Grumpy cat expression: "The future of gaming is terrible."
Grumpy cat expression: "The future of gaming is terrible."
So, this is an age-old topic, by now, and I'm sure everyone has encountered this by now, but this is kind of my first experience with it. So, I've got a wishlist on Steam. I decided to grab a game on sale, maybe a second as well, so I jumped on to see if anything was on sale. Okay, that's a lie, I already knew what was on sale, since Steam sent me an email telling me that DiRT Rally 2.0 was on sale. So, I watch a review on the game, and noticed that there's DLC with basic game features, like Snow Rally Stages. So, no big deal, I'll jump on steam and buy the game plus the season pass, or whatever, and that'll be fine. So I go to the DiRT Rally 2.0 page, scroll down, and select the Year Pass (foreboding? Yes.), add to cart, and... This is when I realize that the base game is $40 off sale, and the Year Pass bundle thing is $60. And the Year Pass does not include the base game. So it's a $100 game. I'm willing to drop $100 on something like Flight Simulator, where it is literally worth that kind of money, but DiRT Rally 2.0? That's not worth $60, much less $100. So, now I'm thinking that I'll just pass on this game, and drop it off my Wishlist. I mean, it's on sale right now for $25ish, game plus DLC, but still... It's the principle of the thing, I guess? Maybe I'll just stick to games that don't have ridiculous pricing schemes. >_> I mean, up until not too long ago, I was just pirating most of my games, I guess I could go back to that.
It's not about the kind of game, but how much effort went into creating them. DiRT Rally 2.0 is essentially a continuation of DiRT Rally, removing features and adding them as separate DLCs for extra cost. MSFS feels more like a completely new project. It uses real-world data and includes more technical details, which makes the $100 premium version seem reasonable. They also mentioned future free DLCs, but it still feels like they’re splitting content into paid extensions. DiRT Rally 2.0 was among three options I considered, all of which had similar issues with DLCs. I’m okay spending money if it’s valuable, but charging extra for separate games—especially after they were bundled in the first version—is frustrating.
I'm part of the active CM community, though not a regular fan or beta tester. They've done some upgrades—like better visuals, new stages, and changed physics—using their older EGO engine. It feels like they're rebranding the DR1 stages again with fresh visuals and mechanics. I didn't really support it, but they gave me the game for free as a thank you for testing. I think it's a deal: I got D4 for free.
I don't see a snow stage being a must-have. Wheel and controller compatibility are solid basics. The pricing seems confusing, and people have complained about it on forums. I usually skip DLCs. At most, I'd wait a year before buying again, hoping for the next big release with DLC included.
I view snow stages as a standard part of the game, as they're included in DiRT Rally. Still, I get the reasoning. Regardless, I prefer getting value without extra costs, so I wouldn't want to pay more for less than what I expected.
It's a different game. DR1 also had Pikes Peak which isn't present in DR2. You aren't paying more for less. The base content of DR2 has more than the first, and it's all new. You're paying more to get the previous game basically. The only new DLC is Scotland. If you already own DR, there's not a lot of reason to buy the DLC, you can just play that. I mean, the physics are different and the stages are reworked, but I'm willing to bet they're similar enough. If you don't have the first game, then it's not a big deal. Don't get me wrong, it would be nice if all the previous content was included or a free update. I certainly won't be so understanding with the next game. The fact in this case however is that after DR1 the engine underwent some modifications, primarily a new emphasis on a PBR rendering pipeline which meant the tracks had to be redone. Now they've done that, so there's less excuse for the next game.