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DiRT 2 Reviewed: A digital masterpiece
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When lavish detail gets poured into something as basic as a game's menu system, one of two things is happening: The developer is glamorizing the presentation to make up for the lack of substance once you dive in, or the developer is putting the final, beautiful, delicious icing on the cake.
- Developer: Codemasters (In-House)
- Concept: Create a racing game masterpiece for Rally fans and non-fans alike
- Release Date: September 8th, 2009
- Platform Reviewed: Xbox 360
- Pros: Everything on the disc
- Cons: None. Seriously.
- Bottom Line: Buy It.
Menus Can Be Sexy, Too
Codemasters has delivered the icing, for those of you not detecting my bias. The first taste of what DiRT 2 has to offer is a road-worn RV trailer that you call home throughout your dusty global adventure. (See video, above). Menus will never be the same. It's an organic, 3D living space with trinkets that grow alongside your experience. A world map adorned with handwritten notes and stickers representing various Rally, Trailblazer, Rallycross, Raid, and Landrush events rests on the table. A sombrero from Baja next to your cot, X-Games lanyards strung across the wall, various international currencies littering the floor. From inside the dull roar of a thousands of fans being entertained by an event DJ grace your ears. Step outside and you're blasted with culture, sponsors, TV crews, makeshift garages, and a multitude of racing fans waiting for you to floor it.
This menu experience is a fully realized vision that began with the original DiRT and continued with Race Driver: GRiD. (No, we're not sure of the significance of that lowercase 'i' in their racing titles.) In fact, DiRT 2 itself is a fully realized vision. It's a gorgeous, addictive and visceral off-road racing experience which, here, achieves perfection where previous titles like GRiD and DiRT narrowly missed the mark.
In fact, I was ready to pen this review several days ago. I haven’t necessarily been procrastinating so much as spending extra hours searching for some flaw to jump out at me. Just one major or minor mistake Codemasters let slip. Sorry folks, it's not here.
Screw The Technical Jargon! Is It FUN?
By my count, there are roughly a bajillion other reviews of this game that broach every detail and every aspect of DiRT 2. Let's go in a different direction and avoid the countless paragraphs outlining the gameplay progression, the technical jargon, and various racing disciplines. I play a rally racer on TV, but I'm not one in real life. Instead, know that the events are diverse seemingly eternal, culminating in a series of X-Games events, World Tour races, and a notable tribute to the late Colin McRae, without whom you'd probably never experience this game in quite the same magical form.
You should also know this is the first racing game since Bizarre Creations' Metropolis Street Racer that has compelled me to complete the lengthy campaign mode. This includes the clean, technical perfection of racers like Forza and Gran Turismo. They excel in their realism. Problem is, they aren't FUN. (Fan flames at jevangelho@gmail.com)
Bullet points, pros and cons, and carefully crafted criticisms are getting thrown out the window. Let's discover what makes DiRT 2 tons of fun. In a word, everything.
For your inner thrill seeker, Dirt 2 instills a wonderful feeling of barely being in control. Slowing and counter-steering just enough to slide through that hairpin right turn without plummeting off a cliff is simultaneously breathtaking and nerve-wracking. Conversely, speeding through the narrow, slippery jungles of Croatia against a pack of seven smack-talking professionals, barely getting through each turn without a game-ending collision? Pure gaming ecstasy.
Do-Overs: A Teaching Tool
If you're unlucky, GriD's flashback system makes a return in DiRT 2, allowing you to literally rewind the race about 10 seconds to correct a fatal mistake. Simulation junkies will tell you that's cheating, but it teaches you to learn the nuances of each track and anticipate upcoming turns, especially since certain tracks – particular the technical Rally tracks – have intensely challenging sections. Flashbacks are limited depending on your difficulty, so I prefer to think of them as a teaching tool rather than a cheat system.
Speaking of difficulty, it's refreshingly open-ended. You'll be rewarded with a sliding scale of Experience Points (your driver levels up RPG style, unlocking events, liveries, and various toys) and cold hard cash based on how much you push yourself. I played under Casual for the first few hours until I adapted to the (thankfully) unique handling of each vehicle. When I landed podium finishes consistently, I cranked it up to Serious and was met with a difficult – but never impossible – level of challenge. And because the game design rewards experience rather than just 1st place finishes, your progression through the career mode is based on your commitment, not your skill.
Audio Ecstasy
Besides the spot-on handling (I've never skidded around in an MG Metro 6R4, but I'm certain this is exactly how it would feel), excellent frame rate (MUCH improved since the original DiRT), breathtaking graphics and environments, sexy presentation and a veritable ton of race types, the audio deserves an enthusiastic nod of approval.
The generally solid pop-punk-rock soundtrack keeps your adrenalin pegged between sessions, and the ambient sounds of the event you're parked at serve to continuously pull you into the world of DiRT 2. Music is absent during drive time, if only to showcase the lifelike engine roars, cheering crowd, shattering glass, and the oddly satisfying crunch of rubber sliding across gravel. Playful chatter amongst your teammates and rivals only adds to the realism and thankfully avoids repetition for the most part. The audio simply transports you into the driver's seat.
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The Finish Line
Really, a 'review' can't adequately convey just how much there is to experience here. You keep walking away with an overwhelming need to jump right back in which is the biggest compliment you can pay a game within a typically repetitive genre like racing. You also get the sense that Codemasters didn't need to put this much effort and polish into the mix, but they were creating their swan song. This isn't merely a great racing game, it's a digital masterpiece. I rarely find a game faultless, but DiRT 2 is worth twice it's retail value and deserves a permanent spot in your gaming collection, even if you hold a passing interest in racing.
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