DiRT 3

Some things just work, somethings were made to be.  Other things don’t sit too well and should never have been.  Rally games on consoles work, it’s a proven fact.  There is a huge market for driving games and especially rally games, although the genre has been a bit dry of late.  Loads of far out American “doods” who should have stayed on the beach being included in rally games, doesn’t sit too well.  Sadly that is what happened to Colin Mcrae DiRT 2, it was Americanised to the nth degree and took away from what the series was always about: rally driving.  Yes, Colin McRae Dirt had started the process but DiRT 2, slapped us in the face with a hot dog and smothered us with the stars and stripes.  It was still a really good game but was a step too far, so when I heard that DiRT 3 was going to be less Americanised I waited with bated breath.  The blurb on the box says, “Rally is back.  The most rally content in the series ever.”  A strong claim, and without the name of the late, great Colin McRae to fall back on, I hoped Codemasters would be able to deliver.

Thankfully, my fears were quashed: Codemasters and their exemplary EGO game engine have come up trumps and put me back into a state of rallying Nirvana.  Yes, the Americans are still here, and yes they still sound like they should be surfing the waves, but they have been toned down a good bit.  Although, at one point in the game I was asked by the faceless voice, “Who just kicked some rallycross butt? You did, that’s who!”  Gone is the paddock menu system from DiRT 2 in favour of a return to the floating menus of DiRT.  From here you can choose to embark on your career, multiplayer modes or single player modes.  The single player modes are either time trials or single races, great for getting in some practise, but it’s the career mode where you will spend most of your time, so it’s here where we’ll start.

The floating pyramids of the menus open up to show you what races and events you can compete in, do well and you earn points that then unlock other races and events.  Each pyramid represents a year in your career and contains around twenty events to works through.  During these events you get to drive a great selection of cars covering rally history.  From the Mini Coopers of the 60s to the Renault 5 Turbos of the 80s, all the way to the current WRC Ford and Citroën, the range is inspiring.  Also included to appease the American audience are trucks and buggies, nothing to do with rallying in my opinion but a nice distraction.  The visuals of the game are as sumptuous as always, with the landscapes and vistas looking stunning, the various weather effects convincing and the cars themselves looking like the real thing.  Of course the make or break in a driving game is the handling and once again, Codemasters have got it down to a fine art.  The cars feel both solid and nimble, it’s easy to chuck them round bends at speed and come out the other side looking like you know what you’re doing.  For rally game purists like myself, the handling is a dream with drifting and sliding being a cinch to pull off but there is a hidden depth that can turn a good time into a blisteringly quick time.  For non-rally game players, the handling may take some getting used to, but bang it on an easier setting and the assists will help you start to get the feel of things.  If you gradually turn off the assists as you progress, you will soon become competent enough to drive well, unaided.  The career mode takes you point to point racing, that is against others’ times but racing alone, the classic rally way of racing.  Rallycross, where you are on a lapped track with other competitors attempting to finish the set number of laps first.  Head to head where you race against one competitor on parallel tracks.  Landrush and trailblazer where you race the trucks and buggies against other competitors, and finally the new super duper mode, Gymkhana.

Gymkhana is basically a chance to tear around a large car-park area, littered with jumps and obstacles at your leisure.  The new golden child of rallying, American “dood”, Ken Block, guides you through this to get the most out of your car.  At first I was sceptical about the inclusion of this mode, but after a few challenges I was hooked.  It really does help you get the most out of your car and as much as it is about showboating, the input it gives you into advanced car control is brilliant.  When you finish your first career year the Gymkhana is opened up to play around in, but with the addition of missions (spin 20 times etc) it becomes seriously addictive.  At any point in the game you can pause what’s going on and edit a clip of what just happened and then upload it directly to your Youtube account for all to see.  The interface works great and the results on Youtube look polished and vibrant for all to see, a really nice touch.

Of course a driving game wouldn’t be complete without multiplayer and of course it’s here to play.  As before you can play any game mode against other people, either online or via split screen.  The online modes I tried out all work great with almost no lag at all, which is amazing when there is so much going on.  I also noticed that there was very little in the way of trash talk in the games I played, maybe this type of game doesn’t attract the trash talkers, but it was refreshing to play in comfort.  Not a trait of the game I know, but a nice side effect of it.