Okay well I'm taking back my previous comments about it being ♥♥♥♥.

Once you spend 15 ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ HOURS playing you can finally race in the actual Dakar rally.
The whole XP building before that is pointless, especially for those that already know what they're doing. This element kinda ruins the game for new players, especially given the amount of time it takes to get past it.
I don't understand the developers decision for this? It makes no sense at all?

Once you FINALLY get to simulation mode it's amazing, the only annoyance is the speed limits (which are incorrect for the years) as the cars don't have speed adjustable limiters, meaning you spend a lot of time staring at the speedo.

However, the stages are beautifully made, and really really long. Exactly what you want in the Dakar game. You can spend an hour on a stage only to roll your car and have to start again, a proper challenge as it should be.

If you can be patient enough to get through all the arcade-like crap before getting to simulation, then you'll love it.

Oh don't forget that sometime it'll stutter so bad its unplayable. But hopefully that'll be fixed soon