Dakar 2009

The Dakar Rally has almost been as exciting off the track as it has been on it in recent years, suffering cancellations and even being moved wholesale across the Atlantic to South America this year, which is - as you probably realise - nowhere near Dakar itself.

Likewise, on mobile EA's take on the rally has morphed from one thing to another iteration after iteration, switching from serious simulation two years ago to 2008's 'ode to arcade' effort.

Another year on, Dakar seems to have lost its way somewhat, heading off track and stumbling across the awkward middle ground that lies between its two predecessors.

Dakar 2009 is no reckless rally rampage, but nor is it a particularly technical racer, either. It's just a bit tame.

Out go the ramps, nitros and tight time splits of last year's effort, and in comes a new 3D approach (it's hard to fault the visuals, which hold up rather well throughout) and some fairly static competitors that do little more than act as visual timers.

You race across nine South American stages that take you through muddy, rocky outposts as well as sandy, cracked deserts, but instead of serving as a collection of hard-fought time trials, it actually places your priority on on-track placement, with targets being set to secure progression.

Starting off in second position, you weave in and out of your three evenly-spaced competitors, with your own performance determining whether you're charging for the front of the pack or hanging on at the back.

Disappointingly, your rivals exhibit little driving skill or even variation themselves, sticking to a safe, narrow path in the middle of the track and only passing you if you happen to balls up a series of corners.

Hogging the middle line is your only route to glory, as even the slightest touch of the side of the track hits you with a nasty vibration and severely inhibits your speed (acceleration itself is taken care of automatically). Your only controls in fact are the brake, executed by holding down the '8' key, and steering, assigned to the '4' and '6' keys.

You'll very rarely need to hit your brakes, as anticipating the corners ahead (signified by on-screen signposts) and skidding around them often serves as the most efficient way forward. The tracks aren't the most menacing either, riding along on the flat with the odd lump and bump in the way merely serving as decoration.

There are corners aplenty, forming a typically zig-zag pattern and lending themselves to fairly mundane gameplay, where your only concern is screeching from left to right and then back again.

This year's Dakar strangely trails the competition by some margin on this front, dropping back to the kind of stale track design long since left behind by many of its racing rivals.

Those who prefer something a little more refined might well plump for the Time Trial mode, where a conservative eye and granting the brake a little more attention offer greater reward, but without the benefit of competitors as in the main game the humdrum nature of the tracks becomes even more evident here.

Instead, Dakar 2009's focus is on its Championship, itself bite-sized and not altogether well structured. Actual stage wins don't become a necessity until the last two rounds, making it possible to coast through the majority of the journey without actually extending yourself until the last couple of races.

A points system would probably be more advisable, helping to drag what is a painfully plain take on rallying onto more exciting ground. As it is, Dakar Rally 2009 seems happy enough pioneering mediocrity, taking no risks and doing nothing more than coasting along around the middle of the pack.