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DRIVE Rally Review

Casey ScheldOctober 1, 2024

Overall - 70%

70%

Official Score

For those willing to accept a more technical and spartan presentation, #DRIVE Rally will have racers drifting into a good time.

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Hyper-realism is so last year – the days of thunder are back in style with the release of Pixel Perfect Dude’s #DRIVE Rally in Early Access. Does this modern throwback inspire a new generation to go over jump?

#DRIVE Rally Review

In what is its greatest strength and biggest weakness, #DRIVE Rally prides itself on its brass tacks approach to racing.

Sure, players can customize cars and add rides to their garage, but raw skill is an absolute must to get the best time for each of its leaderboards. Said stats are conveniently tracked in its Logbook, which serves as a chance for players to track down all the nitty-gritty that makes the world go round.

#DRIVE Rally features racing gameplay boiled down to its simplest elements; it’s just you, the ebb and flow of the track, and your trusty companion giving out pace notes and stereotypical quips in equal measure.

Each segment in #DRIVE Rally clocks in at just a few minutes at the absolute most – just the right amount of time to immerse players without overstaying their welcome.

Nailing a perfect run in #DRIVE Rally is a truly thrilling feeling – it got to the point where we replayed sections multiple times in an attempt to get a particular segment down. When the faster wheels and more horsepower start coming into play, things get that much more interesting – just the way we like it.

On that same note, compared to the 90s racers that dominated arcades, #DRIVE Rally is far stricter when it comes to its rules. Penalties are in place, and taking a detour doesn’t always work out as one would expect – Crazy Taxi this ain’t. While there are rewards dished out for every racer, participation trophies don’t quite hit the same way.

The same goes with #DRIVE Rally’s overall presentation. Featuring globe-trotting adventures across sections of Holzberg Germany, Dry Crumbs USA, Revontuli Finland, and Vinh Vang SE Asia, its locales will take players from the heat to the cold, and everything in-between – both standard and reversed.

Each of these different geographies doesn’t quite have the same visual impact that the classic racers of old brought to the table. While the soft polygons of #DRIVE Rally certainly look the part, it leads to an inoffensive look that fails to make a huge impact from the more striking racers on the market today.

The same goes with #DRIVE Rally’s overall presentation. As of this writing, everything from the UI to the menus is fairly spartan. While gameplay takes center focus, the minimalistic look and pop in do not do it any favors.

For those willing to accept a more technical and spartan presentation, #DRIVE Rally will have racers drifting into a good time.

#DRIVE Rally Review

Reviewed On: PC (A digital code was provided)
Release Date: September 25, 2024
MSRP: $17.99
Platforms: PC
Developer: Pixel Perfect Dude
Publisher: Pixel Perfect Dude
Alternative Reviews: Hey Poor Player, God is a Geek, Try Hard Guides
Aggregate Scores: Metacritic, OpenCritic

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