Dirt

"A solid tile worthy of your time and money"

DiRT is the latest incarnation of the Colin McRae rally series. The game signifies a departure from the traditional aspects of Colin McRae games, and takes on a more arcade style gameplay that will appeal to a broader audience. There's still plenty for rallying purists, though, so if you are a long time fan the game should still appeal to you. Sporting fabulous graphics, a revolutionary menu system and some nice new features, DiRT should certainly appeal to many gamers out there.

Gameplay - 8/10
Firstly, lets delve into the gameplay element of this game. The game has evolved into a more arcade style of racing, so you might feel as if the cars are ‘floating' and not really hooked onto the road. However, if you aren't a hardcore racer, or a Gran Turismo freak, you should enjoy this game immensely. There are, however, plenty of opportunities to crash and wreck your ride, so even McRae purists will get their share of the pie.

The game is, however, quite realistic when you increase the difficulty levels to the harder regions, and 9 different areas of your car can be damaged as you crash into other cars, barriers, or objects in the environment. Everything you crash into is different, crashing into a weak advertisement board will not cause as much harm as crashing into one of the cement barriers that signify the edge of a road. We'll go further into the damage models as we head to the graphics section.

Sadly, there is a lack of offline multiplayer split screen mode, and the online multiplayer (where up to 100 players can race together), is poorly conceived and executed, and does not provide the enjoyment you would expect. In the end, though, the game provides an enjoyable experience and will have you hooked for hours on end.

Graphics - 10/10
The one area of this game where it achieves a perfect score is the graphics department. Powered by the powerful graphics chip and seven cores in the PS3, the game delivers an absolutely amazing graphical experience. There are six different views for you to play around with (Close Chase, Far Chase, Bumper, Bonnet, Dashboard, and Helmet Cam), and they all provide enough diversity to satisfy even the most demanding players.

The dirt flying up behind your ride, the magnificently detailed headlights, and the fantastic bodywork will have you admiring the graphics and mouthing ‘Wow!' every few seconds. I've played quite a bit now, and I'm still not tired of staring at the cars and stopping to admire the surroundings. Every blade of grass can be seen separately, and trees have great textures. The cars themselves have every minute detail, from the shocks pumping the car up and down over bumps to the roll cage and the A/C vents that can be seen from the Helmet Can (View 6).

The damage models are the best I have ever seen on a game, and the glass, doors, spoilers, bumpers and hoods being torn apart from your car look incredibly real. I've seen spoilers ripped away from my car, the side mirrors broken away, and cars nearly being ripped in half, to name a few elements of the graphics. All in all, the graphics in the game are one of the best on the PS3 and won't leave you disappointed.

Sound - 8/10
Every different car in the game has it's own unique engine sound, and over a high-quality surround sound system, this sounds amazing. The sound of your ride going over gravel, dirt, and tarmac will not be forgotten easily, and provides a fantastic effect to back up the great graphics.

Though purists have complained about the fact that your co-driver refers to you as ‘dude', It didn't bother me much, since all the other sounds are good. Voice-overs in the menu are pretty good and easy to understand. Eventually, the sound is good, but not revolutionary, so eight marks for that.

Controls - 9/10
The controls are intuitive and easy to learn, once you have finally chosen from the four different presets and honed your controls using the customize option. The wealth of choice and customization means that even the most picky users will be spoilt for choice, unlike some new games today that only have one or two presets with no options for customization. You'll never find yourself thinking ‘If only I could press that button for a certain function'. Well done, and another clap on the back for Codemasters.

Menus/Interface - 9/10
The menus in this game are fantastically well done, with each page floating in the air and seamless transition between the hovering groups. It is an effect that has to be seen to understand the work that went into these pieces of art.

Loading screens show your stats in the game, and this is good since it is better to know how many times you rolled over, how much time you went without crashing, your favourite surface, and more, rather than sit and stare at a blank screen that says ‘Loading, please wait.' The in-race menus are great, and so is the HUD, which displays all the information you need to win races and is fully customizable. One of the better parts of the game.

Replay Value - 9/10
Once you have actually trawled through the elven tiers in Career mode, bought all the cars and liveries, and completed the game on all the difficulties, you'll probably be much older and the PlayStation 4 will certainly be out. Even after that, you'll want to start and play this brilliant title yet again, so a pretty good score on this sector too.

Overall
Gameplay – 8
Graphics – 10
Sound – 8
Controls – 9
Interface -9
Replay Value – 9

Total Score - 9/10, a solid title which adds a lot to the genre.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/29/07

Game Release: Dirt (US, 09/11/07)