Art of Rally: Deluxe Edition

Like a playable poster for an iconic rally event, funselektor's top-down racer is a blast.

Rally driving, for me anyway, is about plowing headlong into the unknown, understanding the risk of fast driving in a way you can’t on an oval or a well-known circuit. That makes taking a square left perfectly, or drifting through the full 180 degrees of a switchback, seem even more high-five-myself awesome. And I got exactly that in Art of Rally. If that’s the experience you want, too, Art of Rally will serve it as much as it will an escape from the present day, for a delightful joyride through a beautiful countryside.

If you’re a rally racing fan, Art of Rally will tick all the boxes. While there are some technical problems and free roam could have been expanded upon, it still delivers on a solid rally racer with a great atmosphere.

Despite its obvious visual shortcomings art of rally is still a nice looking game regardless; the gameplay, of course, shines through brightest, making this one of the most authentic, challenging rally titles in some time. The incredible music makes the price of admission worth it alone, and if you’re after a surprisingly nuanced, deep rally game, this is the one to go for.

art of rally is an excellent homage to the golden era of rallying. With a huge number of cutely recreated cars and expansive stages to use them in, the main career mode is an absolute treat. The driving itself is very well-tuned, helping the player get this feeling of flow when everything's going right. There may be slender options outside of the main career and a few issues with pop-in, but they barely affect this magical driving experience.

Other than that, there's no doubt, the PS5 version of art of rally only makes the game more enjoyable. There's not much you'll be getting in terms of graphics, especially since the low-poly system that it uses, but the aforementioned mix makes it an enjoyable way to get a taste of historical racing.

With its emphasis on the history of rally, a more technical and demanding driving, and often a more relaxing experience that makes use of a unique presentation, art of rally is set to find a place in the heart of driving fans. Not all is perfect, though, and its visual performance needs improvement, especially with regards to its screen resolution and textures. In any case, fans of motor sports and rally in particular will find this an appealing and delightful experience.

Art of Rally is one of the most unique rally games ever made, and it’s all the better for it. It defies your expectations by being a pretty serious game at its heart, despite being fun and light-hearted on its exterior. And yet while it is challenging, it’s also relaxing at times, with its mix of minimalistic visuals, disarming music and lower-stress rally action almost putting you into a trance when everything aligns. Whether you’re a fan of rallying or just like racing games in general, Art of Rally deserves your attention.

When you speak about racing titles, often it conjures up talk of high-octane racing across plenty of high-speed tracks, in some pretty impressive vehicles. It’s not often you’ll hear someone describe a racing game as a form of art. Yet, Art of Rally is exactly that!

Art of Rally excels at providing a stylized rally experience that strikes a decent balance of being both realistic yet approachable. It features a good variety of cars and landscapes, all wrapped in a clean low-poly art style. While it does have some graphical limitations, this is still a fun racer that's definitely worth looking at for off-roading fans.