Colin McRae Dirt 2

Get down and dirty in this spectacular racing game, the smoothness, handling and control is unprecedented and some of the best I have experienced in a driving game to date, and because it doesn’t have that big a learning curve and a low level of frustration getting the hang of the controls and game play any player from beginner to advanced can pretty much jump in and enjoy the ride from the very start.

You have your very own private tour trailer decked out with all the game options, your country and race selection with various tracks to race on in Baja California, Morocco, Malaysia, China, Croatia, London, Utah, Japan and L.A unlocking more and more races as your experience level increases, winning Liveries, dash toys (even a cute little minion from overlord), and air fresheners to customise your vehicle, and sometimes even a car courtesy of your sponsors if you win in certain races.

Earning XP points and money for each race you finish and obviously you are rewarded more the higher the difficulty setting and the better you do in the race, then using this money to purchase a variety of different vehicles from Buggy’s and Trucks to Rally cars each having varied statistics that are suited to the kind of race you are competing in, like drivability is more important for the tracks that twist and turn around the countryside while Acceleration and Top speed are better for straight out races.

Races vary from stadium tracks to off road and around the countryside of the particular country you are in and for certain races you have a navigator giving you audio directions for e.g. hard left, medium right, accident up ahead etc, just like in a real Rally.

The type of race also determines what style of vehicle is available to use and some of your hard earned money will occasionally need to be spent on upgrading them as you progress in the game with Rally packs, Pro packs and All-star upgrades. Your experience doesn’t go unnoticed either; as your reputation increases other drivers want to know you, calling you a legend and giving you invites to compete in various races around the world.

The excellent graphics and attention to detail are amazing on all aspects of the game from the beautifully rendered landscapes, the damage on the vehicle, the water effects, being required to squint when the sun gets in your eyes or having to drive with the restricted vision of night with the headlights blazing. The amount of races available will keep you occupied for days at a time and the variety of events available make sure that monotony doesn’t even enter into the equation.

There are straight out races but you will also compete in World Tour events, X games of Europe, Asia and America, last man standing eliminations, and what’s called Gatecrasher races where you must smash through Yellow obstacles on the track, each adding seconds on to your time, with the winner being the driver who has the most amount of time left on the clock.

Multiplayer can be played either via a LAN with multiple consoles or on PSN and X box Live in Pro Tour ranked matches or unranked Jam session and with no lag and plenty of competition online it is an absolute joy to play. One of the best driving games on the market to date.
– Maceman

Colin McRae Dirt 2
Platform – X360, PS3
Distributor – Namco Bandai
Genre – Racing
Rated – PG