Dirt 3

After playing Dirt 2 for 30+ hours i was really looking forward to dirt 3. There wasn't much hype so i wasn't sure what to make of it but after receiving it yesterday and having played it now for 4 hours i am very impressed. First to start off with the gameplay:

GAMEPLAY: 9.5/10

The handling of the cars are solid and alot better than other titles this year e.g. shift 2. The variety of events, from rally to Gymkhana, are a lot of fun. I am very pleased that it has focused alot on the rally events as that was after all the place where Colin Mcrae became a household name. From dirt tracks to snow tracks the game is consistent in handling and the overall fun of each type of event. The only thing i can criticise is the limited amount of cars but the racing element overshadows this.

GRAPHICS: 9/10

From sunset to snow flurries, Dirt 3 looks beatiful. The dirt getting lifted from the road while you are flying down the road at top speed looks even better than it did on Dirt 2. The background detail e.g. buildings, look just as good as they do on any other modern racer and the cockpit looks fantastic. While you are in cockpit view the environment looks beatiful and it looked that good I almost crashed on my first race taking in the scenery.

SOUND: 9/10

Voice acting very clear and easy to understand just like previous Dirt titles. However it does get boring after a while but you will probably be too gripped by the racing to even pay attention. Details like the crunching of packed snow and skidding onto tarmac sound solid and the sound of the engines on different cars is very well executed.

LENGTH: 9/10

The tour mode provides an excellent amount of events i'd guess it will probably last about 10-12 hours and after you have completed the tour mode the multiplayer should keep you hooked as flying through tracks to beat your friends and setting new time records will surely keep you playing for the future.

GAMEPLAY: 9.5
GRAPHICS: 9.0
SOUND: 9.0
LENGTH: 9.0

OVERALL: 9.5

Great graphics, sound, and control of the car. Nice to see more rallying in this Dirt series. Overall an enjoyable game, BUT!, Dirt 3 has missed many opportunities to being a AAA rally game. Codemasters claim 60% is rally. The problem is a large majority of the tracks are less then 2mins long, with almost half in snowy conditions - this becomes very tedious. The loading screens feel longer then the actual races!!. Due to this you end up feeling your playing mini sections of one large circuit, rather then, a full course of the whole rally circuit. Many well known tracks from around the world are also missing.

Dirt 3 STILL refuses to let go of Americanism and X-Sports; thats still annoying as ever!!! WHY! because it feels as if Dirt 3 is trying to please the Tony Hawks fans by stripping away the deeper rules, customization, race immersion of what rallying is about. Simply to appeal to the arcade 'RESPECT' gaming crowd. The whole rallying experience has been simplified and stripped compared from previous deeper gameplay mechanics from CMR 1&2 on XBOX1, eg: Limited-time preparation getting your car ready for next race by repairing the damage you caused from previous rally race, looking forecast for weather and condition on track to set-up car for next race, season tables, longer tracks, more realistic damage condition to car performance..etc. Dirt 3 misses many important rally features inc the necessity car customization, as it is rarely needed now, as Dirt 3 default setting does everything for you!. Car damage that effects the car is lessoned and is more eye-candy rather then mechanical. This making driving less skill based and more carefree with less worry damaging the car (no tyre wear or damage, engine/gear damage really takes a lot of beating to effect the car, lights never damage, don't have to worry about fixing you car for next race!). All this takes away the feeling of pushing the risk/reward play involved in rally driving. The whole feeling of being a rally driver has been over casualized - you're rallying one minute then doing X-Sports the next!. You don't feel part of a team that needs to succeed, or feel the need to care for the car you drive. Cars are also to easily available and with no threat of getting thrown out the tournament due to carelessly damaging your car. The menu screens are again too BLING for my liking.

Dirt 3 while less Americanized (thankfully!) then Dirt 2. It still misses the essence, excitment, danger of what rally is about. It feels it's been stripped back from previous CM-R games and seems to be drifting more towards trying to be everything by adding silly X-sports, and less about proper real rally, with proper racing conditions. I just hope upcoming FIA Championship Rally will bring a proper deeper rally game, rather then a bit of everything game and Americanism.

So I'll start by saying I was a massive fan of Dirt 2. Unlike almost every other racing game I have played, it didn't become unplayable as you rose through the ranks and the cars got faster. The tracks didn't become so difficult to navigate you couldn't enjoy them, and the AI remained fair and balanced throughout. Dirt 2 is one of only two games I have achieved a Platinum trophy on. I loved it through and through.

So my hopes for Dirt 3 were huge. I wanted more of everything and to have everything finessed to perfection. Codies have such pedigree with games I was almost drooling with anticipation!

Enter Dirt 3, then, after what seems like an eternity of waiting. I plug in my DFGT wheel and steady myself...

GRAPHICS: They're nothing short of astounding. Not just because they look pretty - and my goodness they look pretty - but because everything that should collapse when you drive into it collapses. Water flows and splashed like real water, snow like real snow. The cars take damage so realistically it puts all other racers to shame and the whole look of the game is just sublime. I have to mention the lighting in this game too, as they've turned everything down to a more realistic level, giving each track its own personality. The overcast skies of Finland and the burning red sunsets of Kenya. It's almost enough to put you off as you barrel down a narrow, winding road at 120mph.

HANDLING: So I played Dirt 2 to death, I've learned a lot. I crank Dirt 3 up to Advanced where all assists are off and the AI has one thing on its mind... winning. I tried this in other racers (notably NFS: Shift) and laughed at how poorly the cars handled and how aggressive the AI became. No so in Dirt 3. These are professional rally cars and they handle wonderfully with or without assists. The assists are there if you need them, but they're not there to fix poor handling issues. The cars in Dirt 3 are fast, agile and above all predictable. My first race I came last. Second attempt, last again. Then sixth. Then fourth. Then after some effort, first place. Each time I felt I wasn't turning early enough, or late enough, or I didn't approach the corner properly, braked too hard or too late - basically it was my fault I wasn't finishing in first place, not the car's. As I practised I better understood the weight of the car, how it reacted when I threw it into reverse lock, accelerating out of trouble. It's absolutely wonderfull straight out of the box. I haven't needed to changed the wheel options at all.

PRESENTATION: I loved Dirt 2's presentation so I'm a little sad to see a menu system more like GRID than Dirt 2. Still, it has all the bells and whistles and is very easy to navigate. Back are the nicknames and first names (if you have a common name it will call you by name "Hello Matt"). The voice acting is a little dry, but it's nice to have and keeps everything flowing together nicely.

Right, that's enough. There's so much more I could say about this game, but these are the important things for me. Handling and looks. It scores a solid 10/10 for both from me. I can't wait to get back behind the wheel.