Dakar 2008

We’ve all seen the thrills and spills of various drivers attempting to complete the dust-bowl circuits better known as the Dakar Rally.

Nearly every hot blooded male and just possibly one or two females out there have dreamt about sitting behind the wheel of a super-charged rally car, fearlessly pushing the limits of both man and machine in the search of victory. Now, it’s time to turn that dream into a (virtual) reality by playing Darkar Rally 2008.

As you would expect, you have the choice of four vehicles – well actually they’re the same car just they have a different paint job. Once you’ve selected your motor, it’s your choice to either take on the career mode (where you must successfully beat the clock on every course), quick race, flag chase (where you have to collect all the flags laying around the course) or play the tutorial.

The controls are pretty good and not too complicated to master. You automatically accelerate from the start and turn left and right by either using the d-pad or 4 and 6. To brake, press down, 8 or 0 and to brake as you turn press 1, 3, 7 or 9 (again in the corresponding direction). Along your route you have various obstacles to avoid and objects to collect. On every course there’s a few turbo boosts, repair power-ups and jump icons. The turbo boost and jump power-ups are both activated by you by pressing the select, * or # button. The repair power-up automatically fixes up your vehicle from any damage received by driving a little too recklessly.

The courses are a mixture of straights, gentle turns and sweeping hairpins which will keep you on your toes. Thrown into the mix for good measure (and quite a bit of realism) you have to avoid trees, boulders, rocks and gorges. At lower speeds your car handles like a dream and you will be able to manoeuvre your car without too much problem around these potentially lethal hazards. However, at speeds nearer the top end of your speedometer you’ll probably be crossing nearly every part of your body and hoping you managed to somehow miss the rocks and trees in your path.

Fortunately, as touched upon, your power-ups are helpful for you to use whenever you dare. Should you crash, it’s important to get your speed back up fast, so I found that using the turbo boost did this quickly and allowed me to carry on with virtually no time penalty. As we know, prevention’s better than cure, so using a combination of braking at the right time or using your jump ability, you can avoid the obstacles.

Throughout the game you have a variety of entertaining courses which will push your driving skills to the limit. If you enjoy racing games then you can certainly do far worse than this. The game’s as close to some of the arcade games where you sit in a bucket seat and compete to win. So all that’s really left to say is ladies and gentlemen… start your engines!

Rating 84%

Positives

Plenty of courses and challenging times and obstacles to collect

Highly addictive

A good dose of adrenalin to an otherwise pretty calm day

Negatives

Controls are a little awkward to use with only one hand

Quite easy to beat the top time first time – so really only leaves you to try and beat your best