Is Assetto Corsa Rally the Spiritual Successor to Richard Burns Rally?

Because yes, Richard Burns Rally that ancient relic from 2004 still treated like a sacred tablet by the sim racing elders remains synonymous with “realism,” spoken with a kind of reverence usually reserved for monks or master swordsmiths. It earned worldwide respect the hard way: by hurling you off cliffs without apology. It was tough, merciless, demanding… and because of that, legendary.

And now along comes Assetto Corsa Rally, strolling in casually with its Early Access badge, smiling politely like the new kid in school… and suddenly delivering a table-smashing punch that shakes the coffee mug, rattles every loose stone in the stage, and makes Richard Burns look down from the heavens and mumble: “what on earth is this…?”

The “Feeling”: That Mysterious Concept Everyone Understands but Nobody Can Explain

If there is something both games share, it’s that sense that everything matters. And I mean everything: the tiny loose gravel, the treacherous bump, the shy patch of moisture on the asphalt… maybe not the co-driver’s haircut, but nearly everything else.

Here’s the key:

Assetto Corsa Rally doesn’t try to be realistic by exaggerating things.

It doesn’t scream at you through the wheel or turn every dirt patch into a cement mixer. No. It’s smoother, more continuous, more organic. As if the road itself were breathing, swelling, shrinking. It makes you feel that the car is floating yet heavy, a strange but delightful combination.

And that’s the moment when your eyebrow rises and you think:

“This… this is dangerously close to that Richard Burns magic.”

The Art of Controlling Chaos

Richard Burns Rally always had the reputation of telling you: “Want to go fast? Wonderful. Prepare to cry.”

Assetto Corsa Rally does something similar, but with a bit more elegance. It feels like it puts a gentle hand on your shoulder and whispers: “I’m not forgiving anything, but I promise it’s out of love.”

• If you overshoot, there’s no miracle grip.
• If you overcorrect, you’re visiting the scenery.
• If you attempt impossible countersteers, the game punishes you with polite indifference.

Is it difficult? Very. Is it unfair? Not at all.

And that, right there, is the spirit of RBR: that feeling that when you fail, it’s you. Not the game. Not the car. Not the universe.

The Surprise of the Century

This part deserves its own marble monument.

Because listen… for the first time in my life, I have genuinely enjoyed asphalt in a rally game. That sentence almost feels illegal to type. Usually, asphalt in rally titles has the logical consistency of a colander.

But Assetto Corsa Rally? Oh, my friend. Here the asphalt has logic, coherence, and soul. What you feel through the wheel is exactly what should be happening. And that is a territory that, until now, almost no one had dared to claim.

In other words: RBR’s spirit isn’t just creeping through the dirt… it’s also showing up on the tarmac.

The Tiny Detail That Changes Everything

There’s a moment, a tiny one, that sums it all up for me:

You notice a patch with a little more gravel. Not a violent jolt. Not an alarm. Just a whisper. A subtle texture difference. Something so small that in most games, it simply doesn’t exist.

And that’s when I thought:

“Yes… RBR would absolutely approve of this.”

Because that’s what made the classic great: It never needed to shout to be profound.

The Big Question: Successor or Not?

We shouldn’t rush to crown anyone yet. Richard Burns Rally isn’t just a throne – it’s a fossilized monument. Maybe it doesn’t even need a successor. Maybe its purpose was to exist, inspire, and forever guard the hardcore corner of sim racing where only the brave dare to tread.

But…

If we’re talking about driving feel, coherence, honesty, and that almost handcrafted love for physics, then yes. Assetto Corsa Rally has something. That something you can’t buy, can’t copy, can’t fake.

That something that only a few games ever achieve – the thing that makes you smile while crashing into a tree thinking: “Good grief… what a masterpiece.”

A Loose, Unpolished Conclusion

If Richard Burns Rally is the old Japanese master who smacks your shins with a stick to teach you discipline, then Assetto Corsa Rally is the prodigy child returning from abroad with a doctorate, a strange accent, and the ability to repeat the master’s teachings… but with more elegance, more softness, and visuals that make your retinas applaud.

Successor?
Maybe yes.
Maybe no.

You can buy it by clicking here:

• Assetto Corsa Rally

But carved from the same wood?
Absolutely.