DiRT is the first next-generation installment of the Colin McRae rally series. Fans of the series will be drooling at how much more evolved Codemasters every improving series is this time, but does DiRT have the makings to take the Colin McRae Series to the next level?

Gameplay:

DiRT offers the regular drift heavy driving that you would come to expect with this series. It really has an arcade style accelerate now, break never mentality to it that can really be a lot of fun once you’ve gotten past the initially touchy control scheme. Its this control scheme that really makes this game totally different from the recently released Forza Motorsport 2, while Forza boasts a realistic simulation driving experience, DiRT offers the complete opposite offering more of an arcade approach and definitely will feel at home for fans of Sega Rally. Despite having the officially licensed vehicles from the top models you would expect each vehicle comes with up to 6 different skins or liveries that you can unlock from with in the games career. Each vehicle also has its own unique damage model system which seems to be the most complex in any racing game on the console, so far. Naturally this makes it quite entertaining just to drive into the many obstacles you will find around the track. Starting off with a clean, polished car and ending with one that looks the same is near impossible as any slight collision or bump will make its mark on the car, this combined with the mud that’s now all over the car makes sure that your car will look like its been through a war more than a rally. The one game mode you will be spending the most time with is the career mode. You will work your way through 11 Different tiers aiming to win the final ‘Champion of Champions’ Event, which is basically most of the classes in one final tournament. Each tier has up to eleven events in it (with each tier getting 1 less event) these events can have multiple stages and will be based on one of the fourteen completely different classes of vehicles ranging from normal 4WD, FWD, RWD Rally cars to Sand buggies to Big Rigs with fat-off wings on the back. You get to race with all the forty-six cars in the game in a whole range of different modes each unique with some you’ll be going solo on a rally hill climb and then the next minute your racing wheel to wheel with nine other buggies flying over muddy sand banks. There is really a wide range of activities on offer here. On top of this there is the traditional style, rally championship that followers of the series might already be acquainted to. You can do these modes in any one of the five different difficulty levels each one getting harsher on damage and more precise on those corners and final times. Each level step up seems to be evenly spaced which really helps when practicing for the online mode. Speaking of which, the Xbox Live multi player section of the game isn’t as you might expect. If you are expecting awesome racing that’s wheel to wheel online I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. Saying that, the online play is a rally based mode where your time gets compared to up to 100 other players online, it’s not perfect but it’s still some good fun.

Graphics:

The Graphics are gorgeous, yet not realistic as you can see the flaws; but it’s got its own style that really suits the game and you can get some stunning visuals on pretty much all of the tracks. We are talking ‘Gears of War’ graphics here. The frame rate remains steady as well and the only time you will encounter slow down is if there is a big pile up of cars; it gets a bit noticeable sometimes but this will rarely happen. When you’re not being spoilt with the in game graphics, DiRT offers a quality looking menu system. The menus in DiRT are just about the best I’ve seen in any game for years. They are hard to explain but they use a reflective 3D environment and sometimes it’s just fun to move the menus around with the analog stick. The loading screens are even better, displaying stats about your in-game exploits. It’s a shame you see them all too much due to some rather long loading times.

Sound:

Sound wise the cars are spot on and there’s something weird about how satisfyingly great the crunching and the crashing is when you send your car flying over a jump into a tree at 100mph. It’s only a shame that there’s no soundtrack whilst you are actually racing as you only hear some random instrumental tracks that play over the replays and menus.

Longevity:

The main career mode will take you about 15-30 hours (depending on which one of the 5 difficultly modes you pick) to clear everything it offers; which is pretty lengthy compared to other games out on the market. This combined with the multiplayer mode and the extra rally, time trial and free race modes makes this game sound like its going to be firmly rooted to your 360’s CD tray for a few months to come. It’s a shame there is no local multiplayer.

Overall:

So if you like racing more arcade-based over simulation then DiRT is your pick for the summer, but with Forza 2 out it has got some competition. Despite the mediocre online play and amount of time spent looking at the loading screens (despite being as sexy as hell) DiRT is so far the best arcade racing game on the 360 and in my opinion is worthy of a purchase, failing that it needs to be tried, the demo really gives you a good idea of what to expect from the full game. Just be warned there is a 15-30 minute learning curve you have to get past. With driving fans having to pick between Forza 2 and this it’s really just a matter of preference even though Forza 2 has more fans, arcade style racers will feel more at home with DiRT. If only this had the length and customization of Forza 2. Failing that, it’s definitely worth a rental anyways for the easy 1000 gamer Points on offer.