Dakar Desert Rally Critic Reviews

Dakar Desert Rally is one of the most accessible rally racing titles on the market. Combine that with gorgeous locations and thrilling driving, and you have a game with something to offer all racing enthusiasts, regardless of their niche.

Despite a lack of content, perfectible driving and unsophisticated opponents, Dakar Desert Rally comes to dust off the automotive genre with style. Based on the sumptuous landscapes of Saudi Arabia, Saber Interactive's game displays a remarkable achievement and should delight those looking for a different racing game. If the developers have kept the requirement of Dakar 18 (with co-pilot, compass, roadbook, etc.), it is now possible to try out Sport mode and its arcade approach. Thanks to these additions, Dakar Desert Rally opens up to a wider audience without cutting itself off from purists. With its impression of successful speed, its panoramas and sumptuous effects and its huge map, there is plenty to have fun while waiting for possible extensions. Undoubtedly the automotive surprise of this fall.

This game is very ambitious and to some extent is able to fulfill that. The environment is gorgeous and driving through the different areas each have their own challenges. The game doesn't fully feel finished. Technical issues ranging from superficial to gamebreaking and some key functions are simply missing. The AI really isn't very good, and the game really needs the promised photo mode and free roam. The game really has potential, and if the promised additions are there, it might be able to deliver.

At the end of the day, Dakar Desert Rally is a mix of good things and bad things, but on quite a lot of occasions, I feel like the game is still a work in progress. Sure, it’s hard to hit all the right spots from the very beginning, but aside from an enjoyable Dakar racing experience, the game needs refinements in many key areas. There still are a few performance glitches here and there, and the AI is ridiculously stupid every now and then, as it has absolutely no problem pushing you out of the track if it can’t get past you. The game system also requires more polishing. If there’s something you can truly enjoy, it’s the pure off-road experience on dunes, in water, and so on. The scenery is beautiful, so if you’re not playing the game to win races, you could have an absolute blast with this game. Otherwise, you may end up disappointed.

Dakar Desert Rally combines a lot of modern features that great racing games need, but occasionally gets in its own way with technical issues.

Dakar Desert Rally is among the main games of the genre and offers a series of great possibilities to honor the legacy of the brand, that still lacks good representatives in the world of games. With beautiful visuals, spectacular world-building and a great level of customizable challenge, the game ends up suffering from inconsistent physics, overly stiff controls and some performance issues, but the balance is still quite positive.

Ambitious and promising, Dakar Desert Rally is ultimately not the great rally game that we were sold. Even if its open world is pleasant to browse, especially when the navigation aids are deactivated, the game still has problems already present in Dakar 18. We think in particular of the physics not developed, the weakness of the AI, to the indications of the co-pilot which are not connected with what we see on the track, or to the still too numerous bugs. The Saber Porto studio spent more time creating its open world, forgetting the errors of Darak 18.

Dakar Desert Rally is a game full of peaks and troughs. Your heart will be racing when you’re hurtling through a desert during a sandstorm in a rally car, but when just a little too much throttle causes you to spin your bike and move from first to last in the middle of a snowy battle, you’ll be beyond frustrated. Still, it captures the essence of the controversial rally pretty well. And those willing to put in the time to master it will find it very rewarding.

Dakar Desert Rally is an improvement for the series but it still wallows in some of the same problems. Visually, it's stunning with some wonderful views and spectacular weather effects. Unfortunately, the career mode really limits what players can do and drip-feeds content at a relatively slow pace. There's a real lack of modes and the racing is hampered by some poor AI. I never really felt confident with the handling model but at least navigation seems more straight-forward.

There’s a lot to like about this game. The sense of scale and visuals is amazing. However, the core aspects of the game, such as handling and getting access to the main rally, are frustrating. Saber Interactive has done a good job on the macro level of the game. With upcoming pledged updates, I’m hoping they enhance the micro aspects which are badly needed.

Dakar Desert Rally strives for something more but that is not enough. The lack of routes with interesting design and variety make it a boring racer, while this indecision about whether it wants to be serious or not, is an issue that in the future Saber Interactive should see through a different perspective.