Game #1002: Paris-Dakar Rally

  Da cars are here.

 Alright, so last year I realized I liked driving games in which you went from A to B instead of lapping 'round a course, so I decided to get a few rally games, like this one here, Paris-Dakar Rally. What I expected: A racing game like Cruis'n, but it turns out rally games aren't really racing games...

 The game offers three modes: Time Attack, Arcade and Campaign. The only difference between Arcade and Campaign is that you can switch vehicles after every stage in Arcade Mode. There's no multiplayer of any kind, which is absolutely criminal. The trek through Dakar is divided into 10 stages with 4 tracks each, for a total of 40 tracks, and most of this tracks feature forks in the road, which was pretty interesting. There are also four vehicle types: Quad Bikes, Bikes, Buggies and 4x4. Maybe it's because I'm really bad at these games, but I felt like Buggies and 4x4 were too sensitive and would curve too easily, while bikes and quad bikes felt much more responsive and fast, therefore, more fun to use.

 As said before, this is not a racing game, it's a driving game. You are not competing against other cars, sans a few exceptions, but rather, you must make it from point A to B trying to get good times. Once again, maybe it's because I'm terrible at driving games, but the game is super tough, and if your times aren't up to par you won't be able to finish the campaign. I'm not ashamed to admit that I managed to experience every track in the game... thanks to a cheat code! Yeah, I'm pretty bad at these games.

 Sensitivity issues aside, I felt like the game played decent enough, at least when using bikes. The one bug I came across was after my buggy fell in a crevice, and I wasn't able to drive, neither forward nor reverse, myself out of it. The 'repair' button wouldn't work either so I was forced to restart.

 I'm pretty sure this was an early PS2 game, because it certainly looks the part. Graphics are super basic, but... I think the art design works in its favor, as you'll drive through some interesting locales.... not that there is much variety, as you're pretty much driving from desert to desert. The worst part about it is the music, there are only two tracks: The menu music and the gameplay music, and that's it. Sometimes, the gameplay music refused to load! Speaking of loading.... the loading times are not obscene, but they are just long enough to become annoying.

 Paris-Dakar Rally is just... forgettable. I don't think it's a bad game, I was entertained for a bit, but it's definitely not a game I'll remember in a few weeks time!

 5.0