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Face-Off: Dirt Rally

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  • Face-Off: Dirt Rally

    Several months after arriving on PC, Dirt Rally comes to PS4 and Xbox One aiming for a 60fps experience and featuring a handling model that goes back to the series' simulation roots. The game's intricate mechanics appear more advanced than ever before, with accessibility replaced by a heavy learning curve that rewards players that really put the hours in. It's a great comeback for a series that seemed to lose its way during the last generation, with perhaps too much emphasis on arcade-like showmanship and gimmicks. But what we really appreciate here is the return to 60Hz-driven gameplay, something that we could only experience on PC during the last-gen era.
    Hitting 60fps on console hardware is no easy task, often requiring developers to make compromises in graphical quality. And as you'd expect, Dirt Rally sees several graphical settings reduced from their maximum PC values in order to deliver this experience. Texture detail is lowered from ultra to high, shadows, particles, and ambient occlusion are knocked down to medium, and draw distances are also dialled back slightly. Smoke shadows and advanced ambient occlusion are also absent entirely.
    The impact of these changes varies throughout the game. For example, the reduction in particles sees less dust and debris thrown up by the cars, while the use of lower resolution shadows results in these elements appearing quite rough during pre-race sequences. The lack of ambient occlusion also provides less depth around objects, mainly standing out across roadside barriers and buildings. On the other hand, changes in draw distance, LOD streaming and crowd detail are less dramatic, and aren't so noticeable while playing. Texture quality on consoles doesn't quite match up to the PC release either, so the artwork appears a little softer on close inspection, but there's not a massive gulf in asset quality across the entire game.
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