art of rally - A Love Letter to the Golden Age of Rally Racing

Today we're taking a look at art of rally - the newest title from Funselektor Labs (creators of absolute drift.) This beautifully crafted and unique indie game journeys through the golden era of rallying and its addictive gameplay has me hooked! This video review shows game play from multiple aspects of the game but nothing "spoiler" worthy is shown.
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[@mathieuforster9734]

Hands down my favorite racing game yet, so glad that they didn't lock 70% of the game behind a paywall *Cough* *cough* dirt rally 2

[@HokiHoshi]

Isn't it neat when you pay for a game and actually get the whole game?

[@ayderla789]

One hundred percent is locked behind a paywall

[@thesprawl2361]

IMO games like this are graphically much more appealing than a last generation AAA racing title. Those games look dated almost immediately, colourless, grey, fuzzy, whereas games with a definite stylised look hold up much better over time.

[@idontwantahandlethough]

so true. 2 years later, it looks exactly as good as it did when it launched :) (edit: 2 years after your comment)

[@silvadic2207]

It should be noted (for anyone that’s here, new or old), that there’s some new DLC for AoR. Kenya, Indonesia, and the first paid DLC: Australia. It’s still alive, still beautiful, and absolutely amazing!

[@ZeroB4NG]

you at least killed 50 stick people in this video

[@spiritlevelstudios]

It's a nod to stickdeath.

[@bookle5829]

dont worry they have super reflex

[@michaelscalisi4316]

The block people feel slighted

[@thesprawl2361]

Visually this really reminds me of Lonely Mountains: Downhill, a really cool, minimalist indie mountain biking game. That's great fun and this looks like a must buy. Exactly the kind of game I like.

[@haji.m5776]

Exactly

[@R3DDWOLF]

People need to pick this up and support it.

[@deadwolf7847]

Bro, it's so rare to find little games like this that are just fun, and are created by someone who listens to the community and cones through on fixing the game when needed. I wish I could buy this game so badly, but sadly I don't have anything to play it on. P.S. Beta tasting this game must have been awesome seeing this masterpiece come together

[@HokiHoshi]

It really is crazy how far the game has come since its first alpha test! And hopefully the game does come to console eventually

[@wieldylattice3015]

It’s out on Xbox now!!!

[@AggroNoobs]

Bringing up more arcade and fun based racers, Intertial Drift is a fantastic time with a REALLY cool twin stick mechanic that really allows you to get crazy af and push yourself and each car for top scores, times and lines. I HIGHLY recommend it if you have an Rtype shaped hole in your heart.

[@alexsurh1472]

@1:25 I like how the people move out of the way

[@macmartin86]

This game is so epic, I knew I wanted to buy it, so I did, and boy was it worth it, this one is among the top 3 for me, even though it's an arcade racer, this plays so well on a controller, I didn't think I was gonna like it as much, but I in fact love this game, the art style proves that even with the minimalistic graphics like this, you can make a very fun and beautiful game, the art style with the slightly tilted tabletop camera view turns this game into eye-candy, the way the game looks as you drive along in its colourful landscape gives you a sense of wonder and exploration I haven't seen in a game before. Even if this game was €40,- it would still be worth it in my eyes, this game is very complete, it has pretty much everything a rally game needs, nice handling, a bunch of fun cars, some bonus cars, a bunch of free roam locations to stretch your legs and explore, beautiful music, cute art style and good sound effects, the only thing that leaves me wondering is, because this art style is so minimalistic, it sounds like there could be room for expanding the game (at some point), because of the graphics and blocky objects adding new stuff in an already polished game seems like baby steps now. Anyway, it honestly does not matter if you dislike the art style because the handling, soundtracks and sound effects will win you over. 9/10

[@geoprancer]

4:19 I come from the trackmania community and i have to say this game is amazing! love the OST, sounds, looks, everything! I didn’t expect a former official campaign mapper to be top 2 on the leaderboard here 😅

[@cyrfung]

This is the kind of game that would be great on the Switch, except that the Switch lacks analog triggers.

[@thesprawl2361]

It would be great on the Switch - I'd get it right now if it was available(and I wasn't too busy playing Hades). Lack of analogue control for brakes and acceleration is a hindrance for a game like this but it's hardly a deal breaker. Some of the subtlety is lost, but plenty of people use the brakes and accelerators digitally in games like this; ie. either they're accelerating or they're not, no in-between point.

[@llmkursk8254]

I assure you the lack of analog triggers will never hinder this game on Switch. There’s a couple leaderboard chasers that use keyboard and it still works and functions well. I personally don’t like using digital triggers, but this game is one of the few where it will not hinder your experience.

[@maxloomis1712]

Played this on my xs first and immediately bought it the next day on switch! Thank you for making this video! Please support this game and devs!

[@kevincastendyk704]

Wish this game would release on Xbox

[@zeme4836]

I think it will be. At least the developers said it was going to be on it.

[@justadood5483]

I would say on console in genral i got to try the demo about a year ago they only have like 2 or 3 cars

[@BOSS-bk1im]

lol

[@Max-sd4eg]

Just get a pc lol

[@scoot5150]

@@Max-sd4eg not everyone has the money to buy a decent pc?

[@Frankestein01nl]

Even three years later, this early look/review still holds it's ground. I still love playing the game from time to time, it just makes me smile. It's so simple, yet loving, so artistic yet playable... it's a go-to-game where all others seem to fail that day. Thanks for an awsome video on an awsome title... even though i'm probably 3 years late ;) I've been playing it for that long too, so... Good racing!

[@CarolinaCycloneJames]

This has a modern 80s vibe to it and I love the graphics, the synthwave type music just adds to this. I think this is honestly one of the best rally games maybe even better than dirt 2.0 just my opinion

[@josetteeliza]

Love the art style!!

[@EvelynRoods]

(I’m Kuthlive on the discord server) You’ve probably seen me posting pictures of this game in the gallery section of the discord, and I have to say this is the only game where I find it easy to take amazing pictures. I’ve just finished with the group B portion of the “campaign” mode and the physics are amazing. If you turn all the assists off it becomes the most unforgiving experience of any arcade game I’ve ever played. If you mess up, the game beats you up for it. And honestly it makes the game more fun, especially with the higher power cars. It makes them truly terrifying to drive. I’m at the point where I can safely say I’ve had more fun in this game in the past few days than I have in FH4 in the past year. It really harkens back to a seemingly lost era of rally games, or racing games in general. No DLC, nothing’s behind a paywall. It’s just simple fun. You unlock cars by being good at the game, not grinding. It’s probably my favorite game of this year so far.

[@mateobaysse5586]

thx i just bought their two games, its EXACLY my type of game

[@Mangomx]

Looks and sounds gorgeous. Thank you Hoki, this is on Game Pass so I'm gonna try it for sure.

[@kr3xohd]

This game looks amazing

[@otisturner1455]

AWESOME! Can't wait to try it.

[@illusionaryphantom3470]

3:30 Is this KAMAZ? Hell yeah, I love KAMAZ. Finally, a game where I can rally the best truck.

[@sirflaps7619]

I picked this game up recently during the spring sale. I’m currently in the midst of a test week and this game is so relaxing to play at the end of the evening when I’m done learning.

[@svenvolwater5473]

Currently playing his drift game, thinking about buying this next

[@Tokyo_Views]

What a lovely game. Thanks for the introduction. I really like it.

[@rcrhinehart66]

Great review, definitely going to be my next Steam purchase!

[@CarlRaven91]

Beautiful! Already love the Japan location when I saw someone tackling a stage there!

[@HokiHoshi]

Japan is such a pretty area in this game!

[@nicolatogni4996]

Got it yesterday, it's awesome!!

[@Lieutenant_Dude]

The fact that they included the scream of straight cut gears and the twincharged Delta S4 was amazing.

[@minedude33]

cool video, nice man

[@assassinxsteveo]

I’ve been playing for a bit and I didn’t know about the drag from dirty cars.. lol thanks for the tip!! 😎😁🚗

[@chengong388]

People often say graphics don’t make good game and point to games like this. I come to quite the opposite conclusion, graphics as a whole tells you how competent the devs are, I have never heard of this game, I took one look at the screenshots on steam, I thought this would be a great game. Because people who came up with this art style really knew what they were doing and you can tell the lack of detail and realism is a very smart strategy around the budgetary constraints. On the other hand I see a game with cutting edge tech but lame boring art, I know immediately it’s a shitty game.

[@thesprawl2361]

Very good point. Choice of art style tells you a lot about a game.

[@main_stream_media_is_a_joke]

I find new current gen AAA games utterly lacking in any love from their developers...they appear to be made in a mechanised production line....thats just my opinion. They are filled with the latest crazy special effects to overwhelm the player with "too much". This game otoh looks like the developers really know what they are going after and consequently deliver in spades. These and similar small budget laser focused indie games are really what is still keeping me interested in gaming as a hobby.

[@thesprawl2361]

@@main_stream_media_is_a_joke I'd agree with you in many cases. Everything Ubisoft push out for example. Every single Assassin's Creed of the last generation. Etc. But The Last Of Us 2? You cannot reasonably claim a game like that is lacking in love from developers. Breath of the Wild's another one. Bloodborne, Sekiro, anything from Fromware. Horizon Zero Dawn was surprisingly great. These games have been assembled by many hands, true, but they're also incredible, beautiful, auteured games. AAA gaming is in fine health. The only threat on the horizon is the financial aspect of publishers rinsing gamers for money and therefore mangling normal, finely crafted single player games so that they become live-service games. That's my horror scenario. Aside from that this gen's been pretty fantastic for AAA games imo.

[@archie592]

@@thesprawl2361 Great rant and all but you didn't mention one single thing about Art of Rally though and why is that? This game is great for what it is and the people(or person) that is behind it all deserves recognition,the game is good!

[@thesprawl2361]

@@archie592 I was replying to another comment, that's why. The guy brought up 'current gen AAA games'.

[@gammaphonic]

If this doesn’t come out on Switch soon, I might be forced to buy it on my Mac.

[@aFewBitsShort]

Can you change the camera? Not the angle but fix it to the car so it rotates with the car? For those of us that like to feel the car rather than watch it rotate on the screen.

[@HokiHoshi]

Yep! You can change how fast the camera rotates, how much it shakes, FOV, and there's a lot of different views to select from (pretty all top down style though)

[@nblhrt92]

I'm sold

[@alexandersk]

Recently purchased this game. I have the same feelings about this game. My only gripes are that the tracks in competition mode are random so you have the possibility to play the same country again and the same track but reversed instead of a fixed country for that year, and also the result is removed when start a new try to that year because of that. The other gripe is for PS4 version at least, the skies are grey, so it's pending to see a patch, however this makes me wonder if the console version is equal or worse than the PC version, something that ultimately I've seen in many indie games.

[@omdzsful]

yo! do you know if the leaderboards are shared between steam, epic and gog?

[@bangboats3557]

I'm getting this. Harkens back to the days when games were about gameplay, not just graphics and visuals. I've had rally games for years from stuff on early PC and consoles, but over time as the games supposedly got "better" I enjoyed them less. This has what I want from a game, something crafted with passion and enthusiasm to deliver excitement and enjoyment.

[@michoppen]

Even more Crazy Taxi? Sign me up! 😅

[@supergreg72]

What control scheme do you guys use? Wheel? joystick? Keyboard?$Specs please...

[@HumanInk]

I'd love a head-cam view while racing. I think that could be super cool in this style.

[@HokiHoshi]

Yeah I would love to see some more camera angles!

[@miaoFoodNow]

Thank you for the Excellent Review. If someone first plays 'Art of Rally', (I consider purchasing it) would you still suggest picking up 'Absolute Drift' afterwards?

[@RandomGuitarist7]

My PS4 needs a cleaning from dust. It still works perfectly, but the sound it gave made me turn it off a few days ago. I have this game but I havent opened it yet. This is like the fifth review praising this game so I cannot wait to have a blast with it !

[@trautsj]

Looks really neat, but I'm really not keen on that camera O.o Doubt it'll come to console either way but yea... I look forward to more content from it tho, it's marvelous to look at/watch.

[@wieldylattice3015]

6:12 yeah we’ve had a part of the highway stuck in grass textured for months now in FH5. How the hell does a company have time to create an entire hot wheels themed expansion but not time to literally alter the texture of a tiny segment of road?

[@madhusagi7644]

They have better sounds then foza lol

[@jacquesjtheripper5922]

Looks worth a,try.

[@keju4777]

can you play this game with keyboard control?

[@davidlongenecker9414]

Omg... Instant buy if it was on xbox. That looks amazing

[@HokiHoshi]

His last game did come to Xbox and even mobile eventually so I wouldn't be surprised if this came there sometime soon!

[@ninjabait]

Nice game

[@MadRushe]

Perfect game to transfer over to Nintendo Switch - would buy on switch to play on the go, but not really for my pc as there is so many other good racing games.

[@HokiHoshi]

I would be ecstatic if this came out for the switch

[@zdenekprecechtel6741]

Will be switch version ?

[@ablen9912]

I hope this comes out on mobile

[@wieldylattice3015]

For anyone that’s seeing this video right now and doesn’t have steam (or like a regular pc for that matter) it’s out on Xbox, hell it’s on GamePass. That’s how I got it

[@domino-86]

i like how a great arcade looking game has better sounds than forza

[@toypop96]

Looks rad, I really enjoyed Absolute Drift - and that's not even a form of motorsport I'm fond of. I can't think of any other games with the Group B RX-7 (even if it isn't legit). Side note; I like the menus. Very similar fonts and style to Colin McRae Rally 2.0, and I suspect that might even be intentional.

[@HokiHoshi]

This game is oozing with references to other games and rally stuff so I wouldn't be surprised if it was intentional!

[@rotomon]

Hokihoshi, Have you tried out CarX Drift? Thoughts? I've been playing it for a couple days and it is a bit of fun would love to see some of your tunes on there.

[@HokiHoshi]

Hmm I haven't given that one a look, I'll check it out!

[@livibam]

This game is sweet. Once you learn how to play, it’s addictive I’ve got it on both Xbox & Switch

[@bvmark]

ooo this looks so fun. Might it make it to console do you think? Ive not got a PC to play it on.

[@HokiHoshi]

This dev's last game did end up coming out on Xbox and mobile eventually so I think there's a good chance this will as well!

[@BonesTheCat]

I used to LOVE the rally games early on, but they lost their appeal for me. This looks great.

[@TheKunde92]

Sega Rally!!! i play on course for weeks to get better!:)

[@the_Real_Cloud999]

yo is this offline or online

[@ShOwOba]

If anyone wants/can answer this, do you think Absolute Drift and art of rally are calming games? I've been really stressed out over the couple of days with life and after seeing these games, I felt like they'd be calming for me. But I don't really want to spend a hefty amount of my savings on something that will just stress me more. I hope people can help me with this!

[@HokiHoshi]

I would say it probably depends on the person, for me both art of rally and absolute drift are incredibly relaxing and easy to just zone out on and get into the "vibe" of the game. I said it in the review but the music and driving are just so satisfying it makes for a really chill experience. I could see people who get easily frustrated getting annoyed if they struggle with the handling and crash often though, but I think that just comes down to the individual.

[@GordonGordon]

Woah... Is there a tutorial to help ease a complete noob into this?

[@Saintbow]

Also for you gents, it's on sale right now. Expires at 11AM. Epic will give you a free $10 coupon to stack on top of the sale. Knocking it down to 8 bucks to own.

[@anyau]

I love everything except the camera, even when playing games like dirt rally I turn off the co-driver and signs. not knowing where I'm going and if I'm going to crash soon adds to the excitement. i hope there will be an option to change it at some point

[@HokiHoshi]

I know you aren't the only one with that request so I'd say its not impossible to see a more "normal" 3rd person cam at some point, but for now even though there are a few different camera options, they're all "top down" - that said, I actually thought I wouldn't like the camera angle personally but have come to love it

[@lukedanielgalon1596]

Title: Me i did saw it in my radar i was generally impressed to what i saw. 6:35 For the sake of immersion.

[@Saintbow]

Oh I heard of it. I'm just poor and had to wait for it to go on sale. Just nabbed it for 8 bucks!

[@keyas6521]

I cant even play this game with above 20 fps. When i speed up it gets to 10

[@HugeBigBeans]

How playable would this game be on a MacBook Air? I’m desperate

[@HokiHoshi]

You can look up the Mac performance requirements on the steam page but I think you should honestly be fine, The game should run well on really any low-end hardware

[@Echelon-xh8mb]

Its not graphically intense I guess

[@hamsandwich1860]

Physics and handling wise i cant think of a rally racing game that is more true to life than AoR. In my experience some of the gran turismos and richard burns were quite true to life for rally physics and car handling but WRC games (i.e. wrc9, wrc10) and dirt rally games were more about eye candy than being full sim. AoR seems to smooth weight transitions out a little bit but other than that its pretty much a full sim. When you turn off all driver aids on AoR the car handling is very realistic, and very demanding (just as it is in real life). Very fun to feel the difference between a rear engine awd 959 compared to a front engine awd quattro as well. This game is probably the best game available for teaching you how to drive fast on limited grip surfaces like pro wrc drivers do. Please add the gr yaris in an update or i will be sad.

[@greekretrogamer4355]

Τhe most enjoyable race game, this is AOR.

[@spiritlevelstudios]

Are you driving with a keyboard, a controller, a celery stick?

[@HokiHoshi]

A carrot actually

[@gonzo2548]

Do I need a wheel for this or can I play with my keyboard too? Yes, I know, playing racing games on keyboard is bananas, but it's ok for me.

[@HokiHoshi]

It's best played on a gamepad, but I'd say keyboard is second, wheel works but isn't that great

[@jimbob3291]

What? Us Xbox guys have most definitely heard of this game.

[@AlexLoeding]

Rise race the future

[@shotsfiredandmissed9068]

did you just say Art of Riley? xD hahaha

[@BlueBetaPro]

The world needs more simple arcade games that you can just pick up in a second and play for 5 minutes. The console market used to have games like that, like Super Mario 64. Today's game market is filled with games that want you to spend hours in them and experience like a movie, with little replay value, and certainly not something you want to play every day. Sadly I can't get it to work on Linux, at least the version I downloaded and I don't feel like buying the game and refunding it if I don't like it. I'm too annoyed with devs not doing a good job on Linux to give them a chance at getting my money. Apparently there's a Linux demo on Itch, so I'm going to try that out.

[@vytosan]

I have heard of it but its kinda expensive i think

[@HokiHoshi]

$25 USD I think on steam? If you ask me it's a great price for a game I've already put over 40 hours into!

[@muhammadsarimmehdi]

they should add a first-person driver view in this

[@n4n151]

This would be grrater if it has multi

[@HokiHoshi]

Yeah thats a feature I'm certain a lot of people would love, sadly their last game about drifting never got live multiplayer either so I think it's unlikely this will. I think it'd be so cool if the open world maps had an online option or something like that though.

[@n4n151]

@@HokiHoshi yes

[@joelf1355]

Art of simplicity.

[@Echelon-xh8mb]

Luv it

[@wieldylattice3015]

2:49 I have to argue with you there. The driving can feel very fast paced (especially when you throw it so hard into a corner that a tree nearly murders you) and the music absolutely does not reflect that. It’s fine menu music, but not good driving music

[@stockyrocky2371]

First

[@lokndo9655]

when you realise you can get something better then this in roblox

[@HokiHoshi]

Lmao