I think CM did a great job on this considering it really was just a test to see how the community responded to a new approach to Rally. In ROI terms, RBR was an epic fail and issued a huge red flag to anyone thinking about making a serious Rally title. CM has managed to make a fun and more-serious Rally title while minimizing risk and doing it in a new way - not "business as usual".
The snowbanks in DR Winter Wonderland are really impressive to me; you can lean on them a tiny bit for speed-checking and turn enhancement and occasionally, power through them but, poke the nose in too deep and get ready for an amusement-park ride! You can also run wide and how much you can get away with depends on the cars attitude and how much power is put to the rear wheels.
Watch some real Rally footage and you'll see them doing the same things. Codies have really paid attention to real-world behavior with DR. The night-lighting effects are great too; try not to be distracted by the campfires or entranced by heavy snow, both of which can happen in RL (or so I'm told).
I think the Rally stages are fun and challenging overall but, the grip levels - especially on Tarmac, still seem too high to me. Despite that, I really enjoy the Rally stages and the competition of RX mode. The Hill-climb mode would be miles more interesting to me with the ability to use different cars beyond the current limited offerings but, it can provide a bit of spice if Rally becomes a bit tedious and one needs a break.
Overall, I'm quite impressed by what CM has done with DR and how they have done it. I think it was a smart and measured approach to produce a new Rally title with minimal risk. If successful, it's better for for the community in the long run and may bring future investment to Rally games. Springing Instant Early Access on us was brilliant and avoided the usual hype-build process.
Even if Dirt Rally is not as hardcore as some would like it, pleasing 100% of players is not realistic and catering only to the Sim market not profitable. Codies have managed to bring us something different and challenging while communicating with players in a good-humored way if you've followed development. They have also listened to the community and responded very well.
In my opinion, CM's fresh approach in developing DR deserves to be rewarded whether it be by purchasing DR or simply saying well done Codies. They took a big risk, listened to what players wanted and produced a really fun yet, challenging title that started out as a market test. I'd like more of that please.
