Few things could really be incredibly surprising this year in sim racing, and Assetto Corsa Rally was a title that no one was expecting until probably a month ago, and with the release of the early access phase last Thursday (13), it appears that there are even more things to be surprised rather than the announcement of this unforgiving yet rewarding rally simulator.
First things first, don’t be fooled by the name, this is not a work from KUNOS Simulazioni at the top, although it has the developer as a technical partner. The responsible entity for the project is SuperNova Studios, a new company created in 2021 that is also part of the 505 Games ecosystem, and for Assetto Corsa Rally, they are using a heavily modified version of Assetto Corsa Competizione’s physics model combined with an also customized version of the Unreal Engine 5 for the graphics, delivering what can be considered a new standard in rally simulation along with stunning visuals and reasonable performance.
Assetto Corsa Rally does take you by the hand with the user experience, as detailed explanations about rally history and how to get started in rally can train even newcomers to the discipline, but this ends at the moment you enter a stage. SuperNova made no compromises and didn’t ease off anything. ACR is absolutely brutal, because it triggers a different skillset in comparison to the recent competition in the market, like EA Sports WRC and DiRT Rally 2.0.
While the Codemasters titles make you rely on your reflexes, ACR gives a proper simulation of car weight and how it shifts through the track, requiring a level of finesse with the steering, throttle and braking that was slightly neutralized in recent rally titles in order to appease a wider audience. It follows the way of the more traditional circuit sim racing titles, where the nuances give you the edge and brute forcing your way through the track gets punished really quick.
The start of the early access period is obviously very limited in content, with only Wales and Alsace as locations and 10 cars that visit all eras of rallying history, but the attention to detail to the stages and the cars is very high, comparable to other titles where focus on a single discipline is took up to 11, like Assetto Corsa Competizione, GTR2, Le Mans Ultimate, and the standard they are trying to reach, which is Richard Burns Rally with community involvement.
Just the fact that the stages are fully laser scanned can be considered commendable, but they also look really alive, with animated trackside details giving a lifelike sensation when sliding through corners and plowing through the straights, for example, the adventurous spectators that stay too close to the road for a nice view, a photo or a video.
Car animations were well detailed considering that the 10 car list goes from the Mini Cooper JCW from the 1960s until the Hyundai i20 Rally2, passing through Lancia Stratos, Lancia 037, Citroën Xsara WRC, Peugeot 208 Rally4 and other models, with doors and instruments being fully interactive like in Assetto Corsa EVO, while driver and co-driver animations catch most of the movement that they would make inside the cockpit.
Condition variations include a 24 hour cycle, dynamic weather and more, although ACR still doesn’t have snow in the stages or as a weather condition. If you find things easy going though all of this, there’s still a hardcore mode to enable, that will turn things more savage than they already are.
As for game modes, you can take any stage you want or go to a full rally weekend, while also having a time attack mode, some challenges and a barebones career mode to keep you entertained, and there is also a free practice mode where you can do things at leisure pace, test things and do some sort of a recce.
Being an early access title, Assetto Corsa Rally is only available on PC, and while there is already a discount in place until 27 November, those who have Assetto Corsa EVO can get Assetto Corsa Rally for an even better discount.
Be aware, though, some peripherals still have different issues to solve, which are already being looked by SuperNova Studios. The list is on Assetto Corsa’s official discord channel, with fixes coming over time.
IMAGES: Assetto Corsa Rally screenshots
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