When Codies popped the hood for a tune-up it decided to bolt on some new improvements to its gorgeous Ego engine as well. It’s a small touch, but it sells the experience and makes me smile every time – as do the incidences of suicidal spectators running across the track. On the plus side, any AI spectators near said vehicular vivisection will freak the hell out. Failure to show respect means bonding with a tree as the glorious new destruction model crumples you into something better resembling a Terminator’s crap. It’s a pity then that the tuning options are dumbed down to a small collection of sliders.Įven still, I instantly found that I was getting improved feedback from the car through the controller, especially in the later courses where shifting surfaces required measured pedal feathering. Codemasters has paid a lot of attention to damper response characteristics, which, as a result, make for more realistic weight transference, not to mention better suspension and tyre behaviour. Petrol-heads will also be pleased to hear that the sketchy driving physics of DiRT 2 have evolved. All told you get access to 30 pure rally machines and there are some great fan-service appearances in that mix – such as the Mini Cooper S, Audio Quattro, Celica GT-Four and the stalwart Lancia Delta. In truth I found the most entertaining disciplines to be the ludicrously overpowered Group B events and the classic rallies tiered to every decade from 1960 to 2000. The traditional rallying is set across Finland, Kenya, Norway and Michigan (go figure), and puts a larger focus on WRC, Open Rally, Super Rally 2000 and Raid events. This is a sequel that has three times the ral¬lying content of its predecessor, and thanks to the long awaited inclusion of snow, rain and night events it’s immediately superior to anything else in the series. In the DiRT Tour the random buffoonery events have been stripped away. This imbecile is balanced out by your British team sponsor and an Aussie mechanic, who subtly take the piss out of this motor mouth at any chance they get. I say ‘most of’ because there is still a “duuude” voice-over character who takes every opportunity to aurally fellate you (eg “you nailed it amigo, you gotta thrill the hills to fill the till to pay the bills, compadre”). The overtly Americanised sideshow events have been stripped right back as has a lot of the bombastic ‘bodaciousness’ of the presentation. Ironically, as Codemasters has corrected the tone and gracefully drifted the IP back towards technicality and tradition, this is a DiRT game that has never been more deserving of his endorsement. DiRT 3 is the first title in the series to remove Colin McCrae’s name (due to his untimely and tragic death). Despite bearing the McRae moniker which is synonymous with down-to-earth professionalism, DiRT 2 was a down-with-the-kids, American-pandering, rally-lite “car-nival”. How can I put this gently? Colin McRae’s DiRT 2 was one part driving game, one part douchenozzle simulator.
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