Rally games are great fun for those who can wrap their heads around the mechanics and complicated gameplay. For everyone else, a rally game can often end up being incredibly frustrating. I am one of those people who just avoid them because of this. That is until #Drive Rally arrived.
#Drive Rally is a new indie racer that is entering early access this week and so far, this game is actually a good time. Not because it is able to deliver the true essence of the rally sport but because it tries something different.
Right from the start, #Drive Rally opens up to an accessible system. You’re able to enter all the available campaigns and jump into a quick race. If anything, the game feels like a slimmed-down racer but honestly, there’s just no fat to sort through.
Cars are simple, menus are clear and straightforward and the game doesn’t try and be an overly flashy dirt rally racer with a wannabe deep story mode that locks you out of content until you get better at taking corners. It is the most chill rally racer around.
So chill that it kind of reminded me of a PS2 racer. The good old days when you booted up a disc and had a simple selection of modes to play, tracks to race on and cars to choose from. No major blockbuster intros and become-a-rally-professional-driver modes. Just the most important stuff. Stuff that turns your brain off as you choose what you want to do and do it.
I know I am going on about the game’s style a lot here and I promise there are actual gameplay critiques coming but #Drive Rally played into those nostalgic vibes I miss in gaming. Think Street Skater but in 4K with rally cars. There’s clearly a goal here for this game to capture that magic it really does.
Don’t be fooled by the cool cel-shaded art style in #Drive Rally, however. It might look like an arcade game but once you hit the track, the game means business. Championships are delivered in a chapter-based system. Each one also spans a different biome and comes with its own style of terrain I had to master.
“Master” here is the keyword because you’ll likely be quite bad at this game even if you’re good at rally games. But that’s okay. #Drive Rally wants you to crash into trees and fail over and over again as you slowly nudge your way to becoming a better driver. It doesn’t explain much except for “drive and turn corners” so I was forced to learn the weights of my cars, the tyre grip on the terrain and managing the turns with handbrakes, accelerating and braking.
Later on, I spotted ghost data in my race too and at first it was quite intimidating. These cars looked super professional and I was sitting there slowing down to 0.5KM/h to take a bend while some ghost car was plowing through the sand ahead of me. But again, the game eased me into the races with the Championships. The first chapter of each biome is fairly easy and naturally, as you progress, things get a bit tough.
Cars all feel different too so you’ll need to get used to them as the curve spikes. They sound pretty great and feel amazing to drive. Two things I didn’t expect from #Drive Rally, to be honest. Don’t get me wrong, I expected good cars but with the cel-shaded style, I didn’t expect realism when it came to sound and feeling.
But the real magic in #Drive Rally is much later in the Championship. Once I had faster cars and I didn’t care about anything in the world but speed. The experience shines here as you truly take over the road and blast through the tracks at the speed of light (not really because that is fast. This is fast but not that fast).
The adrenaline pumped while I juggled the turns, felt the road beneath me, heard my engine roaring as if I could feel the heat coming from the hood and during all this, had to pay attention to what turn was coming my way. I sped through barriers, smashed into trees and didn’t care. It is fun. You just sit back, forget about the world and drive mothef#@&@#. DRIVE! Best of all, I didn’t worry too much about where I was placed at the time. Only that I made it to the end in one piece.
It wouldn’t be a car game without customization and #Drive Rally also implements a visual tweaking system that feels perfect for the game. Across the Championships, I unlocked new car parts for the vehicles whether I did bad or good at a race. I could also purchase parts with the money I earned too. They don’t do anything except change how things look but the system is incredibly deep. Wheels, wings, bumpers and hoods. It is all there.
Where I did hope for more in #Drive Rally is in its tracks. There are some standout tracks here but they all feel a bit flat – literally. It would be cool to have a few jumps and dips. A bit of height to them. I guess this makes the game a little more complicated in terms of physics but I would have loved to see my car soar through the air for a few seconds. I am no pro rally fan so I am not even sure if ramps are a thing. But somehow I feel like they would be perfect here.
#Drive Rally is great. It is about to enter early access and the game already feels excellent. Somehow I would play this over any other rally game on the market. It is incredibly appealing to newcomers and I am sure fans of the genre will enjoy it too. The game will expand beyond its 12-car selection and 24 stages as the months go by but as it stands, there’s a good racer here.
This #Drive Rally review is based on early access on Steam. We were given access by developer Pixel Perfect Dude. The game releases in early access on 26 September. You can pick it up in early access on Steam here.
