Game: Colin McRae DiRT2
Publisher/Developer: Codemasters
Genre: Racing
Verdict: Fantastic racing game that is both arcade like in nature and challenging.
Pros: So much to do with so many races to complete.
Cons:Not as pure a rally sim as some fans might want.
I first played the original DiRT game in September 2007, a month that rally fans will instantly recognize as the time that Colin McRae, one of the real greats of the rallying world, unfortunately died in a helicopter accident. It felt rather sad playing the game, knowing that this true great whose name and image was so strongly connected to the title, was no longer with us. At the time I did slightly selfishly ponder whether that meant no more Colin McRae racing games, a selfish thought really considering the severity of the situation, but I have no doubt others asked the same question. Of course, I figured the series would continue, just without his name and memory connected to it. So I was pleased to see that DiRT2 retains its ties to this truly distinct rally driver. Even better, it’s a real tribute to him, thanks in part to it being an excellent racing game.
It has to be said that DiRT2 is a racing game first and foremost, not a rally driving sim. Think of it as somewhere in between the realism of Forza Motorsport and the outlandish arcade nature featured in the Need for Speed Underground and Burnout series. If you want a realistic sim and turn your nose up at anything less, this really isn’t for you. However, if you want a step up from the simplistic nature of an arcade racer, this is a fantastic step for you because it requires more precision, without needing hundreds of hours invested to become proficient.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that handling is much improved from the original DiRT. Although it wasn’t hugely flawed to begin with, it did at times feel like all the cars were too light and collision detection felt slightly off kilter. In the case of DiRT2, the cars feel suitably heavy and they all have a unique feel that will require you to adjust your racing style accordingly. It does take a little bit of practice at first, but this isn’t due to awkward handling, but rather simply semi-realistic handling. Much like in reality, you can’t expect to drive round a hairpin corner at 100mph and not hit the barriers at a high rate of speed. Having said that, in keeping with the middle ground that DiRT2 has established, the handling is not so ridiculously precise that you will tear your hair out with frustration. I found within 30 minutes of starting the game I could drift round a corner in great style, and as time went on, the drifts got increasingly more impressive. The braking felt well pitched with the need to plan ahead if a corner arises, but again not so much that it hampered the experience.
DiRT2 adjusts the difficulty levels perfectly, right down to the ability to modify it on a race to race basis. This means that you are not constricted to the one difficulty level throughout your career. However, accurate driving is much more essential in higher difficulty levels, because the AI is much, much better at driving. It was a nice touch that the handling felt very similar, regardless of difficulty level, rather than having to relearn the game simply because I bumped the difficulty up. All I knew is that I just had to be better than the other guy. Sounds easy eh? Not at all! On the hardcore difficulty for example, the player has to be ridiculously good to beat the AI, which proves to provide a considerable challenge. Fortunately, with such a wide range of difficulties at your disposal, you need never actually play the hardest difficulty levels, unless you absolutely want to. The only thing that the difficulty truly influences is the money you earn in each race.
In the case of DiRT2, money and experience points really do make the world go round. Working on a leveling based experience tree, different racing events will unlock depending on what level you are. You gain experience regardless of what position you finish in a race, although obviously winning is the much better option than languishing in 8th place. Career mode is based out of a tour bus, in a style that feels a little like an MTV themed sports game. Once you get used to it, it works well as essentially a prettier version of simply having menus. There are nine different areas around the world to unlock, which then have a large number of races to a country. All in all, there are around 100 racing events to compete in, which means that there is always plenty to do!
Pleasantly, there are a number of different racing modes, so you won’t get bored any time soon. Besides the typical rallying events, with some very professional sounding instructions relayed by your co-driver, there are also more frivolous modes such as Gatecrasher and Last Man Standing. Gatecrasher felt a little like an event out of the Project Gotham series, where your aim is to drive through all the gates ahead of you to ensure that you don’t run out of time, while still finishing the race. Last Man Standing is a mode that many arcade racer fans will be familiar. Here, your goal is to stay at the front of the pack, with the last driver in the pack being knocked out every 20 seconds. It was refreshing to see a nice variety of modes. A small part of me did admittedly long for the older days of Colin McRae 2.0 on the PS1 which offered pure rallying fun, but sticking to the one game mode would have become boring quickly. There is also the return of the flashback, or rewind mode, that was seen in GRID. This enables the player to simply press a button and ‘rewind’ the action if they have just messed up a crucial turn for example. Sure it may not be realistic, but purists can always avoid using the feature.
At times it felt like the tracks available were reused a little too often, a common flaw with even the best racing games, but this was forgiveable because the variety of handling, always kept things interesting. No matter how many times I raced the same track, it would feel slightly different. It was particularly nice to see the AI opponents act aggressively at times, going as far as deliberately nudging me off my course. It was a pity to see that despite being able to turn vehicle damage on, with the exclusion of an increased chance of totalling the car, I never found a noticeable difference in handling, even when the game was stating that I’d received significant vehicle damage. It may have just been my amazing driving skills, (okay, maybe my good fortune…) but it really didn’t seem to make any difference. Though it did not impair your ability to drive, the visible damage to vehicles was impressive and by the end of a race, one’s car could be left looking like a mangled mess of metal. This is a true testament to the stunning visuals that are noticeable throughout the game. Locations such as China looked especially beautiful, along with Utah and its sweeping canyons of desolation and emptiness, that were almost foreboding. Codemasters have truly pushed themselves to the limits of the EGO game engine, by improving upon the already stellar graphical detail featured in both GRID and the original DiRT.
DiRT2 really is a complete package of racing goodness. It combines arcade racing with a hint of simulation, which ensures that it is the perfect middle ground in the world of racing games. It is perfectly pitched at those who love arcade racers but want to take a step up to a slightly more realistic experience. The wealth of events available is astonishing, and there is always plenty to do. Trust me, this is not a game that you can complete over a weekend. The online multiplayer functions also help increase longevity, further proving that DiRT2 strongly deserves its place in your games collection. Most importantly, DiRT2 is a truly fitting tribute to the great man, Colin McRae.
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