Dakar Desert Rally was a real surprise among this year’s releases. There was almost no talk about the project, no one really expected it, and in the end, we have a very interesting racing game in front of us. It seems that it could well compete for the title of one of the best racing games of 2022… if not for a couple of “buts”. Or even not a couple. Rather, a whole mountain of all sorts of “buts”.

Dakar Desert Rally Free Steam Account

When you first start a new simulator, especially one that promises a realistic experience, there is always a slight feeling of excitement. How long will it take to get the hang of it? Will I be able to actually enjoy the process, and not just struggle with the controls? Let’s dispel any doubts right away: yes, it is ideal to have a steering wheel and pedals at hand, but Saber Interactive has made Dakar Desert Rally as accessible as possible for everyone. Even if you only have a gamepad or a familiar mouse and keyboard, the road is open. However, you should be prepared: without a steering wheel, it will be more difficult to control the equipment.

Since we are talking about transport, everything here is like in the real Dakar. Five types of equipment: from motorcycles and ATVs to massive trucks and fast cars. There are even universal SxS all-terrain vehicles that combine features of two worlds. And each class feels different: for example, a nimble motorcycle will easily slip through where a truck driver will literally have to “jewel” to avoid crashing into another dune. It’s easier to overtake on two wheels, but the risk of flying off the track on a turn or jump is much higher.

To get used to these features, the developers have provided three levels of immersion: easy sports races for beginners, more serious professional races with active use of navigator’s tips, and, finally, a full-fledged simulator – for those who want a real challenge without indulgences.

And be prepared: in Dakar Desert Rally there is simply a sea of ​​races. First, get used to riding a motorcycle in the easy mode, then try the same tracks on an ATV. And then on a truck, on a buggy … and so on ad infinitum. When the easy level seems boring, you can raise the bar and test yourself in harsh conditions. And then, who knows, maybe you will want to challenge your friends in multiplayer?

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First Race Experience: Problems with Car Control in Dakar Desert Rally

The game’s start shocked me the most. At first, everything was going great: a demonstration race on different types of transport, a beautiful introduction… And then – choosing the first car. I took a car and went to the qualifying race. And then the nightmare began: I spent half a day just trying to pass the first race. The problem was in the car – my Ssangyong was a complete piece of junk. The car spun and skidded as if I was driving not on asphalt or sand, but on bare ice. In recent years, I can’t remember any race that greeted me so harshly from the threshold. When I realized that it was not in my hands, but in the choice of car, I wanted to sell this bucket or exchange it for something more decent. But the game kindly said: “Pass the qualification – then we’ll talk.” In the end, I had to delete the saves manually and start from scratch.

In the second attempt I was already smarter – I chose another car and, lo and behold, I passed the race on the first try. And then everything went much easier: with a normal car I was consistently on the podium, while in the Ssangyong I couldn’t even get into the top eight. And here the first big problem of the game appeared: half of the transport here behaves as if they forgot to test it. Some cars are decently controlled, while others are natural torpedoes without a steering wheel. This is especially noticeable in different classes of equipment. It is difficult to find a frankly terrible truck, but ATVs are some kind of circus show: they spin on level ground like crazy stools. Of the cars and buggies, only a third are more or less adequate. Motorcycles are also real jokers: they can drag you into a ditch without any warning. On them, you can either fly away and win, or suddenly fall somewhere under a palm tree. To be honest, I sometimes drove well, but sometimes chance intervened – and I had to restart the race.

What’s especially funny is that you can’t choose a normal car based on its appearance or characteristics. The “Handling” indicator only tells you how easy it is to fit into a turn, and not whether you will go straight at all. After the release, at least the leaderboards started working – you can see who wins on what, and not torment yourself with guessing. Nevertheless, if you are lucky with your choice – the pleasure of driving here is excellent. Good cars really give you a thrill: driving on hills, jumping over ravines, fighting for balance – all this feels natural and is very addictive. I liked the trucks the most: they have a feeling of weight, and racing on them is a separate entertainment.

The difficulty in the game is not directly adjustable, but there are three modes: “Sport”, “Professional” and “Simulator”. “Sport” is a classic: you race from checkpoint to checkpoint, the road is visible in front. But you still have to keep your ears open – you can only see the nearest point, and where to go next – listen to the navigator or look at the diagrams on the screen. A balanced mode between racing and navigation. In “Professional” checkpoints are no longer highlighted. Now the only reference point is the navigator’s voice and road signs. Driving becomes completely different: the speed is lower, and attention to the route is much more important. You can even connect a friend on Discord so that he can tell you the way through a special navigation panel. It sounds cool, but I still haven’t found a friend willing to buy the game for the full price for this. Well, “Simulator” is generally a “real Dakar” level. But to open it, you need to level up for a very long time – I haven’t even gotten there yet.

In general, the tracks in the game are gorgeous. If you can even call them that, they are rather huge natural arenas. The time of day and weather change dynamically: you are racing through the dunes on a bright day, then flying through a narrow canyon on a bike at night, then rolling a buggy through a storm with lightning… and then generally making your way through a snowy desert in a blizzard. Saudi Arabia looks so diverse here that I, a person with a degree in geography, was pleasantly surprised. Rocks, savannas, sand dunes, coastlines with palm trees, swamps near oases – all this in one game, and made with soul.

Dakar Desert Rally – Impressions of Graphics, Gameplay and Bugs

Dakar Desert Rally immediately makes a strong impression. Here you can see that the developers approached the matter with all seriousness: the picture is stunning. The wheels of the SUVs literally get stuck in the sand, leaving deep tracks behind them – the experience of the team that previously worked on SnowRunner is evident. At high speed, the awning on the roof desperately flutters in the wind, and the mudguards dance to the beat of the bumps and potholes. The detailing of the equipment and the surrounding world is truly pleasing to the eye: every little thing – from glare on the body to traces of dirt – is thought out to the smallest detail.

The weather effects deserve special praise. Showers, sandstorms, fog – all this is done so atmospherically that at times you feel like a participant in a real rally. The view from the cabin is especially captivating: when it starts to rain, you have to manually turn on the wipers, and this makes you even more immersed in the process. The developers tried to make the physics of the equipment’s behavior as realistic as possible. Cars don’t just get dented in collisions – every crack and torn piece affects handling. For example, if you lose a door or damage the body, you’ll feel how the aerodynamics get worse, and the car starts to swerve at high speed. Such attention to detail is extremely rare today.

But, unfortunately, behind all this beauty there are a whole bunch of serious problems that spoil the pleasure of the game. The technical condition of the project at the time of release leaves much to be desired. Optimization is clearly not finished to the mind: beautiful graphics load the video card to the limit, and the consumption of video memory in some scenes goes off the scale. Sometimes strange artifacts appear on the screen, especially on the windows of cars, where the textures begin to look grainy. Smoke and dust, which should have added drive to what is happening, look strange and artificial rather than spectacular. And it would be fine if everything was limited to cosmetic flaws – the trouble is that bugs are seriously starting to interfere with the game. For example, your truck is struggling to climb a hill, slowly and painfully, as if it were loaded with concrete, while NPCs in exactly the same truck fly past you easily and casually. It feels like some completely different physical laws apply to the AI.

Sometimes the game just openly mocks you. In one of the races, right at the checkpoint, I came across a tiny bump that was impossible to go around. The car flew up on it, flipped over and literally fell apart. At first, I thought it was my mistake. But when I restarted the race and saw a whole dump of wrecked bot cars, realizing that it was a bug, it became really sad. Unfortunately, there are plenty of such situations here. Plus, there are non-working remapping keys, problems with steering wheel control, unstable network mode (I was never able to get into a normal multiplayer lobby – I always ended up alone in the void).

And all this is only half the trouble compared to how the artificial intelligence works here. The bots, to put it mildly, behave strangely. In one race, they can hopelessly drag along at the tail, and in another, they can rush ahead of you at the speed of light, without slowing down either on turns, or on bumps, or on dangerous descents. The most unpleasant thing is their aggression. They do not just compete with you – they literally hunt you, ramming you at the first opportunity, pushing you off the track. After contact, the car is thrown to the side with such force that it is almost impossible to recover. Motorcycles, buggies and light SUVs have a particularly hard time – after a collision with an inadequate bot, they have practically no chance of staying on the track. Only heavy trucks can somehow withstand the blow. Honestly, it seems that the developers did not plan for this behavior of the bots – most likely, this is another bug. But this, alas, does not make it any easier. You seem to be driving the track cleanly, carefully, fighting for position, and suddenly some bot flies in from the side, turns you across the road – and that’s it, goodbye race.

Nevertheless, despite all this chaos, Dakar Desert Rally still has its charm. If you are patient, choose the “right” car, learn to avoid particularly dangerous places and tame the controls, you can have a lot of fun. It is especially great to play on heavy equipment – for example, the same “KAMAZ” turned out to be just a godsend. I was able to complete several long championships on it almost without any problems, and this gave me a lot of pleasure.

True, it was worth switching back to a passenger car to complete a sponsorship task, as everything returned to normal: another series of ridiculous accidents, bot rams, loss of control – and, in the end, I sadly drove the car back into the garage, giving up trying. To sum up: Dakar Desert Rally is a game with great potential, but also with a lot of rough edges. With proper refinement, it could become a real hit for rally and off-road adventure fans. For now, it is an exciting, but annoyingly unstable adventure that can both please and piss you off to white heat.

Is Dakar Desert Rally Worth Playing Right Now: Pros and Cons

Dakar Desert Rally really shows great promise, but it is still very far from ideal – and “very” here should be taken literally. At some point, you enjoy the drive and gorgeous graphics, and the next – you are already tearing your hair out because of all the horrors that we described above. It is hard to call the game frankly bad, but until the developers sort out the half-dead cars, bugs, brakes and aggressive bots, we would advise staying away. It is better to wait until the game is brought to mind – and then calmly enjoy it. At the same time, Dakar Desert Rally has one important feature: here you can feel like a real participant in the legendary “Dakar” – with KAMAZ trucks, Russian and Belarusian racers and the whole atmosphere of the big rally, which has often been lost sight of in recent years. However, it is worth warning right away: there is no Russian language in the game at all. Not even subtitles. And although there is little text, many will still be upset.

What’s cool about the game:

• Very pleasant controls
• Interesting modes with independent route planning
• Cool damage system
• Beautiful, detailed graphics
• Very convenient camera
• Real Dakar atmosphere
• The legendary KAMAZ-master team is here!

What spoils the impression:

• Deplorable technical condition
• Half of the cars are junk that is impossible to drive
• Rivals with the habits of maniacs
• Complete absence of the Russian language

Dakar Desert Rally System Requirements

How to play Dakar Desert Rally for free on Steam via VpeSports

Do you dream of escaping the monotony of everyday life and diving into the world of real adventures? Then fasten your seat belts — Dakar Desert Rally is ready to give you unforgettable emotions! Endless dunes, treacherous sandstorms, dry riverbeds and the coolest routes — here every moment presents a new challenge. And the coolest thing: you can get the game absolutely free through our free Steam account!

We have done everything so that you can start playing without any hassle. Just register on our website, log in to your personal account — and get access to a free Steam account, where Dakar Desert Rally is already waiting for you! No confusing instructions or complicated settings — everything is simple, clear and ready to start. Your only task is to choose your SUV or motorcycle and rush towards the sandstorms.

When you complete your first stage (and maybe the entire rally marathon!), do not forget to share your impressions. We really value feedback and carefully read every message. If your comment doesn’t appear right away, don’t worry: sometimes a small adjustment is required, and after approval, you’ll receive all the necessary data to your email.

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