Mud spraying up, the co-driver calling the next corner, and the car sliding right at the edge of going off-track.

No gut pick in the data, so on to the detail. And here, a clear peak, controller feel, ahead of more than eight games out of ten, on few votes so take it as early. The soundtrack follows, above the middle, and attachment holds steady. But the contrast is brutal. Fun drops near the bottom, rediscovery too, and above all art direction comes out very low, nearly rock bottom. That's the tension, it drives with real pleasure, but it leaves neither the urge to dive back in nor a strong visual memory.

In the racing genre, it's a generous arcade-sim rally, with its Gymkhana modes and its rewind, in the Codemasters line. Real character in the hands, but not the aura of a genre classic.

So who's it for? You, if you love driving, feeling the grip and the slide, controller glued to your hands. Much less if you want a visually striking game or one you'll itch to fire up years later.