Opinion: Why BeamNG isn’t the spiritual successor to Richard Burns Rally

BeamNG.drive’s latest v0.35 update saw a huge update to the game’s nascent Rally mode.

With five new rally stages, two audible co-driver styles, a boxer-engine exhaust note for the remastered Hirochi Sunburst (a Subaru Impreza in unlicensed form) and realistically floppy mud flaps, it’s clear to see where the BeamNG developers are taking their sandbox driving game.

They’re taking it off-road.

Shifting sands

From rock crawlers to dune buggies, the BeamNG team has dabbled in a plethora of motorsport disciplines in the game’s 10-year history on Steam Early Access, providing its fan base with off-the-wall driving thrills thanks to its believable vehicle physics and its incredibly detailed damage model.

It sounds like the ideal foundation for a rally game, then, with many in the community declaring it could be the spiritual successor to Richard Burns Rally.

RBR has been the go-to for rally fans for over two decades, and in modded form – thanks to the Rallysimfans modding group – it continues to be the aficionado’s choice for virtual rallying.

But for me, BeamNG will never reach those lofty heights. 

Before you get the pitchforks out, let me explain why.

BeamNG: Short-term fun?

Although I’ve enjoyed my time with BeamNG over the last decade, after every update I reach a point where I lose interest. Many of the game’s updates introduce interesting tidbits that temporarily hold my attention but are essentially ephemeral (perhaps except for 2022’s huge Johnson Valley map expansion). 

Once I’d completed most of the game’s Scenarios I struggled to find genuinely fresh content to explore. Mods were plentiful but offered throwaway fun rather than a meaty gaming experience.

The developers have often shifted focus quickly too. Johnson Valley’s v0.27 update saw Baja-style racing come to the fore; v0.29 saw a tie-in with the Gambler 500 racing scene; and v0.26 saw the introduction of a Career mode.

There doesn’t seem to be a clear direction to BeamNG’s updates, and to emphasise this point the Career mode was introduced two-and-a-half years ago. It’s still a work in progress and seemingly some way off completion, despite recent attention.

So what are the chances Rally mode will befall the same fate, quietly moved to the background in favour of the next big thing?

Physics

At the moment, BeamNG’s rally cars simply don’t feel anywhere near as pleasant to drive as those in RBR. Where RBR’s handling feels tactile and precise, BeamNG’s feels randomised and woolly.

RBR’s modern rally cars soak up bumps with aplomb, with modern rally dampers and suspension doing the job you’d expect – just watch a real-world rally car to see how well they cope with harsh road conditions. BeamNG’s rally cars feel like their suspension is made out of concrete at times.

Hitting a small bump at speed can be disastrous, with the car rebounding violently to send it spiralling into a roll. Although not perfect, RBR feels much more natural in this regard (but also unforgiving of mistakes).

The disparity in physics is never more apparent than when trying to execute a Scandinavian flick; a technique where you pendulously swing the car’s weight from side to side to help negotiate tight corners.

BeamNG’s cars seem to pivot effortlessly, with little inertia. In RBR, you really feel the weight building up at each turn, making it oh-so-satisfying to execute a slide. It’s difficult to feel the front axle load up under braking in BeamNG too, making it difficult to feel the limit of grip. Often high-speed cornering just leads to a whole load of understeer.

Sure, BeamNG has excellent damage modelling, editable pace notes and a burgeoning rally modding scene, but if the driving experience isn’t up to scratch it’s all for nothing in my opinion.

Feedback

BeamNG’s steering wheel force feedback also needs work, with understeer and oversteer nuances difficult to interpret through the wheel. In some ways, playing BeamNG with a steering wheel feels more difficult and less intuitive than with a gamepad – and that’s not something I’ve experienced too often in sim racing.

Although it sounds like I’m giving BeamNG a kicking, I still believe it’s a fantastic game. I don’t think the driving physics are the best out there but they do a good job of conveying vehicle dynamics and are perfectly suitable for an all-encompassing sandbox driving game. 

It’s not perfect, but it is fun.

For it to become the aficionado’s rally game BeamNG needs a bit of work. We need to see more rally cars and stages first of all (and yes, modders will inevitably fill the gap), but it also needs more structure to its Rally mode.

AI opponents are required, service areas need to be implemented and the game still needs to be heavily optimised – Rally mode is a very early access feature, after all.

Rallying in BeamNG has stacks of potential, but it’s no RBR-killer just yet.