With only 12 tracks across six locations, DiRT Rally 2.0 eventually begins to feel somewhat underwhelming and repetitive. I would’ve loved to see the game offer quite a lot more variety in locations. True enthusiasts are destined to spend hours grinding away and managing their garage and team, but those of us just looking to race can find a much more accessible experience in a mode that gives us so much freedom without the hassles. Frankly, while My Team offers the ability to micromanage your engineers and vehicles, there’s a sense of redundancy to it when everything is unlocked already in Freeplay. I had substantially more fun doing this as a more laid back player, finding more excitement in testing new cars and tracks than I ever did grinding in My Team. If things are too boring or you just hit a skill check, there’s always the game’s Freeplay mode that allows you unfiltered access to virtually everything in the game and even gives you the option to create your own events. Why players are required to be online to play the mode astounds me, but it’s a minor inconvenience for the average gamer in today’s world. I’m not a fan of the grindy aspects of the mode, as money accrues rather slowly, but I did enjoy the overall progression system despite its relative simplicity.

The game’s career mode, My Team, tasks you with building up your own team and tackling a bevy of races across eight tracks. I found somewhere in the middle offered me the best option for my skill level, but there were definitely times that I knocked things down a bit. Lower difficulties still pose enough of a challenge as to not become boring, but more seasoned players will get a true test of skill with higher settings. The most helpful quality of life improvement seen in the game is the addition of difficulty sliders. I’m happy to report that, whether you’re an enthusiast or a casual player like me, DiRT Rally 2.0 has improved drastically in this area to ensure everyone can enjoy the game. Its unforgiving AI and steep learning curve posed a challenge for even some hardcore enthusiasts, and as someone only casually invested in the hardcore rally racing sim genre, I found myself put off pretty severely. It might be a cliché to use this phrase at this point, but DiRT Rally was essentially the Dark Souls of rally racing.

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