Dirt 2, as the title states, is the second game in the Dirt series, and I have to say, this game is amasing.
Lets start with the "story" mode, I like this because it acually doesnt try to put a half baked story into it, it just says here's some cars now go race them. It is trying to pull off the feeling that 'you' are a rally racer, trying to get the feel of slowly building fame, and it seems to work pretty nicely. When you finish a race some famouse driver will say things like " No one coud even touch you in that race" or if you did poorly " Man, the whole world was against you." It just seems to add a little bit of atmosphere.
As you gain experience you unlock new locations such as Croatia, Baja, or Japan and with them come many new races. There are a load of tracks and each feel different, some in Malaysia feel really tight and windy while the Baja tracks feel more open and strait. weather your in the open or closed in by brush the sence of speed is amasing, you always feel like your flying. The cockpit veiw really enhances this feeling because it looks like the car is shaking and it just makes it feel even faster. Codemasters did a very good job on the cockpit, it feels realistic and is my preffered style of driving, it just adds to the imersion aspect.
Now I beleive that gameplay and story should come before graphics, but since this is a racing game the story is out allowing for a maximum gamplay and graphical experience, and CodeMasters really pulled out the stops on this. The graphics are amasing, looking very realistic and the game very rarely chugs even when your racing at 70 mph in a thick Malaysian jungle. And the car machanics are great, now they may not be the most realistic but on a scale of 1-10, 1 being arcady, 10 being in a real car, its probably about a 7. Your car slides realisticly and the braking is great. Plus on some tracks you transition from gravel to tar and you really feel the difference in handling, once again adding to the imersion aspect.
There are a number of events each different from the other, theres Rally which is a point to point race with a co-driver giving you instructions on the course. Then there's Trailblazer which is like Rally but you have no co-driver and there are opponents on the course, granted everyone starts about 10 seconds befor/after eachother but it's still possible to overtake/be overtaken by opponents. Next you have Raid, it has multible people racing at the same time with "split" course options to mix it up, essentially you can go right or left, one way may be shorter or longer but you still end up at the same point. Now thers Land Rush, you start out side by side with your opponents and just race, of course there are jumps and water hazards to worry about. And last but not least you have Rally Cross, this involves tight tracks with mixed surfaces which allow for a multitude of ways to have fun. On top of all that you have the X-Games, which is just a mix of three from ^^above^^, but the racers are harder and it really requires some skill to win these. After winning them you win a special car that is not avaiable any way els, these cars are really good and are more then worth the effort.
Next we have the cars, the cars are split into there own racing event but some can be used for multible events. Each car is ballenced in its own way, some cars may have a tendency to oversteer and some might like understeer, but weather your using the first car or the last, no one is better than the other, some are just better in different situations. My personal favorit is the Subaru Impreza WRX STi AKA Ken Blocks car, it just fits my play style. Each car has its own set of liveries, toys, and horns for your plesure and it allows you to represent yourself.
This brings me to pretty much my only large gripe of the game. In the original Dirt you could spen hours customising your ride handling to fit your prefference perfecly, and I liked that, it had a metric ton of options. Sadly this is lacking in Dirt 2, you only have about five different options like Gear Ratio, Ride Height, Downforce, Diferential Strength, and something els that slips my mind. Each of these hase only 5 options in them compared to the originals hundreds. Now you can still customise your ride to your prefference but it wont feel as precise as the first.
Finaly we have multiplayer, and as far as multiplayer goes its damn good, you can set up your own races and choose your favorite track and add as many laps as you want. I personaly don't like themultiplayer all that much since it just pretty much becomes a demolition derby, if it was real life you'd be avaiding people, not smashing into them at full speed, it can get very frustrating when your just trying to play and all that happens is you get smashed inota wall or some shit. Pretty much you could be Ken Block yourself and lose to a 4 year old just smashing everything in sight. But none the less, its still really fun if you can find a good croud of people.
Final Verdict: Dirt two is a great game with amasing graphics and gameplay, it is realistic game but allows a burnout paradice player to have fun with it after about 10 minutes of converting, yet still lets the realistic junkies have fun. The sence of speed is amasing and gives a shot of adrenalin at times. I recomend this game to anyone trying to get into the Racing genra or if you just like racing in general.
Score: A Buy
PS. this is my first reveiw on the Escapist and I would like some feedback on how I good or bad it is, just keep flaming to a minimum, however Constructive Criticism is greatly appreciated.
Lets start with the "story" mode, I like this because it acually doesnt try to put a half baked story into it, it just says here's some cars now go race them. It is trying to pull off the feeling that 'you' are a rally racer, trying to get the feel of slowly building fame, and it seems to work pretty nicely. When you finish a race some famouse driver will say things like " No one coud even touch you in that race" or if you did poorly " Man, the whole world was against you." It just seems to add a little bit of atmosphere.
As you gain experience you unlock new locations such as Croatia, Baja, or Japan and with them come many new races. There are a load of tracks and each feel different, some in Malaysia feel really tight and windy while the Baja tracks feel more open and strait. weather your in the open or closed in by brush the sence of speed is amasing, you always feel like your flying. The cockpit veiw really enhances this feeling because it looks like the car is shaking and it just makes it feel even faster. Codemasters did a very good job on the cockpit, it feels realistic and is my preffered style of driving, it just adds to the imersion aspect.
Now I beleive that gameplay and story should come before graphics, but since this is a racing game the story is out allowing for a maximum gamplay and graphical experience, and CodeMasters really pulled out the stops on this. The graphics are amasing, looking very realistic and the game very rarely chugs even when your racing at 70 mph in a thick Malaysian jungle. And the car machanics are great, now they may not be the most realistic but on a scale of 1-10, 1 being arcady, 10 being in a real car, its probably about a 7. Your car slides realisticly and the braking is great. Plus on some tracks you transition from gravel to tar and you really feel the difference in handling, once again adding to the imersion aspect.
There are a number of events each different from the other, theres Rally which is a point to point race with a co-driver giving you instructions on the course. Then there's Trailblazer which is like Rally but you have no co-driver and there are opponents on the course, granted everyone starts about 10 seconds befor/after eachother but it's still possible to overtake/be overtaken by opponents. Next you have Raid, it has multible people racing at the same time with "split" course options to mix it up, essentially you can go right or left, one way may be shorter or longer but you still end up at the same point. Now thers Land Rush, you start out side by side with your opponents and just race, of course there are jumps and water hazards to worry about. And last but not least you have Rally Cross, this involves tight tracks with mixed surfaces which allow for a multitude of ways to have fun. On top of all that you have the X-Games, which is just a mix of three from ^^above^^, but the racers are harder and it really requires some skill to win these. After winning them you win a special car that is not avaiable any way els, these cars are really good and are more then worth the effort.
Next we have the cars, the cars are split into there own racing event but some can be used for multible events. Each car is ballenced in its own way, some cars may have a tendency to oversteer and some might like understeer, but weather your using the first car or the last, no one is better than the other, some are just better in different situations. My personal favorit is the Subaru Impreza WRX STi AKA Ken Blocks car, it just fits my play style. Each car has its own set of liveries, toys, and horns for your plesure and it allows you to represent yourself.
This brings me to pretty much my only large gripe of the game. In the original Dirt you could spen hours customising your ride handling to fit your prefference perfecly, and I liked that, it had a metric ton of options. Sadly this is lacking in Dirt 2, you only have about five different options like Gear Ratio, Ride Height, Downforce, Diferential Strength, and something els that slips my mind. Each of these hase only 5 options in them compared to the originals hundreds. Now you can still customise your ride to your prefference but it wont feel as precise as the first.
Finaly we have multiplayer, and as far as multiplayer goes its damn good, you can set up your own races and choose your favorite track and add as many laps as you want. I personaly don't like themultiplayer all that much since it just pretty much becomes a demolition derby, if it was real life you'd be avaiding people, not smashing into them at full speed, it can get very frustrating when your just trying to play and all that happens is you get smashed inota wall or some shit. Pretty much you could be Ken Block yourself and lose to a 4 year old just smashing everything in sight. But none the less, its still really fun if you can find a good croud of people.
Final Verdict: Dirt two is a great game with amasing graphics and gameplay, it is realistic game but allows a burnout paradice player to have fun with it after about 10 minutes of converting, yet still lets the realistic junkies have fun. The sence of speed is amasing and gives a shot of adrenalin at times. I recomend this game to anyone trying to get into the Racing genra or if you just like racing in general.
Score: A Buy
PS. this is my first reveiw on the Escapist and I would like some feedback on how I good or bad it is, just keep flaming to a minimum, however Constructive Criticism is greatly appreciated.
