-life rally is okay, but due to UI’s edgy display, you sometimes have no idea what your car is or which stage you will drive in. Not to mention that you cannot change your cars between championships. You only get to change a car when you finish a championship, which automatically grants you a prize car.

This prize car is used until the end of the championship. Considering there are three cars per championship, the game yields quite short- that is if you don’t include the very long stages. A short rally game is quite okay. #DRIVE Rally isn’t a detailed sim racer or anything, but back in 2000, the Mobil 1 Rally Championship included rally stages that lasted 25-30 minutes, and that was per five stages. So you could end up having an entire rally lasting about five to six hours.

Next, I want to talk about the graphics, which are one of the stronger parts of the #DRIVE Rally. It caters to cartoony and exaggerated matte color palettes—which fits quite well, in my opinion. Rally was never meant to be a show-off sport, so keeping details to a minimum is okay. Of course, in contrast, the visual effects are great. The dust appears under the tires, and the overall ambiance is quite good.

The car designs are not original, of course. You can guess which cars they have been referred to. These range from old European sporty models from the 2000s to Japanese cars. Funnily enough, a bit of American rivalry is thrown in there, too. Old trucks and muscle cars are also included. The best part is the way you upgrade them. So, there is a three-level upgrade system for cars. The first level is a barebones car, only fitted for the rally spec.

The second level is a bit more advanced with AWD specs, and on level three, the engine is heavily modified to be like a Group B rally car. American models are converted to their respective sports, like rally raids or NASCAR cars. They don’t fit the rally category, but I mentioned that #DRIVE Rally is an arcade game. I wouldn’t mind if they stripped up a VW Beetle as a Baja option and used it for rallies.

Overall, #DRIVE Rally is a nifty game that doesn’t provide much content, but you get polished and quality time with good physics and a linear championship schedule. The game doesn’t give much hassle in terms of playing, and you can easily breeze through it if you are competent with arcade racers. Just watch out for the fences; they add up to your total finishing time, which makes no sense. You are supposed to crash into those in case something happens; come on now…