Colin McRae DiRT 2

Format Xbox 360

Developer Codemasters

Publisher Codemasters

Genre Racing / Driving

7 Comments

Well, it looks like we've been fooled all over again. Just when we thought GRID was tickling the heights of what the Xbox 360 is capable of graphically, Codies plonks us in front of Colin McRae: DiRT 2 and promptly blows our trousers off.

Somehow, with the help of the publisher's proprietary Ego engine, the company's Racing Studio has managed to squeeze yet more juice from the Xbox 360, and produce one of the most retina-smoochingly pretty titles that we've seen.

As if that wasn't enough to turn rival racers greener than grass, there are still several months of polish yet to come.

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Of course, as purist petrolheads will tell you, it's not just the graphics that matter. If all the cars handle like a greased breeze block all you've got is very pretty punishment.

While the handling in DiRT was by no means terrible, it wasn't entirely realistic - cars were planted on the track, with little sense that the car was shifting on the softly-sprung suspension.

For DiRT 2 that has all changed. Chuck a Subaru Impreza into a corner and you'll feel the chassis lean into the slide, carrying the momentum through the bend.

Attempt a Scandinavian Flick - steering out of the corner before turning in to shift the weight for a tighter turn - and the car reacts convincingly, giving you the confidence to really throw it in with gusto.

Those gravel-churning powerslides you see on telly are well within your reach - that's the thing Codies is keen to emphasise. Just because the handling is more realistic doesn't mean it's tougher to drive that it has been in previous McRae games. If anything, because the car is reacting in a physically plausible way, if anything it should be easier to drive because it'll adhere to your innate knowledge of physics.

While traditional rally stages will just
be you against the clock and the incontrovertible laws of the universe, in many of DiRT 2's events you'll be facing off against other racers.

Rallycross was a popular element of the previous game and, as a result, there's an increased emphasis on direct competition in the sequel. We had a chance to take a blast around one of the three tracks set around Battersea Power Station - a tight, technical rallycross course with eight racers on track at once.

Even at this relatively early stage, there's a real feeling of stadium atmosphere to the events. Dense crowds line the stages, the environments are richly detailed and because of the spectators' proximity to the track and the narrowness of the course, it feels like an intimate, almost claustrophobic affair.

In spite of the variety of events, Codies has taken a different approach to car collection. While you can merrily fill your garage if you wish, the team is trying to instil some ownership pride in gamers. So just because you have a favourite rally car, doesn't mean you need to ditch it for a rallycross event - simply buy the rallycross kit for that model, and the headlights will be covered over, the windscreens replaced with perspex and you'll be ready to start mashing bodywork.

Best of all, you can decorate the dashboard of your noble steed with trinkets that you pick up on your globetrotting tour, including dangling rear-view mirror decorations made from your NXE Avatar.

One thing racing games are often accused of lacking is personality and Codies aims to solve that problem too. During the course of the tour, you'll meet various drivers whose relationship to you will depend on how you treat them on the track.

Spend all your time roughhousing with your fellow competitors, and you won't have many chums when you get back to the pit lane. Stay friendly with the racing fraternity, though, and you'll get invited to special events that could result in juicy unlocks.

This sense of community should carry over into the online portion of the game, too. After DiRT's disappointingly impersonal multiplayer experience, the inclusion of direct racing in rallycross, downloadable ghost cars and constant updates about what your friends are doing should make it much more tempting to pit your skills against the masses.

There's no doubt that DiRT 2 is looking extremely slick, even with several months of development mileage in hand. Graphically it's already leaps and bounds ahead of currently available racers and the new, more intuitive handling should win fans in both hardcore and casual circles.

We're convinced that Codemasters has nailed the drama, challenge and excitement of chucking a thunderously powerful offroad vehicle around.

What's more, Codies' promises about a more fulsome off-track experience, with a rich Tour mode and character interaction, are just as exciting as the four-wheeled action. Playing in the mud has never seemed so appealing...

Mike Channell