3D Racing

Stunt Rally

Stunt Rally is a 3D driving game that's been under development for over a decade. Like Trigger Rally, which we looked at previously, Stunt Rally's graphics engine is based on VDrift, an earlier 3D driving game with many of the same core driving features and a track editor. The track editor has been key to the success of all three titles because it means anyone can build a track, and there are typically dozens from which to choose. Stunt Rally itself includes 202 different tracks, 37 different scenarios, and 25 different vehicles, offering a huge amount of variety. The game itself is modeled on early 3D console rally games that were trying to be relatively realistic, rather than the arcade style of something like V-Rally. This can make them harder to play, but more rewarding after you've learned how a vehicle handles and where a course goes. Stunt Rally is no different.

You start by choosing your track. With so many to choose from, almost every possibility is covered, from mountain forests to tropical beaches, with even a detour to an alien landscape. Because Stunt Rally focuses on the extreme side of the sport, most levels include jumps and other hazards to navigate, and the course selector highlights these as attributes alongside an image of the selected terrain. You can then choose your vehicle, which has its own excellent statistics page to help you see attributes such as weight, power, top speed, and stop times. You can change your car's color and see online fastest times for the selected course with your chosen vehicle. Races can be offline and online, and you can race ghost versions of your previous fastest runs. The graphics are excellent, with varied terrain, densely populated forests, and dynamic textures, but it's the gameplay that makes you want another go. The controls themselves are simple, but getting a fast time for a course is difficult, requiring many replays to master. Stunt Rally gets this balance absolutely right, with enough challenge and progress to make you always want another go.

Project Website

https://stuntrally.tuxfamily.org

If you enjoy console rally games from the early 2000s, you'll love Stunt Rally.