DiRT 2 is the sequel to 2007’s DiRT from Codemasters. They are the king of racing titles with franchises like Colin McRae Rally, FUEL, and GRID; all of which never disappoint. The former game was acclaimed for its great graphics and gameplay but was criticized for it’s poor online implementation.  But now we are back in the racing seat getting ready to press on the gas pedal once again, will it be a thrilling ride once again or will it spin out?

The premise of the single player is generic and the story is sparse. You’re nobody making their way up from the ground. Throughout the tour, you’ll make friends with actual racers and they’ll chime in with words of encouragement but other than that, there is nothing. But nothing more is actually needed. You start off the game by picking your name and country of origin as well as picking a verbal name which they will actually say. Most common names are covered but if yours is not there or you dislike it, you can always opt for a nickname. From there you’re taken to the event where your RV and cars are at. This is the menu of the game. You sort of walk around and select the different main options of the game and it works beautifully and efficiently. What’s really neat is the RV will actually have subtle changes based upon what you unlock and races you win which adds another layer of immersion. You walk up to a world map to choose which race you’re going to do and where. Once you select the race you go outside and pick your car and then it fades into an old pictures and pulls out to show the world map and flies you to where you to where the race is going to be held. It shows you the race lineup and statistics and never feels like loading. Then it pans to an old photo of the location you’re going to be at and seamlessly flies into the level. It’s amazing and I wish more games would do it. When you start up the game each time, you’ll see the cover of EXPN magazine which will give statistics for you, your friends, and the DiRT2 community which feels great. You can check on the statistics of anyone quickly from inside the RV and try to beat them. Presentation touches like this really make the game jump up a notch and make you feel like you’re really in something immersive and special.

There are 8 game modes contained within the game. Raid, Rally Cross, and Land Rush are all variations on a typical circular track race with different twists. Gate Crasher, Rally, and Trailblazers are all linear tracks that have their own quirks as well, with gate crasher being the most different because depending on crashing into gates rather than just racing from point A to B. Domination and Last Man Standing are the fun, unique modes. In domination the track is cut up into sections and you race for the fastest time on each section rather than the track as a whole. Win the most, win the match. Last Man Standing basically eliminate the last person in the match every 20 seconds which leads to some tense, but fun moments when you’re trying to not get out as the counter ticks down. Some of the races chosen will just have one race but a few will have multiple races, especially the X Games Competition which will have a quarter, semi, and final race. Sometimes they will be across different modes and utilize different vehicles. You will be racing all over the world in locations like California, Japan, Malaysia, Croatia, and many others. Each one has its own distinct feeling and look and you may start to play favorites and replaying your favorite races.

Racing is of course the heart and soul of this title. DiRT 2 is an off-road racing game that strikes a nice middle ground between hardcore and casual. You will not be spending hours fine-tuning your cars and making money for top tier suspensions. Instead you will be racing across a multitude of modes, making money, buying cars, and unlocking cosmetic items. On the other hand you’re going to have some nice physics that while accessible to a newbie, can make you lose a match in an instant if you don’t respect it, especially when transitioning from dirt to concrete. But depending on which difficulty you select, you will be able to rewind the game a certain amount of times which is awesome. It’s a big risk/reward system. Higher difficulty will give you more money and more experience to rank up but you’ll lose rewinds. Plus during the race, using a rewind will lower your experience down even more so you must pick and choose when to use them. During races you can damage your car but it doesn’t affect the cars performance at all which will please and disappoint certain people. There is no supercar that is the only effective one to use. Depending on how you drive you’ll always have a couple to pick from for each race that’ll get the job done and give you a chance to win. Sometimes the game can be mean, totaling your car when you run into a small bush when running into the railing is easily forgiven. Especially in the desert areas can hurt if you go slightly off the track and hit a hidden rock in the foliage. It all pushes you to try to stay on the track though but sometimes it’s a little hard depending on which views you like to play in. But overall the game the game is a lot of fun and when you mess up, you know why and you can immediately correct it. Plus the game system is very accessible to newcomers which let people who wouldn’t dream of playing a racer thoroughly enjoy it.

All the great modes you’ve enjoyed from the single player campaign are seamlessly integrated into the online experience with up to 8 players. Instead of a big menu, you simply travel to the multiplayer section in your RV and jump online in just a couple screens. Your options are System Link, Xbox Live, and My Party. The one noticeable absence is local play, which sucks for a game this good. Other titles may get a slide because they corner out the casuals or aren’t good enough but when you play this title, it just screams to be played sitting on a couch with 3 other friends. You still have system link but that’s significantly harder to get together, especially when it’s only one per box.  Xbox Live is obviously for online play. Your choices in here will be Pro Tour or Jam Session. Pro Tour and Jam Session are akin to ranked and unranked respectively. Pro Tour will automatically select which type of cars and which level you’ll play but you’ll have an option between three broad game mode playlists. Jam Session sets you free to choose your own path and let’s to pick all the little details.

Online is a lot of fun. In addition to ranking up by winning races, the mission structure from single player is here too giving you bonus points for mini-achievements. The traditional modes work great between if you want to see who can race the fastest or if you want to get a little more physical. Plus the domination and last man standing races are awesome. These are the ones you’ll miss not being able to play on the couch with a bunch of friends. The presentation that is so well done from single player is here as well and keeps the games coming fast and furious, since a lot of stuff is taken care of during loading. You can join in-progress which means you’ll never be in a room by yourself but you might have to wait a minute or two for the match to end. Plus instead of being kicked out after every match, you can opt to stick together and just keep racing. The best part is you’ll never feel cheated out of a win, you’ll always be able to chose their car next time and know that they haven’t spent days tuning their car for a specific track. Everyone has a chance and that’s why the game is so accessible and fun.

The graphics are great. You travel around the world and each locale has its own unique look and feel. As you race around the tracks, your pristine looking vehicle will get coated with a thick layer of dirt as its tires tear into the dirt. When you crash, pieces will fly off and still be there when you pass around for the second time. The cars are highly detailed and look amazing both new and beat up. While you can’t paint them, you can select from several different styles which can set you apart online. The in-car view is decent; it’s not the most detailed but gets the job done. They do add some nice extra effects for if you get hit hard it will blur and some will get water on the windshield when you splash into water. The bumper cam can become troublesome when you get into levels with more vegetation and you can’t stay on the road because your view can be obscured pretty easily. But that is a testament to how lush and detailed the levels have been made. The only real issues are that the weather is always perfect and when looking off in the backgrounds you can tell that it’s not the most detailed but chances are you won’t be checking that out in a fast and furious race.  Off the track at your base camp is really nice. You can select a car and view it in its holding pen or go into your RV. The RV is set up just like a real person lives there full of little details.  The people walking outside are a little rough looking but it adds just enough to make you feel like this is a real breathing place and you’re really there. Overall this game has a high degree of immersion on and off the track, plus it just looks darn good.

Cars careen around the tracks sounding beautifully. Riding on different surfaces and in different cars change the sounds considerably and sound great. When you crash into other objects, they sound fantastic and meaty. During single player races, your fellow competitors will chime out with some dialogue from time to time. Back at your RV after races they will give you words of encouragement. The transition from the game to loading is butter smooth with the music consistently playing which is awesome. At the RV the music will sound like its being played far in the background and will have a nice muffled sound which adds realism. Unfortunately certain iconic sounding songs make the games soft rock playlist feel small and make you wish there was a larger soundtrack.  Overall the core elements are done marvelously and the chatter on the radio is a nice pleasant surprise.

DiRT 2 doesn’t particularly do anything original but what it does is takes elements of other racers and polishes them to a nice shine and adds an extra layer of polish and presentation on top. The game strikes a nice medium between hardcore and casual off-road racing which leads to an impressive accessibility while still having some challenging elements. You can rewind if you make a mistake or take a big risk for huge gains. There are no fine tuning cars but it makes the game feel more balanced online so it feels like you always have a chance, as long as you don’t mess up. The graphics look great but the weather is always perfect and distant backgrounds aren’t the most detailed. Sound is awesome as well but the musical playlist seems to be pretty short. What ties the entire game together is an impressive presentation that does away with a large amount of the menus in favor of a base camp that holds your RV and cars while on tour. The game smoothly transitions from a map in your trailer to loading and eventually into the real game. And during loading, you will get the race lineup, where you’re going to race at, and tons of statistics which keeps the game fast and makes loading not seem like such.  If you’re into racers at all, you owe it to yourself to check out DiRT2. Whether you like racing or just getting into it, the great gameplay and the fantastic presentation won’t let you down.

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