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DiRT 2
DiRT 2 is a championship title.
September 28, 2009 | 10:19 AM PSTKombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What the Game's About
DiRT 2 is the continuation of the popular off-road racing franchise. While Colin McRae's name might no longer be on the front of the box, his name lives on through the game and how it is presented. The presentation always pushes the limits and is in pursuit of constant adrenaline. You race in more than 100 events ranging from locals as familiar as LA to exotic places like Rainforests. You race alongside big names in racing like Travis Pastrana and Ken Block as you make a name for yourself in the main, World Tour mode that will put you through the paces with all sorts of races, features and modes.
What's Hot
The devil-may-care attitude of the rally drivers comes across fantastically well. The X Games backdrop and extreme nature are wonderfully recreated on the PS3 and 360 as you roll around in the dirt with insanely powerful vehicles. The style matching the attitude, without over doing it, is a great part of the game as it conveys a sense you are apart of the sport rather than sitting on the sidelines being a passive participant. Along with the style, the visual element is strong. The cars are faithfully recreated in DiRT 2, until they are drug through the mud and sport impressive car damage when you slam into opponents and walls. At that point, the game looks even better as bumpers dangle on by a thread and your ride is covered in a dull shine from all the dust. The camera work gives an intensity that is very welcome. The screen will jar when you make painful crunches against the wall or opponents.
DiRT 2 barrows many ideas from another one of their racing game, GRID, and enhances them with the all important polish and production value. To add variety, this isn't just a rally based game any more. Now there are land rushes and other off-road racing styles to conquer. To ease you into the game and the new modes you encounter, you can adjust the difficulty with the only penalty being you don't make as much money to purchase new in-game cars. Since most of the racing happens off the pavement, it will take some skill and finesse to properly compete in competitions. Once you become comfortable with strategic breaking you'll start knocking out races one-by-one. The real test of skill is seeing if you can claim first place in all the races. The single-player is one that will keep you busy but that is just the beginning with a more aggressive approach to the smoothed out online system compared to the last DiRT effort.
DiRT 2, in total, is an amazing piece of software. The racing mechanics find the nice medium between sim and arcade as you whip around corners at insane speeds. The level of spit and polish that went into creating this game top to bottom is really incredible and pushes the already lofty expectations for the franchise further for any future iterations.
What's Not
As far as criticism goes, DiRT 2 has it easy. The core game is so well tuned that the only faults are design choices, no technical problems to speak of.
DiRT 2 trips over its own style in a few spots. The main menu is something that is eye pleasing. You are in a "first person" mode where you select all your options, "walking" to different parts of your campsite. There is a lot of charm and personality associated with it but from a usability standpoint, it's more flashy than functional. A menu tree might not be exciting but it is standard for a boring reason, to get to the options you want quickly and efficiently. The other area is the voice work during the racing. The few choice sound bytes from the computer opponents are nice the first time, okay the second and annoying by the third. More spoken lines or variety would have smoothed out the audio.
There is a scatter-shot approach on the modes. There isn't a primary focus on the rally racing, which you would assume for a game with it on the box art. You race dune buggies and trucks in addition to the rally cars. With so the different classes to race in, you'll feel shortchanged in the rally racing department even though the game is packed full of polished gameplay and variety. The variety helps more than it hurts, however, it just would have been nice to see more of what the series is renowned for.
Final Word
Truth be told, DiRT 2 is a lot like GRID. And that is perfectly acceptable. The off-road action and polished gameplay are enough to make this a real winner for racing fans. DiRT 2 walks the fine line between simulation and arcade racing with a great acrobatic routine that keeps each style in a harmonious balance that is fueled by adrenaline and high-octane gasoline. With the most polish and highest production values yet, DiRT 2 should be taken out for a test drive by everyone.
What the Game's About
DiRT 2 is the continuation of the popular off-road racing franchise. While Colin McRae's name might no longer be on the front of the box, his name lives on through the game and how it is presented. The presentation always pushes the limits and is in pursuit of constant adrenaline. You race in more than 100 events ranging from locals as familiar as LA to exotic places like Rainforests. You race alongside big names in racing like Travis Pastrana and Ken Block as you make a name for yourself in the main, World Tour mode that will put you through the paces with all sorts of races, features and modes.
What's Hot
The devil-may-care attitude of the rally drivers comes across fantastically well. The X Games backdrop and extreme nature are wonderfully recreated on the PS3 and 360 as you roll around in the dirt with insanely powerful vehicles. The style matching the attitude, without over doing it, is a great part of the game as it conveys a sense you are apart of the sport rather than sitting on the sidelines being a passive participant. Along with the style, the visual element is strong. The cars are faithfully recreated in DiRT 2, until they are drug through the mud and sport impressive car damage when you slam into opponents and walls. At that point, the game looks even better as bumpers dangle on by a thread and your ride is covered in a dull shine from all the dust. The camera work gives an intensity that is very welcome. The screen will jar when you make painful crunches against the wall or opponents.
DiRT 2 barrows many ideas from another one of their racing game, GRID, and enhances them with the all important polish and production value. To add variety, this isn't just a rally based game any more. Now there are land rushes and other off-road racing styles to conquer. To ease you into the game and the new modes you encounter, you can adjust the difficulty with the only penalty being you don't make as much money to purchase new in-game cars. Since most of the racing happens off the pavement, it will take some skill and finesse to properly compete in competitions. Once you become comfortable with strategic breaking you'll start knocking out races one-by-one. The real test of skill is seeing if you can claim first place in all the races. The single-player is one that will keep you busy but that is just the beginning with a more aggressive approach to the smoothed out online system compared to the last DiRT effort.
DiRT 2, in total, is an amazing piece of software. The racing mechanics find the nice medium between sim and arcade as you whip around corners at insane speeds. The level of spit and polish that went into creating this game top to bottom is really incredible and pushes the already lofty expectations for the franchise further for any future iterations.
What's Not
As far as criticism goes, DiRT 2 has it easy. The core game is so well tuned that the only faults are design choices, no technical problems to speak of.
DiRT 2 trips over its own style in a few spots. The main menu is something that is eye pleasing. You are in a "first person" mode where you select all your options, "walking" to different parts of your campsite. There is a lot of charm and personality associated with it but from a usability standpoint, it's more flashy than functional. A menu tree might not be exciting but it is standard for a boring reason, to get to the options you want quickly and efficiently. The other area is the voice work during the racing. The few choice sound bytes from the computer opponents are nice the first time, okay the second and annoying by the third. More spoken lines or variety would have smoothed out the audio.
There is a scatter-shot approach on the modes. There isn't a primary focus on the rally racing, which you would assume for a game with it on the box art. You race dune buggies and trucks in addition to the rally cars. With so the different classes to race in, you'll feel shortchanged in the rally racing department even though the game is packed full of polished gameplay and variety. The variety helps more than it hurts, however, it just would have been nice to see more of what the series is renowned for.
Final Word
Truth be told, DiRT 2 is a lot like GRID. And that is perfectly acceptable. The off-road action and polished gameplay are enough to make this a real winner for racing fans. DiRT 2 walks the fine line between simulation and arcade racing with a great acrobatic routine that keeps each style in a harmonious balance that is fueled by adrenaline and high-octane gasoline. With the most polish and highest production values yet, DiRT 2 should be taken out for a test drive by everyone.
November 20, 2009
