For anyone interested in obtaining DiRT rally simulator;

I have been keeping an eye on this one for a while, a little undecided, but wanting to give it a go. DiRT finally went on sale, so I snapped it up.

First comment: Long download, but we're kind of used to that, lol!

The hardest part is getting started and finding your way around the start up menus. A little non-intuitive, but doesn't lose you too much. It took me about fifteen minutes of wandering around before I figured out;

A. Where to configure and calibrate my steering wheel, and

B. That you needed to use credits to "buy" your first car AND contract an engineer.

I finally got to the bottom of that. There did not seem to be a quick start option to get out and dirty right off the bat. I did not have enough starting credits to get the car I wanted (Lancia Stratos, the vehicle that got me interested in the rally sport to start with). However, there was a good second option; having worked briefly IRL for Austin-Rover in the '90s, and having learned to drive in a Morris Marina 1800 (related stuff, for those who don't know) I went straight to the Mini.

For an engineer, I grabbed an affordable bloke who was good at engines and suspension. Then I went about setting options and difficulty as high as I could get them, except for AI opponents, which I set at Professional. I am not a fan of using easy options on games and especially sims, BTW, as it allows you to generate bad habits that then make transitioning to higher levels more difficult.

It was another five minutes before I could figure out how to actually get behind the wheel, as there were many options for the type of event you wanted to participate in.

I recorded the replay of the first try of the game, here's the video for reference of game play in action. It was a relatively short stage, something over 4 minutes.

How's the game itself? Car setup options are not as detailed as Assetto Corsa. By that I mean, as far as I can see, you won't spend the larger part of your experience tweaking suspension, tires and gear ratios. Graphics are great. Car handling seems pretty realistic, and the feel of the stock force feedback setting was quite convincing, I thought. The co-pilot's comments on upcoming bends were a little early for me, to start with, but in the video (if you watch it) you'll see that I start connecting with him as from about 2 and a half minutes into the run. I had a distinct advantage that the type of road - if not the conditions - are a bit like some of the ones we get around here in the Andes, LOL!

Do I recommend this game/sim? If you like the rally sport, I'd say yes. Definitely.

The BEST simulator I have EVER played, if not the best overall game I have played in 30 years. Period.