#DRIVE Rally leaves a lot to be desired.

The car models are impeccable, and come in great variety, from recognizable rally legends, to unconventional offroaders. I wish I could compliment more.

Controlling the vehicles feels unrealistic and weightless. Most vehicles grip the dirt incredibly tightly, and it seems as though some kind of artificial downforces keeps them grounded.

The environments feel haphazardly strewn together. The routes blend together and feel samey, as unique landmarks are few and far between. And by slowing players down to scan the terrain in a free-roam collectathon, attention is brought to errors in the environment design: roads and paths have thick seams where they interesect, foliage looks of poor quality, and many props don't quite touch the ground. Shadow pop-in is incredibly aggressive, to the point of becoming a distraction while racing.

There is very little to do. There is no campaign; the "Championship" mode may look like one from the cover, but it is nothing more than a tour to introduce players to all of the cars and environments. You earn heaps of cash from playing, but there is nothing that costs more than pocket change to spend it all on. The AI times to beat are complete pushovers. And the online leaderboards for each rally stage cap out at a mere top 12.

There is a lack of certain options. Graphics come in 3 presets, beyond that you may only toggle volumetric lighting and motion blur. There are 3 camera angles (cockpit, follow, overhead), but no way to fine tune them to your comfort.

The audio design has issues. The voiceovers of the caricaturistic co-drivers are a novelty, but some of their voice lines seem corrupted, with harsh static cut-offs and stuttering. Most of the vehicle engines are passable, but there are still some overclocked electric toothbrushes that play an uncomfortably high pitch. A good chunk of sound effects don't even properly load until you pause/unpause the game: this includes environmental audio, tire effects, and even the race start timer.

There are many areas that require fixes, and lots of room to improve. But with seemingly no public roadmap, one can only hope #DRIVE Rally's recent 1.0 release isn't the developer throwing in their hat and calling it a day.

#DRIVE Rally leaves a lot to be desired. The car models are impeccable, and come in great variety, from recognizable rally legends, to unconventional offroaders. I wish I could compliment more. Controlling the vehicles feels unrealistic and weightless. Most vehicles grip the dirt incredibly tightly, and it seems as though some kind of artificial downforces keeps them grounded. The environments feel haphazardly strewn together. The routes blend together and feel samey, as unique landmarks are few and far between. And by slowing players down to scan the terrain in a free-roam collectathon, attention is brought to errors in the environment design: roads and paths have thick seams where they interesect, foliage looks of poor quality, and many props don't quite touch the ground. Shadow pop-in is incredibly aggressive, to the point of becoming a distraction while racing. There is very little to do. There is no campaign; the "Championship" mode may look like one from the cover, but it is nothing more than a tour to introduce players to all of the cars and environments. You earn heaps of cash from playing, but there is nothing that costs more than pocket change to spend it all on. The AI times to beat are complete pushovers. And the online leaderboards for each rally stage cap out at a mere top 12. There is a lack of certain options. Graphics come in 3 presets, beyond that you may only toggle volumetric lighting and motion blur. There are 3 camera angles (cockpit, follow, overhead), but no way to fine tune them to your comfort. The audio design has issues. The voiceovers of the caricaturistic co-drivers are a novelty, but some of their voice lines seem corrupted, with harsh static cut-offs and stuttering. Most of the vehicle engines are passable, but there are still some overclocked electric toothbrushes that play an uncomfortably high pitch. A good chunk of sound effects don't even properly load until you pause/unpause the game: this includes environmental audio, tire effects, and even the race start timer. There are many areas that require fixes, and lots of room to improve. But with seemingly no public roadmap, one can only hope #DRIVE Rally's recent 1.0 release isn't the developer throwing in their hat and calling it a day.