Codemasters are known to be one of the best developers when it comes to racing games. With a portfolio including AAA franchises such as Race Driver and Colin McRae Rally, most of their games are in general well received by the critic. Unfortunately their latest creations tend to lose some of their former simulation aspect in the detriment of a more casual approach. DiRT 2 makes no exception. I was expecting a true masterpiece, a game that could truly bring the WRC Championship and its affiliate racing events with all the official licenses in the virtual world. Instead I was hit by a huge portion of Americanism. You have to compete against X-Games and "MTV icons" such as Ken Block, Travis Pastrana, Tanner Foust, etc in 8 believable locations around the Globe in different events, lots of them being held on closed circuits. If you can pass over these details you will get a good portion of adrenaline and most important a consistent multiplayer mode.  

In order to create a more personal connection between the game and the player, your opponents are also your teammates giving you advices along the races but reacting believably to your driving by screaming or commenting while you hit their vehicles. Still, all these voice acting becomes annoying after a while because of the repetitive references to their personas. Good thing is that the A.I. is smart and plays believably giving you the feeling that it really fights for a podium finish without cheating. On closed circuits the opponents play aggressive pushing you over if you are standing in their way, but they also cause big crashes from where you might get the chance to win the race.

I think DiRT 2 has one of the best off-road racing environments covering a wide variety of landscapes from the rocky mountains of Utah to the swampy surfaces of Malaysia. With the help of an improved physics engine, you will feel every surface transition from gravel to tarmac and muddy terrain. There is a continuous battle for traction and balanced control. There is a tremendous difference from what DiRT had to offer in terms of physics and what its sequel offers at this moment. Answering the fans requests, Codemasters re-established the slide effect caused by weight transition and therefore the vehicles recovered their rally handling. Every hair-pin and 90 degree curve needs an attentive approach in order to position the vehicle at the best possible angle to exit it. But everything was implemented so intuitive that any player can get used to this elaborate handling immediately.

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All 35 cars plus the bonus ones are classified into 7 categories: Trophy Trucks, RallyCross Cars, Rally Cars, Trailblazer Cars, Raid T1 Trucks, Class 1 Buggies and Stock Baja Trucks. All these vehicles have their performance measured from 1 to 10 for acceleration, top speed, and handling. All three parameters combined together for each car will result in different handling support, giving you the chance to choose the right car for the right track. Every vehicle can be upgraded by purchasing mandatory kits to enter higher leagues but also to gain access to different event types. The problem here is that the rally cars are used also for rallycross and for trailblazer events. I was hoping to get access to special cars for these types of events as in real world, but instead I received the same list of cars with minor body modifications and different specs.

If you feel that this is not enough in order to make a perfect race, you can play with the settings of your car. There's not much to choose from, but at least you can modify your downforce, gear ratio or differential response without too much trouble, as every parameter is explained accordingly. Liveries and interior decorations are a welcome addition to the overall 'good looking' vehicles. From the visual point of view the cars will be covered in dust and mud depending on the terrain you drive on, and can also suffer deformations after a crash. You can choose the damage to be only cosmetic or to have also impact on your vehicle's handling. Even if you choose the latter option, the handling of your vehicle won't be affected too much. The good news is that you can total your car which can mark the end of your race. But the so praised Flashback option - used for the first time in Race Driver: GRID - has been revamped here. That's why you can replay up to five times per race the last 10-15 seconds before a terminal crash in order to retake control of your car and avoid the collision.

Travelling around the World and taking part at all the events in order to become the most successful driver, you need to have your own HQ. Your HQ is actually a mobile home from where you can choose all the menu options. These options are scattered in and out of the HQ forcing you to navigate in first person in order to pick the next event or to take a look at the vehicles present in your garage. This first person menu helps you think that you are a professional race driver taking part in world tour along your crew.

The singleplayer career starts by getting the chance to drive Colin's latest car which he drove it before his death at the X-Games in LA. Besides this reference to his persona you can also play in a special event starring all his friends: David Coulthard, Valentine Rossi, Ari Vatanen, to name only a few. If you win the event you will get to see a special video featuring a collection of greatest moment from Colin's career as a rally driver. In the beginning of your singleplayer career, the opponents will play easy on you. If you still feel that the races are too hard to win, you can set the difficulty at the start of every event. In this way anyone can complete the career and unlock all the bonuses. If you are a true fan, you just have to increase the difficulty. There's always a setting for everybody.

DiRT 2 brings some new racing modes to this series. You can play in a Gate Crasher competition where you have to crash as many gates as possible from a Super Special in order to gain extra time. Last Man Standing is an elimination race where a counter decides when the last opponent should exit the race. But probably the most interesting one is the Domination race where you compete against other opponents to achieve the best times on every sector of the circuit. In this race you can win even if you don't pass the finish line in the first position. This special mode can become extremely attractive in online sessions due to the fact that the player has to fight until the last second and his chances to win can remain intact even if he suffers a crash during the race.

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Conclusion

Colin McRae: DiRT 2 should not be considered a tribute game for Colin McRae' s career, nor a WRC licensed title, but a new off-road racing game that tries to gather every specialty from this sport. Except for the title, the game has no common elements with its predecessor; therefore it should be taken as a whole new product in this genre. The game will easily become a hit due to its great graphics, scalable difficulty and its improved physics system.

Gameplay: 83

I have to admit that being a fan of WRC Championships, I was more attracted by the older titles from this series, but I recognize the quality of the new Colin McRae game which pushes the boundaries of this genre to new heights. Its variety and consistent singleplayer career plus the new physics engine makes it addictive, making you lose hours in front of you console without noticing. Another plus for the scalable difficulty level which makes the game playable even for the newcomers of this genre.

Graphics: 94

Based on an improved version of EGO engine, this game looks amazing, becoming the best looking racing game at the moment. Probably NFS: SHIFT will uncrown DiRT 2 from this position, but the PC version, which will feature DirectX 11 support, will regain this position in December.

Multiplayer: 91

The online mode is the true new addition for this game. All the events from the career can also be played online increasing the playability of this title making it one of the most popular games played on XBOX Live network. The leader board system plus the new online championships will make you spend more time with this game that you might ever expected.

Sound: 89

The great soundtrack remembers me of the first Need for Speed Underground. It's very catchy, featuring lots of memorable tunes which are perfectly integrated into the gameplay. The attention to detail regarding the ambient noises and the revving sound of your engine makes the racing experience believable. A minus for the repetitive dialogs between you opponents. It gets annoying to listen to Ken Block saying the same jokes over and over again.

Hardware: 85

It's amazing how this game runs so smoothly on XBOX 360, even when you take part in a race with 8 opponents. Same goes in the online mode where you can rarely see some frame rate glitches or any time-out moments.