Recent reviews by Cyteless

Game is very stable, and performance is good - I get 60+fps on a GTX970 on mid-high graphics settings. Force feedback is really good, and the interaction between the FFB and physics is intuitive. Content variety is massive, from low-powered hatchbacks to high powered prototypes and formula cars, from the 1960s to modern day, and lots of tracks from different eras to go with it.

Make sure you set up your camera settings correctly - some people have said the cars are floaty or bouncy, but it's just their camera settings giving that impression. Legacy camera mode in the settings will help for a lot of people.

Hosting multiplayer sessions is easy, you can just set up all the settings in the menu the same as you would in singleplayer. The rating system lets you filter out lower level drivers.

The game is continually being updated, Reiza are usually doing beta updates for testing every couple of weeks, so developer support is very good.

Still a handful of players playing, and it's hard to beat this type of gameplay.

Probably the best out-of-the-box racing game. A wide variety of content that's represented fairly well. Car and track models are nice. Sounds are lacking in some areas, but with the right volume mixing in the options it's fine. Default force feedback options for wheels are the biggest letdown - I'd urge wheel users to use Christiaan's Pure FFB file, it transforms the feeling of what the car is doing.

It doesn't get everything right, but there's enough to keep you entertained.

Update - 29 July 17: Passing mechanics have changed, meaning the ball is dropped less in catchable situations. The player still needs to see the ball, but some frustrating missed opportunities have been reduced.

TL;DR - budget indie title that has a good (and importantly, fun) basis for a gridiron football game with some polish issues and limited to single matches/games (no season).


The foundations of a good football game are here. The selection of plays allows for varied offensive options, with competent AI to execute them and defensive AI that performs defensive schemes well.

The AI is very competent. On the offense, they form the pocket well, run their routes, and aren't supermen catching the ball (they have to see the ball coming). Defensively, AI reacts to motion before the snap, sticks with their men, reacts in zone coverage, and does a good job of deflecting passes fairly.

Art assets are nice. Player models are decently modelled and there's a good variety in stadium design and details. There's also a lot of off-field characters, like the guys moving the chains and camermen on carts moving about. Varied weather effects are also nice to see.

Good character. There's some humour to be found in the game and the motion captured animations of the players make the game more than robotic. Players celebrate or taunt when they deflect passes or score a touchdown, and show frustration when missing a field goal. The animations are a little jittery, but it's good to see an indie developer try to add character rather than it being a purely mechanical game.

Challenging! There's a good variance in difficulty. In my first game, I was defeated quite badly, but as I gained confidence in the gameplay, I started to get better results, though I'm still having some tough losses.


Limited to single games. If you're into your franchise or season modes, you'll not find it here. Personally, I enjoy pick-up playing pick-up games, but I know some will feel this is lacking.

Lighting. While the art assets are nice, lighting is a bit bland, which makes the visuals look worse than they actually are. A comparison I'd make would be racing simulators like rFactor, where the models are nice, but the simplistic lighting lets it down a little.

Lack of polish in some areas. Certain assets, like menu icons and button prompts are fairly low res. While not a serious issue, it lowers the overall visual aesthetic of the game. Not a big issue, but you'll be aware you're playing a budget title.


Canadian Football 17 is a competent game with a lot of fun to be had, albeit limited in scope. The important thing here is the mechanics of the game are good, so the football itself is fun to play. There's a good foundation to build upon for updates or sequels, so for those seeking a career or franchise mode, there is at least a good game to build upon. If playing the game for the sake of playing isn't enough for you, then you'll want to sit this one out. I'm personally having a lot of fun playing the single matches, but I understand this won't be enough for some.

NB - there is also a play designer, though I haven't looked at this yet. The plays that are in the playbook as standard are competent and varied enough for a casual player like me, though I may delve in to it later.

The good:

If you're a fan of a pure rally experience, you'll enjoy this game. The stage generator allows for a large range of stages to be created, so it becomes less a case of learning stages and instead learning to drive with a co-driver. Car setup is critical for this, particularly for the 4WD/AWD cars. Compared to DiRT Rally, 4WD cars are a lot more loose on gravel, with traction being very easy to lose in high speed turns. Setup in general is a lot more important, as each stage presents more varied challenges than in the previous game.

Tarmac/asphalt rallies are far superior to DiRT Rally - it's no longer a case of 0 to 100 in terms of grip.

The cars feel a lot more reactive to the changing road - the different suspension springs feel distinctive from one another, rather than DiRT Rally's feeling of a box pivoting on a fixed axis. This is especially important on the gravel stages, to ensure the car is able to get around corners to find the balance between oversteer and understeer.

Having additional disciplines is also good to avoid fatigue from playing solely rally or rallycross. The crosskarts, trucks and buggies are a lot of fun and offer a welcome change of pace from the rally. The circuits are nicely detailed, the racing is intense, and the cars themselves are a lot of fun to drive.

The bad:

Difficulty is a problem. Even at the highest difficulty, I feel that my success percentage is too high. Not finishing 1st place is more down to a mistake I've made on the course rather than the times set by the AI drivers. There are also some artificial difficulties that occur on the stages, like helicopters blowing up dust on the middle of the road, or drones that fly in front of the car. These are more frustrating nuisances than a believable element of difficulty, so I'd prefer if these were removed or put on less intrusive parts of the stages.

Stage generation is a necessary solution to stop players from gaming stages from min-maxed setups and learning every inch of the course; however, sections repeat too often and turns appear to have the same gradient i.e. a left 3 will look like every left 3, rather than be slightly shallower or deeper. The random stages are a big improvement, but hopefully Codemasters can improve on their tech to make stages appear more varied.

Overall:

This is a more complete package than DiRT Rally and if you're a fan of the sport you'll enjoy this game. While I haven't tried the gamer handling, this is also a good addition to encourage more fans into the series, particularly as Codies are returning their rally games to a more serious tone. It's a good opportunity for you to introduce your friends before moving onto the real challenge of simulation handling, as well as enjoy the fun gamemodes offered in the stadium racing disciplines.

A very fun game. The level designs are very creative and lovingly crafted, with each having its own game-mode attached to it. This ensures that you're able to play something different every round, whether that's free for all, capture the flag, or the many bespoke game types such as table-football.

Weapon balance is cleverly done, in that everyone has an assault rifle, a sniper rifle, a shotgun, a bazooka and a flamethrower. These weapons have limited ammo and are renewed after a long period of time - this makes the game harder the longer you survive as you gradually run out of tools at your disposal, which helps level the playing field.

Character movement is very fluid, and the closest comparison would be Pandemic's Battlefront games. The use of Unreal Engine 4 makes the game very scalable for different systems - I'm playing on a 7 year old PC on low settings and it runs fine, however you'll be able to attain impressive visuals and gorgeous art design on higher end systems.

An excellent low-cost title, which provides a lot of scope for future content.