Dirt 2 is a title I've been anticipating for some time now, having seen the game's very impressive trailers, and uber realistic screenshots. I've always been a big fan of racing titles, rally especially, and unfortanutely never got into the previous Dirt game due to the controls feeling less like driving a car and more like being on roller skates in a roller disco. But with Dirt 2's impending release, my hopes are that Codemasters, the game's developers, found a way to fix this nagging issue and deliver the most authentic rally racing game to date.
When you first load up the game and reach the main menu you'll see that Codemasters has really gone a long way to accurately represent the lifestyle of rally racers and their fans. The entire game feels like an MTV reality special, with cool graphical designs and text at every menu screen. Even the way you navigate the menus, switching between the Dirt Tour, Online Multiplayer, Options, and so forth lets you take in all the excitement of a rally event as if you were actually there, down to the hilarious giant inflatable arm waving things that usually appear outside car dealerships.
Now the demo of Dirt 2 included two styles of race--standard rally in Morocco, where racers take off from the starting line one at a time and compete for the best overall time on the course, and a circuit race in Baja where all eight racers compete head-to-head around a track for 2 laps using various racers such as trucks, Baja vehicles, and buggies. Both of these race types help paint a good picture of the overall Dirt 2 racing package.
It's all about variety. The game boasts a large roster of vehicle types. And while pretty much all of them were locked for this demo, it was still possible to see the options that would eventually be opened up. I was dying to get my hands on the Subaru STI and WRX in the game but unfortunately no dice, just yet. What was available was a Mitsubishi Eclipse GT and a Trophy Truck from West Coast Choppers. Once we selected our ride it was off to the races (the Eclipse is used for the race in Morocco and the truck for the Baja race).
Once you get into an event you'll instantly be blown away by the game's graphics. The vehicles show wear and tear as the race progresses, tire tread imprints are left in the mud, and the various vehicles all look authentic, down to their decals, and the crash physics and damage looks spot-on. I also found that the cockpit view really heightens the intensity up a few notches as your literally fighting against the environment every inch of the race course, struggling to see what's coming up ahead of you while mud and water gets kicked up onto your windshield, blinding you until your windshield wipers clear it off. It's terrifying, but in an authentic, cool kind of way. The cockpit view in Dirt 2 produces the most white knuckled, heart-pounding experience I've ever had in a racing title.
