Dakar 18 is held back from greatness due to a number of issues. Chief among these problems tend to revolve around the game’s poor handling and its over-the-top damage system. However, if you can overlook the game’s awkward foundation and forgive the overbearing co-driver, there’s a beautiful vast world to soak up, with no shortage of diverse content to take for a spin. Just don’t expect to be wowed.

Dakar 18 manages to capture the essence of the test sublime, reaching a level of realism almost sickly, but fails in everything else. The fans of the test will know how to forgive these defects and they will find an adventure along 14 impressive stages, in which to suffer (and enjoy) like a true Dakar rider.

Dakar 18 feels unluckily like a missed opportunity; a low technical level, uneven difficulty and an excessive vehicles weakness don't do justice to Dakar's official license the beautiful environments it's based on.

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.

With a navigation system that fails to allow for any true enjoyment, tying players to a strict path, buggy visuals, and a co-driver that screams at the first opportunity, it’s hard to say Dakar 18 reminds us of the exhilarating experience we’ll find on TV each year.

Ultimately, the game falls between two stools, not realistic enough for the hardcore enthusiasts and not gamified enough for the gaming community. If a better balance could be found, then there is great potential here, but sadly, at this moment, the title just can't reach its own lofty ambitions.

It has some good ideas and interesting features, but it doesn’t feel polished enough to impress. Basically, it feels like it needed more time in development.