Recent reviews by xteqo

Art of rally plays in an alternate universe where the legendary "Group B" never ended the greed for more horsepower and lighter cars in the rally sport. Due to multiple accidents in the Group B series including multiple deaths (of spectators and drivers) the series had to get canceled. Cars going 0-60 mp/h in less than 3 seconds on gravel that could keep up with F1 cars of the era might've been a bit too much to pilot on narrow technical roads, even for the best drivers. However, in this game the series continued and the planned "Group S" is a reality, with actual prototype cars that were in development before the series got canceled.


Despite it's innocent look and low-poly art style, this game is still to be taken seriously. The physics are incredibly well optimized for controller gameplay and dare I say - realistic. All the real life rally techniques can be applied in this game: clutch kicking, scandinavian flicks, weight transfers, anything you can think of, can be done in this game and the best thing about it, it gains you time. Heck, the developers visited rally schools and it shows in the physics. It's obviously not a simulation, but this is as good as it gets for a game that isn't meant to be driven with a wheel and pedals.


Due to the game playing in an alternate universe, you won't find any licensed cars. However, this is actually a brilliant way to bypass licensing fees. All the cars seen in the game are basically real life cars as they exist, but with a slight change in the name, as you would imagine, since it is an alternate universe after all. Regardless of that, the vehicle descriptions are hilarious and filled with references. Any enthusiast that knows the cars and the history of rallying is going to love it, especially since all the iconic cars are featured. On top of it, every car has very distinctive handling, mimicking their real life counterparts.


Unfortunately this is where the game falls a bit short. You can't change the car setups, solely the paint. You can unlock new paints by finishing stages and most of them are also references to the real world counterparts, but that's about it. Not a big deal for me since I don't fiddle all that much with setups, but still worth mentioning.


Why would I talk about the music in a racing game, when all you want to hear is the car sounds? Simple answer: the music is absolutely brilliant. Synthwave isn't necessarily a genre I was familiar with, but after completing the game I fell in love with it. It just adds so much value to the whole experience. Driving a stage with synthwave blasting, hitting the apex of every corner, the vibrant colors - it just sends you into a trance-like state and I loved every bit about it.


All in all, this game is an actual masterpiece filled with humorous references, amazing music and of course - brilliant gameplay. The more you love cars, the history of them and the stories motorsport produced, the more you are going to love this game. This is more than just a game, it's a work of art - The art of rally - an homage to the sport as a whole. A must play for every rally enthusiast.

I've played all of the big racing sims, ranging from Assetto Corsa to iRacing and everything inbetween. If you enjoy sim racing, you will have to get every sim for its unique strengths, but what makes RaceRoom Racing Experience (R3E) so great?


Physics
The physics in R3E feel great. The cars drive they way you expect them to drive and it surely makes you confident in finding the limits. Each car has character, which makes driving various cars so exciting and fun, even the learning experience is enjoyable. Unfortunately, there are no wet weather races nor night races.

Force Feedback
The FFB in R3E feels great. Every bump, every weight transfer, the kerbs, the smallest collisions - everything feels great, even with a measly G29. However, seting up the FFB can be quite time consuming at first and the default FFB settings aren't all that great. Anyway, once setup and ready to go, it can rival even RF2, which has arguably the best FFB on the market.

Car & Track selection
This game has the official license for DTM and TCR cars and thus, there is a huge selection for these categories. The other categories don't fall short, though. There are dozens of GT cars, open wheelers, 90s touring cars and many more. You can simulate multiclass races like IMSA and drive an F4 car afterwards, there is something for everyone.

The tracks are accurately laserscanned and overall they look just like the real world counterpart. Even the smallest bumps have been implemented which definitely adds to the immersion.

Graphics and Sound
While R3E may not be the most visually pleasing, it certainly doesn't look bad. It clearly shows its age at times, but the cars still look amazing and the tracks look fine. It won't rival AMS2 or PC2 in terms of looks, but the strengths definitely make up for it.
The audio in this game is by far the best on the market. The cars sound incredible, the whining of the sequential gearbox, the turbo noises, all the noises are amazing and so pleasing to hear. When I played this game for the first time, the sound of the Audi A1 definitely put a huge smile on my face, definitely worth trying the game for the sound alone.

Miscellaneous
The AI of the game is easily one of the best, if not the best. Every race plays out differently, the AI makes mistakes just like humans would, they fight wheel to wheel and they don't hesitate to overtake. At times they drive a little bit too aggressive, but they remain fair at all times.
The HUD and the menus in the game look really bad. It was definitely designed to fulfill its purpose and not to look good. Functionality over beauty, but it really looks ugly.
The main menu music is fine, but it gets old really quick.


Monetization
While the base game with some content is completely free, you have to pay for more tracks and cars. On sale, some cars can be attained for as little as 30ct each, however the cars that go on sale are usually outdated. Buying all the available content can contest more than 100€, but you can definitely nitpick the content you want and end up spending less than 30€. Given the quality of the tracks and cars, the pricing seems reasonable.

Summary
All in all, R3E is a fairly good racing sim. Its outstanding AI, great physics and the vast selection of tracks and cars make this game really exciting and fun to play. On top of it, the sound is just terrific and for the car enthusiast I am, it is simply music to my ears. I love it.
The negatives of the game are miniscule in my book. Setting up the FFB may take time for some and there are no wet weather nor night races. The pricing is debatable, I think it's a steal, depending on what you want, you may disagree. Overall there should be nothing that holds you back from trying this game, it's free to play after all.

Free 2 play cod clone with a very small community. You either play against sweaty tryhards or noobs, there is no middle ground.

I've played this game a lot before it was released on Steam and it barely saw any chances. Sad that a game with so much potential dies/died, because the devs abandoned it. The netcode is bad, the map design is bad, the guns all feel the same (except for the mp5/scar/aug) and hipfire accuracy is way too high. The only good thing that comes to my mind is the graphics which looks good for a f2p title and the f2p model is incredibly fair, no p2w at all.

This game is just rage inducing.