Remember to not have high expectations so you get more impressed with the game!
That's what I exactly had in mind when I got the game yesterday!
To be honest, I ended up liking it after like 4 hours of straight gameplay!
Below you can find my INITIAL findings and impressions:
-Handling seems easier than Dirt Rally, but also more realistic:
Cars feel heavy, they have more weight, no longer a small crest hit would turn your car around easily like in DR.
Braking is very improved and will kill you if you do it wrong, weight shift is real.
Cars no longer feel they are driven on ice, especially on dirt/gravel; I remember how the cars slid all over the place in DR in Greece!
-It seems handling and FFB have some Assetto corsa feeling to it, and I like that.
-I thank God that they got rid of the old DR FFB because that one broke my wheel! It used to rumble and shake and kick in heavily!
In fact, I couldn't drive more than 15min straight on DR without my wheel pressing some buttons by itself! (it happens on heavy FFB kick-ins). Yesterday I drove 4hrs straight and the issue didn't happen, not even once! I'm happy!
-I drove in USA, Australia and Spain. I enjoyed Australia the most out of these.
-I drove on Simulation handling, Demanding AI and all assists OFF, as well as whole HUD OFF. Also manual sequential and headcam view (with steering wheel view). All wheel settings were left to default (saturation, linearity etc...). FFB was just reduced to 75% to preserve my wheel's life.
That's really immersive and realistic! To wait for the stage to end just to see in which position you are is a good feeling!
-I completed the DirtFish school lessons and it's nice and fun!
-I absolutely suck at Rally Cross! Dunno why! I just can't make that car drive! It feels like driving on ice!
-Driving in fog is really wicked hard!
-The helicopter ****ed up one of my cleanest and fastest stages! I was surprised by it and the dust covered everything so i hit the barrier with nearly full speed and spun!
-I tried 5min of landrush and couldn't complete a single lap! The struggle is real!
-The biggest downside to this game seems the stages more than anything else! Easy and boring and repetitive a bit! Nothing amazing like real life scanned DR stages! Those are legendary!
Overall I'm really loving it and enjoying it and can't wait to play it more and more!
Again I say, it may not be as hard as Dirt Rally, but that doesn't mean it's not more realistic! HARD is not always equal to REALISTIC.