Recent reviews by julie andrews

I'm frustrated but optimistic.

Look, I'm sure that supporting every possible input configuration on PC is a nightmare, especially in the universe of racing wheels.

But I'm really unhappy with not just how they want you to map inputs, but also the strange lack of responsiveness to inputs sometimes in-game.

I'd say that shifting gears is working for me only most of the time. My handbrake seems to get stuck at the start of a stage, too? And this is in addition to the game flat-out refusing to let me use my admittedly no-name USB handbrake. (Like, it's not just a matter of it merely not really working. It's basically saying "nah, we're not gonna let you use that".)

As for the game as-intended... I had managed my expectations coming in given the lack of stage variety, and that's all fine: I knew what I was buying, in that sense. I've never driven rally in real life, but I assume the physics are pretty authentic and it's definitely demanding a different driving style than other rally games... how much that experience is for me remains to be seen, honestly. I at least have an academic appreciation for what they're doing, but maybe I want something less punishing.

But the input customization is really not at industry standard (which is an enormous hurdle to my enthusiasm and willingness to spend more time with the game as-is), and I think that's really important. For me to even want to get good at their more challenging sim requires that they meet me halfway and don't make me wrestle with both input problems AND more authentic physics.

Also, they're doing Early Access and have no bug reporting tool in-game?

Finally, I'm really concerned about this being another Unreal Engine rally game with stuttering and other performance issues. We've seen this movie already with EA WRC.

Absolutely should not have this much trouble with graphics and wheel configuration. Unacceptable.

On consoles, this game is imperfect but enjoyable. I cannot recommend the PC version. Too many things just don't work or don't work well. No matter what my average FPS (and settings) are, I get virtually unplayable FPS dips in kind of inexplicable moments.

Just get Dirt Rally 2.0 instead. (Or keep playing that.)

I was hoping this would be a satisfying single-player tacFPS. Super poor first impressions: high res was kind of funky, objectives were poorly communicated, and the tone was off-putting to me.

It's unbelievable how well this game holds up.