Critics once again try to burry an excellent title. Shame on them.
Do not turn away from it because it doesn't have top notch DX11 graphics.
Do not think its a childish game because of the cartooney or something like that menus.
This game is all about high risk-high reward racing action. It's not meant for newcomers or people who just want to drive a digital car to kill time. It demands from you to be fast and concentrated.
It's so ba**s to the wall that it's scary. The feeling of speed is so close to real life that sometimes it's hard to keep up. If you lose your concentration you will most certainly crash
There's one important thing to rememeber, Pay attention to what your co-driver says.If you can do that and drive fast at the same time, you will be fast.
If you won't listen to him/her you WILL crash.You have to plan ahead and there's minimal time for reaction.
Car setups are true to real life.The tooltips for what every setting does are spot on and easy to understand, although you have to figure out how some of them work during the race.
For example, differential settings. You migh think that more traction settings makes you go faster but many times it's quite the opposite.It takes a bit of practice.
Car damage is true to rea life. Even a slight contact with an object can damage your wheel alignment and the car's handling in general while a heavy crash will end your race.
You will have to be carefull not to damage the car too much because you will not have time for repairs.
Car customization is limited to different liveries,sponsors and racing numbers. You can also upgrade the engine,suspension,etc with the points you earn. But this is no "pimp my ride" game. Keep that in mind.
I'ts generaly one of the best rally racing simulators i've ever played. Not too hard and technical but certainly not for "noobs".
Decent steering wheel with gear selector is recommended for a really awesome experience.
Give it a shot. It deserves it.