Well, after my previous protest I caved and dived/fell in and bought the Monte Carlo rally for £2.99. Firstly, it’s the price of a cup of coffee, and secondly I wanted to know if it was worth getting excited about future stages.
The verdict? Meh, with caveat. It’s very close the origin stages, pretty hard to tell the difference. The layout doesn’t seem to have been tweaked at all, at least to my recollections on the stages I played (random in time trial mode). As noted I’ve put about 200 hours into the original. There are a few improvements bought on by the new engine, such as much better lighting and, funnily enough, it runs more smoothly than the first game.
There was one thing that caught my attention though, which was the handling on the new stage. The transition from tarmac to snow/ice was fantastic and felt beautiful with the FFB on the wheel. The feeling of shifting between different grip levels felt really alive in a way I’ve not really experienced in a sim. Suffice to say I slammed hard into the barrier the first time I hit a patch of snow. The likelihood is this is down to the new tire model, as with a part snow/part tarmac track you need to choose the right tyres, and that is not so simple this time around. But, that was the one thing that made the new stages a bit tasty.
Still, feels a little poor that we have to pay for stuff that used to be part of the main package, but the new physics model might be enough to rescue it.