Exo Rally Championship

love how unresponsive the exo6 steering is in all terrain type

Driving feels great, progression is good, graphics are beautiful and really do a great job of creating believable alien landscapes to crash into.

Feels like this is one of those games made for me. A game where I get that "this is what videogames are meant to be" feeling. It can get frustrating if you're not careful especially on moon stages (those really test your patience and tactical driving skills). It is what it is and it's unapologetic about it. Hardcore physics based point to point rallying on different planets/moons with sometimes harsh conditions like micro asteroids, lava, fog, rain, slippy ice and probably more stuff I haven't seen yet. I would like to see some more graphics options and 25€ are probably a bit much for most people but then again this feels very niche and if you like it you will probably love it and gladly spend that amount like I did.

Beginning feels a bit odd. Lower gravity makes each little bump a trampoline, each planet/moon makes it even harder to know how your mobile will behave. There are no roads and i felt lost few times even that checkpoints are vivid. BUT - After a while i engaged more. Started planning routes, mastering air jets. Its incredible how that changed my gameplay. I truly admire developer - again created game that is a physics engine mastercraft with beauty of most wild scenery. Gonna be fan of all EXO projects.

Good concept, though it would probably be more accurate to call this a Raid (Dakar), than a Rally (WRC) game. My initial impression was that they had captured what a space Dakar would be like, where as a driver you're more worried with general reference points and making sure you don't rollover in a dune than hitting the apex of a corner following detailed notes. The added difficulty of a realistic-ish driving model under these conditions using cars that naturally don't behave like anything you've ever driven makes the experience very tough by definition and a bit of an acquired taste, one that I'm not sticking around to develop. There's potential in there, but this is meant for a very niche audience which I hope the devs manage to find and connect with.

My favourite game of the year by a huge margin

Best Game on the World! (For me of course) Nice Graphics, Atmosphere, Physics, Customization, Cars, Repair Mechanics and Art etc. Legendary Game. Note: Game is hard. I love it. If you have a "Fortnite" head, go play something else. This game only for CHADS.

If we ever get real exoplanetary rally racing, I'm pretty sure this is what it will look like. To succeed in regular rally racing, you need to know what your car is physically doing, how weight shifts and tires grip around curves, over crests, and on different surfaces. In ERC this is cranked to 11 with RCS thrusters giving you an additional layer of control, which you absolutely need to navigate the extreme terrain and gravity found on the various planets. As if that wasn't demanding enough, the extra control you gain comes with an additional resource to manage. RCS needs fuel, your rover gets lighter as it's used, the thrusters overheat if overused, and in thin atmospheres they won't cool as fast. The rest of your rover needs care too, rough landings or clipping hazards cause damage that affect your suspension travel, grip, etc. There's tiny things to consider too, like how the microscopic dust particles on some planets can clog up your thrusters, or how the sheer torque of your engine can affect your trajectory in big jumps or low-G. Big and little details like that, even if it's sci-fi, make things feel surprisingly realistic and sim-like. I suppose a good classifcation for ERC is "hard sci-fi rally racing sim". In terms of racing, the goals are clear and easy to understand. You compete for the best time, and must pass through gates in order. You can do single races, or events and cups composed of many stages potentially across multiple planets. You can survey the track in advance and mark it up, in the absence of pace notes these are your way to remind yourself of routes and hazards. Not every stage lets you service your vehicle to repair damage, refill RCS, or swap tires so you need to be smart about managing those resources across races. There are also multiple vehicle classes, from dune buggy looking 4 wheel rovers up to gigantic mining trucks with 6 wheels that each look taller than my house. Besides just the normal events you also get daily challenges, an editor to place your own gates, and ways to share and compete with friends or globally on a leaderboard. It has pretty much all the essentials you want from a racing game, except with really cool space rovers that have that extra degree of RCS control. It rewards skill and execution, at a level beyond what you can achieve with only wheels on the ground. Overall, an amazing game which executes its vision almost flawlessly. It really does make you feel like you're riding right on the edge of danger in an advanced futuristic rally racing machine. Highly recommended if you can wrap your head around the layers of physicality involved in driving these things. Try the demo and see if it speaks to you!