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0 #DRIVE Rally is a arcade type racer that was developed and published by Pixel Perfect Dude. Take a trip into the 90s with your co-driver and mess up some serious dirt in this quick and easy to pick up game! Race on iconic tracks and use well known cars to be the best racer in town. Explore diverse tracks and worlds all suited to your driving and drifting needs! #DRIVE Rally is now available on Steam in Early Access for £15.99.
Don’t think the tree was part of my rally melody!
Gameplay
The gameplay is exactly that of an old school arcade racer. Driving to beat the best times on each map is the aim of the game. It offers you 4 different championships, all with different maps and co-pilots. My favourite would have to be the snow maps as it really added an extra challenge with the slippery roads!
The controls are very basic. Break, gas, steer , hand break, reset and change camera. The reset came in pretty handy especially if I didn’t listen to my co-pilot Hans and went straight into a tree. Did Hans tell me to stay on the track? Must have missed that one! There are a few different co-pilots. And each of them have their own style of speaking to you. My favourite will always be Hans because every bit of reassurance I’m doing a good job goes a long way! Didn’t appreciate Emma shouting at me for hitting a barrier for the 100th time. I didn’t mean to Emma, I promise! #DRIVE Rally also has plenty of customisation as seen in most arcade racers to keep things fresh. I got a little boost of joy every time I unlocked a new cosmetic.
Controls
The game steering sensitivity can be tweaked which is a huge plus as it took a little getting use to the very responsive controls. However, I wish the breaking wasn’t so intense. Arcade racers tend to have more responsive breaking but I found myself having to stop and start due to how hard the breaks were. This definitely stopped me from achieving the higher times!
#DRIVE Rally has controller support and is definitely made to be played with a controller. It is also fully playable with a keyboard though. Personally I can’t wait to see people using actual wheel set ups with this game!
Graphics & Audio
The graphics in #DRIVE Rally are very reminiscent of the old school arcade racing games. The slight VHS tape effect on the screen added a hint of charm to make this game stand out from others. Pixel Perfect Dude did really well to bring a modern twist to this while still paying homage to classics; such as OutRun which I played to completion as a kid and it brought very fond memories to the surface!
The music is that typical of a racing game i.e. quick and up beat on the menus. There is no music within the races to bring you into the immersion of listening to the co-pilots. I’d like to see an option to add music going forward. I think this would be a welcome addition to music obsessed players!
Longevity
#DRIVE Rally can be picked up within the space of a minute. The controls are extremely easy to grasp especially with the game explaining those to you at nearly every loading screen. You know, just in case you forget! You can play this for one race, or 5. By the time you think you’re going to put down the game, you’ve actually completed a whole championship! It is a very addicting racing game which left me yearning to complete the fastest lap times the minute I put down the game. Got to beat those ghost cars! The ability to just press Quick Play and get into a race is great, got a bit of time before work? Smash out a track and head to work!
Final Thoughts
#DRIVE Rally is a cohesive arcade racing experience, with a simple yet tactful approach. It brings all the right ideas and executes them well, with a few blips with co-pilot shout outs but this can be excused with the fact it is in Early Access. With more updates being planned, I really think this game could be something amazing. Quick to play and hard to master is the main mission, and it’s one I shall take on happily! Can’t wait to see the future updates, hopefully with more variety and more races to master! Maybe even new co-pilots? But who could take the number one spot of my treasured Hans? We shall see!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this preview.
If you enjoyed this preview, check out my previous one here!
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