Dakar 18 is a great way to understand what a rally raid is. It has some flaws, but it provides an experience no other game can offer.

That's why it's all the more annoying that the game cannot decide what it wants to be in the end. For an Arcade racer with offroad attitude it is too complex, for a race simulation the physics are too exaggerated, the control too spongy and the navigation too imprecise.

Praise to Bigmoon for the courage to take on this difficult to implement racing game genre. The small studio has also mastered the big task properly, especially the challenging navigation is authentically conveyed to the player. However, Dakar 18 weakens in one decisive discipline: driving physics. In times of a Dirt Rally 2.0, which will appear next February, racing fans expect more from a game with a simulation claim. Also the missing vehicle tuning as well as the spartan damage model should be offensive to simulation fans. But if you don't let this spoil the fun, you'll get an off-road game of a different kind, which also creates a Dakar atmosphere thanks to the pretty graphics and the authentic navigation system.

A title that aims to simulate the orientation difficulties tipical of the Dakar stages, but can’t reach his goal due to an unconvincing driving model.

Superficial both from a playful and technical point of view.

Dakar 18 was a promissing title that might had over-promissed. Its numerous technical flaws and its poor physics are too much to overcome, despite some good ideas, such as its navigation system.

The concept might seem interesting, but poor visuals, poor driving physics and the totally incoherent co-driver make sure that this works neither as a rallye game nor a GPS racing simulator.