Dirt Rally Notebook Benchmarks

For the original German article, see here.

Game Engine

“Dirt Rally” uses the fourth phase of the EGO engine. The predecessor of this engine can be found in games like “Grid 2”, “Grid Autosport” and “F1 2013/2014” - all of which are made by Codemasters. Although the engine offers decent/good visuals, it looks a little outdated. The cars have glossy reflections and amazing details (inside and outside), but the race tracks are no longer up-to-date. The lighting is not great (depending on the time of day, the scene may appear pale and garish, similar to “Watch Dogs”) and the textures can be poor from time to time. We particularly dislike the ground graphics, which should be far better, considering this is the year 2015. Tessellation should add more structure and details here. Furthermore, the tracks left behind by the car seem to be 2D textures.

On the other hand, “Dirt Rally” offers great draw-distance and pretty panoramas, which look truly amazing in the race replays. Codemasters have done a great job with the vegetation as well: the lush grass, bushes and trees are rare in racing games. Compared with the “F1” series, “Dirt Rally” offers a much better atmosphere. We would also like to point out the smaller details on each track, such as houses, parked cars or the spectators (very polygonal). The particle and smoke effects during races are a nice touch.

We love the damage system of the game. The car has to be smashed hard against objects to leave large marks, but smaller effects, like scratches and dirt, are easy to see. Depending on the race track, the visual car damage particles change: dirt, rain, mud and snow are all found in the game.

This brings us to our next topic: the tracks. There is a lot of variation in the looks and the architecture of the different race tracks. The demanding driving experience reminds us of Colin McRae and turns each track into a challenge. For example, cutting the corner too close will shoot the car over the border, into the trees. Codemasters has optimized the driving experience and the interface. The menus are far more intuitive now. Overall, although we find the engine to be above average, we think it is time for a new one.eack Other racing games (for example, “Need for Speed Rivals”) have far better graphics.

However, the gameplay is extremely fun. As mentioned before, “Dirty Rally” separates itself from the mass of Arcade racing games (like “The Crew”) with its demanding driving experience. If you are not looking for a story, but rather want to enjoy a classic racing game, then “Dirt Rally” is the right game for you. Currently, the game is available for 30 Euros (~$33) on Steam. Despite being an "Early-Access" version, we did not notice any bugs. In fact, the old "Codemasters Bug" (game would not run properly in full screen mode), occurred on only one notebook (Schenker XMG A505).

The studio deserves praise for its extensive settings. We are familiar with the advanced settings from “Grid” and “F1”, which hide many tweaks. Furthermore, the menu includes 5 presets and various options for the resolution, picture and additional display settings (frequency, gamma, vertical synchronization). Anti-aliasing is available in various modes, like CMAA and MSAA. All settings are applied immediately, without requiring a restart.