Relive the golden age of rallying with this new proposal halfway between the most demanding simulators and the arcade of a lifetime.
Racing video game fans are enjoying a hectic summer; And it is that in addition to the recent annual installments of sagas such as WRC or F1, the third part of Project Cars and the arcade Trackmania Remake, Inertial Drift or Hotshot Racing, we must now add to the equation a title that is highly anticipated by rally fans with Art of Rally, a curious and original proposal halfway between the most demanding simulation and the usual arcades that aims to make us relive the golden age of such a popular motorsport category, from its beginnings in the 60s to the explosion of the famous Group B of the 80s, a historical tour by the Canadians Funselektor, creators of the celebrated and no less original Absolute Drift. Let’s see what art of rally offers both for the most purists of the wheel and for those interested in fresh proposals brimming with personality, a title that is already available on Steam and GOG; we analyze it.
A journey through the golden age of rallying
The premise of art of rally is as personal as its own proposal, as we say, halfway between simulation and arcade. And what kind of gameplay can a title with these characteristics offer? To begin with, the control is demanding, with several aspects that we can configure at the mechanical and user experience level; on the other hand, its casual and minimalist character is noticeable both in its personality and staging and in the peculiarities of an aerial camera, almost overhead, which offers us a wide perspective of the different sections. All this results in an explosive mix of both sensations and driving experience, bringing together aspects of both aspects of the driving genre and which manages to convince after a few adaptation games. And it is that from the beginning and with the most accessible configuration, art of rally represents a challenge; although there is always room to go one step further at the level of difficulty.
But let’s get back to the starting line; art of rally immerses us in an exciting journey through the history of the professional discipline of rallying as a tribute through a very strong personality. So much so, that from the beginning it makes clear its low poly aesthetic bet through simple modeling and a very lively color palette, along with a retro-electronic soundtrack with catchy themes; and also a little pounding after several hours. As a curiosity, as we begin our journey through the first decades of rally competition we are invited to worship a deity; and in a dreamlike way, we will be offered a brief review of the history of this competition. In this sense, a point in favor of Funselektor for printing his own style and making his new racing video game a pleasant and enjoyable experience.
art of rally offers the player several game modes, the career mode being the most complete and interesting, although all this without leaving aside other options such as free mode, time trial mode, online challenges -daily and weekly- or the Unlocking new cars, skins and custom paintings. Each game has its corresponding prize, as long as we do it well enough. And here comes the true protagonist of the title: the driving experience. And it is that art of rally offers many of the characteristics that any car simulator fan would demand from a video game, from a high level of demand to different configurable aspects of car mechanics. The game of Funselektor seems demanding for the uninitiated, although it offers enough room for learning to begin to master its different ins and outs after just a few games.
As the leitmotiv of the game suggests, the main challenge for the player is to master each and every one of the rally cars that we are unlocking, all to achieve better times and receive more powerful and refined vehicles, again, to set better times and move up to the top of the different seasons. And is that each vehicle has its own characteristics in aspects such as speed, acceleration, grip, traction, long or short gears, etc. It is here when we must lower the revolutions and pay attention to the great design work by Funselektor at the level of representation of the different categories (60s, 70s and 80s and Group B, S and A) with unlicensed models but that any amateur to motorsports will identify without much effort. So much so, that none of the great four-wheel classics will be missing such as the different racing cars from BMW, Renault, Peugeot, Alpine, Mini, Lancia or Audi, among many others, completing a list of more than 50 vehicles.
On the other hand, the different sections (up to 60 stages spread over locations such as Finland, Sardinia, Norway, Japan and Germany) offer all kinds of challenges, from devilish hairpins to changes in elevation, passing through long straights or narrow roads through the more varied surfaces such as asphalt, gravel, mud or snow, among others. And how could it be otherwise, each section configuration affects the type of driving.
Funselektor wants each race to become a challenge for the player; and what if they get it. Mastering the different cars (whether they are front, rear or all-wheel drive with the most varied levels of power) becomes a continuous challenge, in which you have to learn to dose both the accelerator and the brake very well, in addition to the brake. hand, controlling the changes in elevation or the most dangerous skids, all so as not to end up lurching or losing valuable seconds between trees or rocks, or in the worst case, going round the clock; Each restoration of the vehicle on the track will add 5 seconds to the time, so it is advisable to be very careful. For this reason, it is vitally important to adapt the car’s configuration to our driving style or driving skills; Luckily, the title allows us to touch on mechanical aspects such as self-locking or ABS brakes, in addition to selecting manual or automatic transmission, among other options.
However, and after several hours and completed championships, we began to feel a certain sense of déjà vu; And it is that despite the fact that the variety of scenarios is remarkable -as well as their own landscapes and settings, weather aside-, the tours themselves are repetitive, offering little variety between the different championships. On the other hand, and even with the standard level of difficulty, we will not suffer much to get in first position due to excessively conservative rivals’ times, as long as we maintain an acceptable level of driving, of course.
Beyond the campaign mode, the free mode offers the option of enjoying driving without the pressure of the stopwatch, as well as practicing the length and breadth of small open worlds in which to move freely; Other attractions are also offered such as collectibles in the form of cassette tapes or the letters R-A-L-L-Y, along with a complete and attractive photo mode. Although one of the most striking aspects of art of rally is none other than its visual section, with a minimalist cut and betting on low poly graphics, both in the car models and other elements, such as vegetation, buildings and even the public. In this sense, it offers relaxing sensations that contrast with the frenzy of driving at the highest level, as long as we want to squeeze all its possibilities at the playability level.
The general lighting provides that precious touch, leaving especially striking prints despite its marked simplicity; However, we also found errors such as a very visible popping in certain circumstances, shadows that could be improved and some somewhat careless modeling, including sections of road that did not quite “fit”. At the interface level it is equally sparing, with the digital speedometer next to the gear and the revolutions located in the lower central part of the screen, with a section progress bar on the left side and the stopwatch in the upper right part; that’s it. It is also possible to choose between several cameras, with slight variations in height.
CONCLUSION
Those in love with speed in general and rallies in particular have a fresh and visually groundbreaking proposal with art of rally, with a special care to pay homage to the history of this automotive discipline through an enjoyable and challenging campaign, as long as Let’s compete against the most advanced AI, as it won’t take long to take action on your proposal and achieve the best times without too much difficulty. Although it is true that its effective mix between simulation and arcade offers good sensations, we will soon regret a certain monotony in its game proposal, leaving all the protagonism to the unlocking of cars and its advanced dominance at the wheel. In short, a fun title with a certain level of depth and an almost unique staging of its kind.
THE BEST
- Attractive audiovisual presentation
- Challenging and satisfying gameplay
- A tribute to the history of rallying
WORST
- Some feeling of monotony
- Some graphic glitches that deteriorate the whole
- Difficulty unbalanced
Good
It meets the expectations of what a good game is, has quality and does not have serious flaws, although it is missing elements that could have taken it to higher heights.
