The result of three years of development by Saber Interactive studio, the Dakar Desert Rally represents the culmination of a car license that has been searching for itself for many years. The developers have given everything for this comeback and this new iteration is probably one of the nicest surprises of the new school year for mechanics enthusiasts!
Huge map, multiple game modes, vehicles of different types, official affiliation with France Télévisions… the ambition behind the Dakar Desert Rally can already be felt in the tutorial! Like a Forza Horizon 5, Saber Interactive’s protégés propel the player on a crazy desert journey (but no less sublime with its oases, rocky lands and sand as far as the eye can see) where car driving, skidding on a motorcycle and dizzying jumps on an ATV . The tone is set from the first few minutes and we quickly suspect that the new game from Saber Interactive has quite a few things under the hood!
A less airtight racing game
With the helicopter view, the game sometimes takes on a touch of motocross madness. striking!
Without being a villain, Dakar 18 showed too few qualities to win in the rally-raid arena. While the discipline is far from making headlines in video game news, the title has too many visual and gameplay flaws to make an impression. Aware of the shortcomings of the original, the Saber Porto team has completely revised its copy, taking care to adapt it to both connoisseurs and an inexperienced audience. After South America, the franchise packs its bags for more than thirty official stages in Saudi Arabia! Enough to rediscover the sensations of the 2020, 2021 and 2022 editions of the discipline!
In its previous version, Dakar struggled to impress due to outdated graphics and somewhat awkward gameplay. And above all, he had decided to be particularly elitist and leave many players on the sidelines. This is not the case with the Dakar desert rally. For this edition, the developers have integrated a sport mode that allows novice drivers to focus on the road and the competitors without having to worry about the roadbook, the famous navigation system that allows them to find their way and define themselves in an unfamiliar environment a route. In short, you have a true arcade approach and simplified navigation!
An exciting experience for fans
The game is officially licensed.
But rest assured the purists: Dakar Desert Rally offers a Pro mode (as well as an unlockable simulation mode at level 25) based on the same realism as Dakar 18. In short, we find everything that makes the charm of the rally raid, where mastering the road book is essential to find your way around and find the different waypoints (overtaking points). By giving their game so much geographic scope, the developers envisioned a landscape of incredible density, and it doesn’t take much to get lost! Then it is important to know the mileage, the direction to be taken, the possible obstacles and their level of danger, etc. It’s even worse on a motorbike or quad because there is no co-pilot to warn you! Of course, you don’t become a rally raid specialist in just a few minutes. It takes practice to analyze the dangers displayed in the road book and to adapt to the co-pilot’s words, which sometimes completely mislead you! “Straight onto the tracks” as a curve unfolds is anything but easy to understand when you’re just starting out!
The developers have worked on the reactions of the vehicles and the different heights like never before, so that it is not uncommon for people to be surprised by poor orientation. Everything has been done for you to believe, and it’s no exaggeration to say that there’s a bit of Forza Horizon and even the new-gen Sega Rally in the deformation of the terrain in this Dakar desert rally (although that doesn’t affect adhesion) . . The three years of development were not too much to make the experience as exciting as possible and through self-sacrifice but also concentration we accumulate experience points, DP (Dakar points) and first places on the podium. This accumulated experience will thus allow you to improve your vehicle, repair it between each stage and, above all, expand your garage with increasingly faster cars. However, it must be taken into account that despite the sport mode, the Dakar Desert Rally remains a fairly demanding title, both in terms of driving (even if it is a little more flexible than before) and in terms of collisions. The falls are really a punishment! Suffice to say, you’ll need to adjust your speed and keep a constant eye on the navigation items. And in the end, all the benefits of Dakar Desert Rally make the game really addictive!
The truck is a very interesting vehicle to start with because it is less fast and robust.
Unfortunately, there are a few things that bothered us. The first, and it is undoubtedly the one that immediately catches the eye, is the presence of premature slowdowns. The latter are also noticeable during thunderstorms and other storms when the particles illuminate the screen. The other worry comes from an artificial intelligence that suffers from “rail” syndrome and doesn’t see your vehicle at all. While it may appear to be fairly reactive and realistic, no race – or almost – occurs without a competitor doing something, to the point of attempting a mid-corner lap! If you come forward knowing that the game is very punishing, there’s enough to send the controller flying across the room. Finally, the controls won’t please everyone, the fault of a direction that’s sometimes too delicate, sometimes too difficult. The finding for motorcycles and quads is even more striking. Of course we get used to it over time, but we can’t help but regret the sometimes random reactions of our cars.
It’s a beautiful Saudi Arabia
Visually, Saber’s title is a cross between Forza Horizon and SEGA Rally (2008). A real miracle!
Sand dunes as far as the eye can see, turquoise waters, majestic mountains… Saudi Arabia, recreated at a scale of 1:5, is a country full of diversity. It’s simple, Dakar Desert Rally is one of the most generous racing games. We’re talking about 430,000 square kilometers, an area larger than Germany, Japan, Paraguay or even the Democratic Republic of the Congo! Obviously, with a map like this, the landscape appears huge! And to give her offspring even more majesty, the developers of Saber have integrated a day/night cycle as well as real-time weather changes. In rainy weather, snowstorm or blazing sun, the game offers an absolutely excellent look! When you’re immersed in gusts of wind in the middle of a storm or sandstorm, the effect is amazing!
More than enough to try out the 150 vehicles in the game, whether online or solo! The music, very cinematic, is also quite enjoyable. As far as the picture and sound production is concerned, one thing is certain: Saber did an amazing job!
The climatic conditions are excellently reproduced.
There remains a question that will bother more than one. Can we speak of an open world by the looks of it? No, for the simple and good reason that we go from stage to stage and there is no mode where you can move freely around the map. Also, the modes are still very easy as there are only career and free modes online. But beware, free simply means you can customize your games. For now, and while waiting for possible extensions, the main thing to be content with is the career mode and hope that many players are online. Anyway, for anyone interested in this discipline and wanting a game worthy of the name, the Dakar Desert Rally is by far your best bet. Not everything is perfect (AI, few game modes, no local multiplayer…) but the gap separating this game from Dakar 18 is yawning. And if you can, experiment with the simulation mode (speed limits, professional navigation, etc.), it’s worth the detour!
Sports (Arcade) or Pro/Simulation mode, there’s something for everyone!
Conclusion
Points cont
- A map that is as gigantic as it is sublime
- Varied landscape (sand dunes, beaches, mountains, etc.)
- Excellent sensations – also behind the wheel
- The best licensed Dakar game
- The day-night cycle, the changing weather
- Lots of views (including the impressive helicopter view)
- Sport mode for beginners
- Official license (drivers, vehicles, logos…)
weak points
- Fairly regular slowdowns in Resolve mode
- It’s not an open world in the sense of “total freedom”
- The motorcycle can be a real soap
- Not enough game modes
- An AI that often takes off
- No local multiplayer
- The co-pilot is by no means always reliable
Despite the lack of content, perfect driving style and undemanding opponents, the Dakar Desert Rally dusts off the automotive genre in style. Based on the magnificent landscapes of Saudi Arabia, the game from Saber Interactive is a remarkable achievement and should delight those looking for a different kind of racing game. If the developers stuck to the specifications of Dakar 18 (with co-pilot, compass, road book, etc.), it is now possible to try out the sport mode and its arcade approach. Thanks to these additions, the Dakar Desert Rally opens up to a wider audience without closing itself off to the purists. With its impression of successful speed, its panoramas and lush effects and its huge map, it is fun to wait for possible expansions. Undoubtedly the automotive surprise of this autumn!
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