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2018/07

Dakar 18, Featuring Ari Vatanen, Launches Sept 11th For Xbox One, PS4, PC

The cross-country racing game from Bigmoon Entertainment is coming back for a 2018 outing via Dakar 18. The off-road racing title will also feature four time competition pilot, Ari Vatanen, as he returns to the race in the form of a pre-order bonus for Dakar 18.

The game is scheduled to release on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC starting September 11th, 2018, with a limited edition being made available for physical release while the digital version will also be made available for those who prefer to stockpile their games digitally.

For those of you not in the know, Ari Vatanen is a Finnish pilot who won the Dakar Rally four times, in 1987, 1989, 1990, and 1991. The event that takes place as part of the Amaury Sport Organization’s cross-country race, as players will compete across 14 stages set in Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina.

There’s a gameplay trailer you can check out below courtesy of Bonnie Class, which highlights some of the real-time weather effects, vehicles, and large-scale tracks.

The game has surprisingly good detail in the cockpit, which is fully detailed for each of the multiple classes of vehicles that you’ll be racing in the game. One other neat feature is that you’ll also be able to get out of the vehicles and walk around.

You’ll have five vehicle categories in total to race with, including cars, motorcycles, quad-bikes, trucks, and UTVs. The game also features licensed vehicles from Peugeot, Toyoto, Renault, Mitsubishi, Honda, Yamaha, Raptor, Kamaz, MAN, Maz, and Tatra to name a few. A number of real brand name pilots will also be featured in the game, from Sebastien Loeb to Emiliano Spataro.

There are 12,000 square kilometers of open-world racing to cover, and this will be paired with the game’s realistic book navigation system where you’ll need to realistically trek your way from Lima in Peru to Cordoba in Argentina. You’ll also need to deal with vehicle damages, repairs, and rescues.

This is also one of the rare racing games where it not only has a robust single-player campaign, but also sports split-screen local races along with online multiplayer for up to eight players.

You can learn more about Dakar 18 by visiting the official website.

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