DiRT Rally has drifted out of Early Access onto Steam proper, and can be yours for £28/$42. Far from the stunt-driven, flashy entertainment of previous DiRTs, Rally is a deep and brutal sim that is out to ensure you fail your next MOT. Driving into trees, flooding the engine and going too off-road—in a range of weather conditions, naturally—will punish like no karting game you've played. And, if you can believe such a thing, it's a PC exclusive. Until April, anyway.
I don't often go in for driving games. Unless I've got beer and a gaggle of friends on-hand, I find perfecting my racing line around a fixed track or cityscape a touch bland. Careering down mountain paths with my heart in my throat and my faith in Codemasters' all-new physics, on the other hand, that I can get behind. Everything about the handling has been overhauled, from the suspension to how your car slides on scree, so if you're clued in on technical stuff like 'CCs', 'gravel crews' and 'windscreen wipers', this might be to your liking.
Andy described DiRT Rally as "as real as it gets", and some bloke on Twitter called it "game of the year"—cor! Andy will have an updated review for you in the next few days.
