I am pretty excited about this game to say the least. I've dumped a ton of time into the previous Dirt Rally, not so much on Dirt 4 though since it didn't feel as good.

I would love to see how the Modern Rally GT cars feel.

Current car list is:

• Historic Rally - FWD
  • Citroen DS 21
  • Lancia Fulvia
  • Mini Cooper
  • Peugot 205 GTI
  • VW MK2 Golf GTI
• Historic Rally - RWD
  • Fiat 131 Abarth
  • Ford MK2 Escort
  • Opel Kadett C GT/E
  • Renault Alpine A110
  • BMW E30
  • Datsun 240z
  • Ford Sierra Cosworth RS
  • Lancia Stratos
  • Opel Ascona 400
  • Renault 5 Turbo
• Group B - 4WD/AWD
  • Audi Sport Quattro E2
  • Ford RS200
  • Lancia Delta S4
  • MG Metro 6R4
  • Peugeot 205 T16 Evo 2
• Group A
  • Ford Escort RS Cosworth
  • Lancia Delta Integrale
  • Subaru Impreza WRX STI
  • Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VI
• Modern Rally GT
  • Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4
  • Chevy Camaro GTR4
  • Ford Mustang GT4
  • Porsche 911 RGT - this car is a pre-order car
• Modern R2 Rally
  • Ford Fiesta
  • Opel Adam
  • Peugeot 208
• Modern Rally NR4
  • Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X
  • Subaru WRX STI
• Modern Rally R5
  • Citroen C3
  • Ford Fiesta
  • Mitsubishi Space Star
  • Peugeot 208 T16 R5
  • Skoda Fabia
  • VW Polo GTI
• Rallycross Supercars
  • Audi S1 T16 4x4
  • Ford Fiesta MK7 T16 4x4
  • Ford Fiesta MK8 T16 4x4
  • Peugeot 208 T16 4x4
  • Renault Megane RS RX 4x4 T16
  • Subaru WRX STI
  • VW Polo R 4x4 T16
• Super 1600
  • Opel Corsa S1600
  • Renault Clio S1600
  • VW Polo S1600
• Other
  • Speedcar Xtrem Crosskart
  • OMSE RX Lite

I really want to see how the Modern GT cars will feel at this time. I am a little disappointed that they've focused on RX more considering it's a dying sport (sadly) but I am looking forward to the DLC packs to remedy that.

You may hate my perspective, i couldn't play Rally because it was too hard, i couldn't finish a stage with the slowest cars and never progressed so while i'd have loved to get to the more interesting cars there was zero chance i'd even be able to control them.
Dirt 4 was also bad, the first 3 Dirt's are some of my favourite games of all time, those and GRID to me mark a sweet spot in Codemasters racing physics they were all just so satisfying, but Dirt 4 felt really bad, i tried all the options to make it harder/easier/whatever would improve it but nothing did.
So the thing i want most from Rally 2 is for it to be playable.

I'm just hoping the physics is good again.

It was weird... Dirt Rally seemed like it was being positioned as almost a tech demo before Dirt 4, but somehow they massively screwed up the physics between the two games (except the aerial weight of cars, that was better in 4).

And then in Dirt 4, they had almost a good idea with the randomly generated tracks, it just wasn't executed well enough... and now they've dropped that again. So hopefully the tracks they do put in (and I guess the DLC) will be sufficient again?

This strange, almost wild variance between those two games really hasn't filled me with confidence. It almost seemed like they were made by different teams. Hopefully they did realise why Dirt 4 wasn't as good... though I remember at the time the pre-release videos with all their real rally people declaring it the 'most realistic', so who knows.

@zeg: The team behind the F1 games really nailed it with the previous entry, i don't know how much crossover there is between teams but hopefully they're back on track again, we'll see.

Might not pick it up until the VR support is added.

I look forward to the complexity of the driving physics and cars, the degradation and weather effects, and the detail of the stage/track designs. This one is also supposed to have a more fleshed-out Career mode than the first game.

On the negative side of things, Dirt Rally 2 still has a comparatively slim selection of environments or settings. It is disappointing to see that the core game will not feature more locations than the first Dirt Rally game did. Hopefully they will compensate for this with more and longer stages.

From what I've read, they will have at least 2 DLC packs offering more locations, split between rally and rallycross (2 rallycross + 1 rally). Speculation is that they have one snow-based set and one asphalt-based set. So with each DLC we should get a total of around 8 rallies and 12 rallycross tracks. I've found a list of the locations, posted below.

Personally, I think it's a good opportunity for Codemasters to (re-)introduce some more unusual rally locations, like Austria, Malaysia, Russia, Kenya, or Brazil, to name a few. Since they don't have to follow a strict location set, unlike the WRC games, they can use any location they want (more or less).

Locations (copied from MagpieRacer's post on gtplanet, see GTplanet duscussion):

** Rally locations:

1) New Zealand, Hawkes Bay:

Waimarama Point Forward - 16.06km

Elsthorpe Sprint Forward - 7,32km

Ocean Beach Sprint - 6.61km

Te Awanga Sprint Forward - 4.79km

Reverse

Waimarama Point Reverse - 16.06km

Elsthorpe Sprint Reverse - 7,32km

Te Awanga Sprint Reverse - 4.79km

2) Argentina, Catamarca:

Valle De Los Puentes La Inversa - 7.98km

El Rodeo - 2,84 km

3) Poland, Leczna County:

Zaróbka - 16.46km

Zienki - 13.42km

Marynka - 9.25km

Czarny Las - 6.62km

Kopina - 7.03km

Lejno - 6.72km

Reverse

Zagorze - 16.46km

Jezioro Rotcze - 13.42km

Borysik - 9.25km

Jezioro Lukie - 6.62km

Józefin - 7.03km

Jagodno - 6.82km

4) Spain, Ribadelles:

Comienzo en Bellriu - 13.18km

Centenera - 10.57km

Descento por carretera - 4.58km

Ascento por Valle el Gualet - 7.00km

Vinedos dentro del valle Parra - 6.80km

Vinedos Dardenya - 6.55km

Reverse

Final en Bellriu - 13.18km

Camino a Centenera - 10.57km

5) USA, New England:

North Fork Pass - 12.5km

Beaver Creek Trailer - 12.86km

Hancock Creek Burst - 6.89km

Tolt Valley Sprint Forward - 6.10km

Reverse

North Fork Pass Reverse - 12.5km

Beaver Creek Trail Reverse - 12.86km

Tolt Valley Sprint Reverse - 6.10km

6) Australia, Monaro:

Yambulla Mountain Descent -

Mount Kaye Pass -

** Rallycross locations:

1) Barcalona, Catalunya

2) Montalegre, Portugal

3) Mettet, Belgium

4) Loheac, France

5) Trois-Rivieres, Canada

6) Hell, Norway

7) Holjes, Sweden

8) Silverstone, Britain

DLC 1 + 2: Sweden? Monte-Carlo? Germany? Japan? Finland? ...