“A lot of work goes into creating the assets to make the game VR ready and we put a lot of focus into the player experience once you are wearing the headset. “DiRT Rally is built on a very robust framework and physics system that allowed us to develop for VR and it felt like a natural progression,” DiRT Rally’s Chief Game Designer Paul Coleman explains. This isn’t ideal because smooth performance is paramount for VR experiences to reduce the risk of motion sickness, but DiRT Rally consistently runs without a hitch on PSVR. With so many variables to consider such as different stage, car and weather combinations, there’s a danger that different scenarios will cause the game engine to perform poorly in VR. Granted, DiRT Rally doesn’t have to cope with multiple AI opponents (except for rallycross events, of course) like DriveClub VR, but it’s still an impressive feat – particularly as WRC developer Kylotonn has highlighted the difficulties converting WRC 6 for VR. By contrast, every car, track and racing discipline is playable in DiRT Rally on PSVR, and weather effects can be applied to every stage. DriveClub’s fetching fidelity had to be significantly reduced, while some features, such as the awe-inspiring weather effects, had to be removed entirely to optimise the game for VR. What’s more remarkable, however, is that there haven’t been any serious compromises in DiRT Rally’s transition to VR. If you thought Resident Evil VII was nerve-racking in VR, try hurtling around blind corners at breakneck speed with the knowledge that the slightest misjudgement will send you careering off a cliff in DiRT Rally. Available on the PlayStation store for £9.99 or as a bundle with the main game, Codemasters has achieved the seemingly impossible: one of the most intense driving games released in years is even more pulse-pounding in virtual reality. The DiRT Rally PlayStation VR upgrade has changed that, however. Point is, racing games on PSVR are either too compromised or too limited. Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for more VR modes to be added to Moto Racer 4 beyond lonely time trials, and while TrackMania Turbo is surprisingly playable in VR, the free update offers limited replay value with only a small selection of VR-only events available. Launch title DriveClub VR effectively showcased how the technology could potentially transform the genre, but its drastically downgraded visuals left you with a headache, making it difficult to recommend over the original game. It’s a shame, then, that the current crop of racing titles available for PlayStation VR headset owners leaves a lot to be desired. Donning a VR headset not only increases the immersion allowing you to look around virtual car cockpits, being able to look into corners, follow the apex and monitor your track position offers competitive advantages too. Racing games are the perfect platform for virtual reality games.

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