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Assetto Corsa Rally is the latest Rally sim from the iconic Assetto Corsa franchise, and as an avid sim racer and rally fan, I had high hopes. However, it would seem that my hopes were not set high enough since the title delivered above and beyond what is expected of a simulator.
Few genres test both man and machine like rally simulation. When a title manages to capture the rawness of crunching gravel or the car doors flying off as you slam into a tree, you know you're not in for just a game, but an experience. Assetto Corsa Rally feels more like a real-life action camera stream than just a rally sim.
Here's why Assetto Corsa Rally takes the legacy of rallying sims forward and creates an entirely new benchmark in the world of simulators.
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Assetto Corsa Rally: A bit of tarmac, a bit of gravel, and a whole lot of pure adrenaline
Rallying is fundamentally different from racing in several aspects. While most racing titles focus on flashy cars and good races, rallying requires the creation of engaging tracks or stages that offer a real challenge to players. Assetto Corsa Rally has successfully hit the nail on the head while also providing a stunning graphical overhaul.
The title features four stunning stages and 10 cars as of Early Access, offering both new and old racers a veritable playing field to test out their rallying skills. The three game modes utilize the four stages across Wales and Alsace to provide a powerful rally experience that feels authentic and immersive.
Gameplay
Assetto Corsa Rally offers an engaging rallying experience through different routes built across the iconic locations of Wales and Alsace. Wales offers a worthy challenge in terms of traction and control, owing to the gravel and the dynamic design of Hafren North and South.
Meanwhile, Alsace takes the gameplay up a notch with high-altitude, sharp turns through the constricted urban habitats and lofty woods. Vallée De Munster and Saverne feature many tracks that can test your skills, especially during adverse weather and low-light conditions.
As for the learning curve, it is fairly accessible to both new and old players. While the pacenotes might seem difficult at first, the title offers options such as Visual Pacenotes and the ability to adjust the timing. This makes it easier for new players to gradually get used to the callouts.
In terms of game modes, Assetto Corsa Rally currently has three modes: Rally, Time Attack, and Free Practice. Each of them is a great way to get used to the feel and handling of each vehicle, as well as understand how rallying differs from driving on fixed tracks.
Free Practice allows drivers to test out every vehicle across all the stages and variants in the game. Players have a wide range of options to customize their gameplay, including a free mode that lets the more competitive gamer memorize the general layout of the tracks. Meanwhile, Time Attack and Rally are well-suited for players wanting immersive gameplay with proper competition.
Driving physics and realism
One of the foundational aspects of Assetto Corsa Rally’s success is its extremely detailed physics and realism. The game features a dynamic world where every action and choice impacts the vehicle's performance, handling, and ability to navigate the stage.
Each car in Assetto Corsa Rally has realistic handling for FWD, RWD, and AWD across tarmac, gravel, snow, and ice. This essentially means that the cars have a unique response across different terrains, offering a truly immersive playthrough. It also eliminates the feeling that some cars are reskins rather than individual pieces of machinery.
The suspension system of each vehicle is built to replicate the real counterparts with 1:1 accuracy. This allows serious sim racers to perform real-time calculations and prepare custom setups that impact the performance of the tyres, chassis, and other systems. Additionally, the dynamic steering system offers authentic handling that is on par with the real car’s response.
Apart from the vehicles, the world has impressive physics, aided by the AC physics engine that offers loose surface support. The dynamic weather and day-night cycles affect the road conditions and even the crowd reactions. A dry day will see a regular crowd, while a rainy stage consists of umbrella-clad supporters cheering you on.
But all of this pales in comparison to the physics-based vehicle damage. Each action has an impact on your vehicle, which ultimately affects your performance. Rammed into a tree? You just lost door privileges. Dented your front panel? You cannot fix additional lights at the Service Park between stages unless you repair the vehicle.
Another immersive factor contributing to the realism is the Co-Driver calls. The Pacenote callouts feel real and immersive rather than just a blatant listing of instructions. You can feel the emotion behind callouts like hairpins or caution, making it feel like there is a real person next to you. Since Pacenotes are crucial to rallying, this level of detail elevates the gameplay experience.
While on the topic of realism, it would be a sin if I forgot to mention the force-feedback and rumble. The dedicated FFB tab in the settings menu lets you fine-tune the feedback on your wheels and controllers, offering a seamless balance between immersion and realism. The enhanced rumble for controllers adds an elevated level of detail, letting you feel every bump, scratch, and crash precisely.
The dynamic physics, paired with the ever-changing landscape, increase the replayability. These immersive features of physics and realism add a degree of randomness to the same track, offering new challenges influenced by many factors. This makes every sector and track variant an evolving experience, from start to finish.
Environment
Environment is one of the most significant aspects in terms of gameplay in rally simulators, and Assetto Corsa Rally has delivered above and beyond. Each stage feels like a living, breathing entity since the dynamic nature of all assets reacts to real-time actions.
The dynamic day-night weather, paired with the effects on the tracks and stages, adds an enhanced level of realism. Rain affects your traction if you do not have the correct tyre setup, while a sunny day can spell misfortune if you have wet tyres on. Alongside these, the destructible environment creates a real impact that can affect your vehicle and your driving.
Additionally, Unreal Engine 5 and Assetto Corsa's physics engine join hands to create a stunning environment that is visually breathtaking. When a rally sim runs this smoothly, you stop worrying about framerates and start focusing on what's ahead. The evolving roads that shift with factors like temperature, humidity, and terrain add an unparalleled level of environmental impact.
The precise placement of cameras simulates every bump and dip, offering a realistic point of view regardless of your position in the car. While the driver's seat is my favorite, the wide-angle view of the bonnet is hard to resist. The precise cameras paired with the detailed force feedback create a truly realistic simulator experience.
Assetto Corsa Rally earned another chef's kiss with its 3D laser-scanned real-world stages, creating stunning roads that are based on real-world rally locations. The highly detailed mountains and enticing roads of Wales and Alsace pull you into a different world that makes it hard to believe that you're not sitting inside an actual car and staring through the windscreen.
Apart from visual identity, Assetto Corsa Rally also adds a highly detailed audio design to the environment. Weather conditions like rain or storms have distinct sounds along with passive effects, such as the cheering of crowds or the sound of the vehicle being repaired at the Service Park. These little aspects add to the overall environmental immersion and keep you hooked.
Vehicles
No rally simulator worth its salt would be complete without a lineup of stunning vehicles to dominate the stages. Assetto Corsa Rally adds 10 iconic vehicles as part of the Early Access launch, with the number set to rise as high as 30 in the future, as part of the 1.0 update.
Currently, the title has a mixed bag of cars across various groups/categories, such as Group A, R, and WR series. The developers have offered cars with different levels of difficulty, allowing gamers to get better till they can whip out the big guns like the iconic Rally 037 Evoluzione 2.
Each of these vehicles is 3D laser-scanned and based on real-world references and rare vehicle data, making them extremely detailed. This is evident from the different camera angles that depict high-quality assets through and through. Alongside how they look, each car has its own properties and handling based on weight, drivetrain, setup, and performance.
However, singing the praises of the cars will be incomplete without talking about how they sound. In all these years of sim racing and playing rally simulators, I think Assetto Corsa Rally is the first to truly master the art of auditory immersion. From the background scores to the pings of the user interface, the developers have tailored it to blend into the realism that the title aims for.
The car audio uses granular synthesis, a powerful mechanic that delivers dynamic and responsive engine sounds based on every input the player makes. Missed a gearshift? It's unique. Rev-matched perfectly? It's unique. Car struggling in the mud? It's unique. Crashed into a tree again? You'll hear it. (Let's just pretend I crashed multiple times for the sake of this review.)
Each sound and its frequency depend on your action rather than being a pre-programmed response. Instead of pairing generic car noises, the title adds dynamic car sounds that change based on your action as well as your camera position. The engine sounds different if you hear it from inside the vehicle or while using one of the external cameras, making it a nifty attention to detail.
Controls and accessibility
In terms of control and accessibility, Assetto Corsa Rally offers a really intuitive gameplay, both on gamepads and wheels. I used my Logitech G923 with the shifter during my initial assessment and switched to the controller after a while. Both options offered similar precision and control.
Of course, it goes without saying that driving with the wheel is way more responsive than the controller. So, it comes as no surprise that the developers recommend it. While the steering and controls with the wheel are reactive, key bindings need a bit more refinement. However, it is worth taking into consideration that the game is still in Early Access and evolving regularly.
As for the controller, I have used the Xbox and the Dualsense. Both offer precise control and handling, making navigation a breeze. Additionally, the bindings can be fully modified, allowing players to set their preferred actions to each key. If this seems too much, Assetto Corsa Rally also offers many presets to choose from.
In terms of additional controls and assists, Assetto Corsa Rally offers a variety of options that can aid new players or assist veterans as they get used to the different stages and their quirks. The driving assists tab offers automation of numerous critical factors such as transmission, clutch control, traction control, and the Anti-Lock Braking system.
Conclusion
If I haven’t given it away already, Assetto Corsa Rally has well and truly impressed me. The attention to detail and the dynamic world make the title come alive in more ways than one. From the time I hit the pedal in my first free practice to the last stage before penning this review, I had unique gameplay experiences every single time.
There are moments when I forgot that I was playing a game. When you crash into a tree during a night run and lose half your headlights, or the rain lashes against your windscreen, your only priority is to hear your Co-Driver say "and, finish". Only when you see the results do you realise that the immersion creates a sense of realism so deep that it’s almost disorienting.
At its core, Assetto Corsa Rally is not just a rally sim. It is a driving experience that commands your full attention and rewards every ounce of precision you can muster. From the soft crunch of gravel as you head to the start to the sigh of relief as you cross the finish line, the title captures rallying at its purest form.
If you are here for dainty cars and graffiti, you're bang out of luck. But if you are seeking an experience that is brutally honest, visually staggering, and technically unrelenting, welcome to your next obsession: Assetto Corsa Rally. Few simulators ever reach this level of detail, and fewer still manage to keep it this engaging. Simply put, this is rally, perfected.
Assetto Corsa Rally
Reviewed on: PC
Platform: Steam
Developer: Supernova Games Studios
Publisher: 505 Games
Release date (Early Access): November 13, 2025
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