Dirt Rally Update 0.8 Adds Finland Stages, New Cars
Plus a new game mode
I'd like a future Dirt Rally [official site] update to add the ability to turn your engine off. Codemaster's have focused their efforts on making cars which feel fun to throw around the game's muddy rally tracks, but I'm bad at that. Instead I appreciate it for its hills, its snow, the way the headlights reflect off surfaces in the dark, and the forests which stretch off to the horizon. I don't want to race around the latest update's new Finland stages; I want to park in them. Watch a trailer below to breathe in the atmosphere for yourself.
Doesn't it look lovely?
Update 0.8 adds 12 new stages to race/Sunday drive around, each one set near Jämsä, Finland, alongside other additions such as two new cars, the ability to customise the events, stages and AI in Custom Championships mode, mouse support and more. You can find the full list on the game's Steam update page.
Dirt Rally was announced and released on the same day, slipping into Early Access back in April. It follows on from the great many racing and rally games Codemasters have released on the past, but it's unusually focused. There is no flashy music, there is no Gymkhana drift mode, there are no animated menus boshing at your screen. Instead there's just a really good rally car simulation. That endeavor has won the game a lot of fans, particularly among those who had been clinging to Richard Burns Rally since it was released in 2004.
If you'd like a friendly group of people to race against, of all skill levels, there's a lovely RPS community for doing just that. I hear a new event will be starting soon.
But I'll just park, and wish I could hear the wind for the rumbling of my idle engine.