I've been a pretty big fan of the DiRT series since Colin McRae: DiRT, so I was pretty excited when this came out. It was important I understood what I was getting into: this is not just a typical DiRT arcade/simulator hybrid, but rather a full fledged rally sim.

I really appreciated the authenticity of this game. When you're driving on rocky, bumpy trails, you can hear every groan of the car as its frame is stressed and you can certainly feel every bump in the controller. I really liked the audio aspect of this game. It made me feel like I was indeed pulling these crazy stunts myself.

Visually, they definitely turned down the stylized graphics compared to the other DiRT games and instead focused on 3d model and texture quality (in my opinion). I am sure this is due to the authenticity factor.

It is pretty difficult at first because again, it's not quite something you'll be used to coming from the other games in the series. With a little perseverance you'll get it. The major bummer here is no flashbacks/rewinds. Again, going back to the authenticity. If you crash, you'd better hope you can make it through the rest of the event with your car or you'll just have to start over. I cannot complain about any of these difficulty related issues though, because it's a somewhat unforgiving sim and most if not all racing games can be quite unforgiving.

One real bummer for me was the lack of customization. Aside from liveries, there really isn't too much to be seen. Of course, you can adjust your "tune:" shocks, dampening, gear ratios, and basic aero. It is very nice to see tons of (drivetrain) customization in racing games, especially when it gets granular. Unfortunately, this is not really the case with DiRT Rally.

Overall, still an awesome entry in the series and its Codemasters really taking the Rally genre 100% seriously. It is very refreshing to play compared to the other hybrids (which I still love) in the series and certainly offers a challenge.