Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More edge of your seat thrills from Codemasters., 21 Jun 2007
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
It seems good driving games on the 360 are like buses. We wait ages for one and then we get two in quick succession. One week it was Forza 2 and a week later we get Colin McRae Dirt.
Fans of the previous McRae games will not be disappointed. The game play is the usual face paced, driving on the edge your seat excitement that fans have come to expect. Graphically the game is jaw dropping. To say it is the best looking driving game on the 360 is a serious understatement. I believe it is one the best looking games of any genre available on the 360. The level of detail has to be seen to be believed. Even in the multi-car races there is not much of a drop in quality when compared to the single car rally stages.
The biggest gripe with the game is the Americanisation of it. I have nothing against the Americans but hearing an American accent giving the pace notes and then shouting "yeah dude you won the race" at the end of most races is not what we would expect from a McRae game. Why the developers did not use Nicky Grist again is anyone's guess.
A quick mention must go to the menu system which is the best I have ever seen. Now I know this seems overly geeky, and that a menu is not normally mentioned in a review, but this particular one is great. It seems to "float" in the air and when moving from one sub menu to another it just looks brilliant and really adds to the excitement of the whole experience.
Dirt offers a vastly different, but no less rewarding experience to Forza 2, and it would be impossible to say which is best. If you have got the cash then I would recommend both but if I was forced at gunpoint to choose a winner then I would have to go with Dirt., no Forza 2, no Dirt, no Forza 2.........oh I can't decide, I guess Ill just take that bullet!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A lot of fun, but slightly flawed., 25 Jun 2007
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
I have been following this release with eager anticipation and having got my hands on the game last week, I was looking forward to an extremely solid addition to the Mcrae series. What I actually received was not quite as expected; it's a great looking game, it's long, the difficulty levels are just right, the menus are out of this world and the variety of events is quite astounding, but there are a few things that take away from that perfect score.
One important note that I will deal with initially is the fact that the game has become more arcade orientated, and away from the sim feel of the previous games. Oddly though, this seems to have happened in only a couple of areas, braking and how the car appears to handle from the rear view. One thing I'm still trying to get used to is the arcade style brakes - i.e. 60MPH to 0 in about 10 yards on gravel. This is a massive change from previous games, and will take you a while to get used to. Once you have though, you'll adapt your driving style and realise you can be more aggressive than previously; leave it too late, and you will lock up and fly off into the nearest tree.
Although some have mentioned the "floating" feel of the cars, this does seem to be a problem with the "chase" view behind the car. It's hard to describe, but it almost feels as though the car is pivoting from the incorrect point, and it reminds me more of the V-Rally style of play. When using the quite fantastic in car views of helmet cam or the traditional steering cam, it is as intense and realistic as it has always been, barring the brakes. The cars do seem to bite less on the surface, but even though you would expect this to take away from the enjoyment of the game, it seems to me that after a few more hours of playing, the developers have actually nailed the characteristics of the cars pretty well. Understeer is now more marked in FWD for example than it had been previously.
Away from the slightly more negative aspects, the game really excells in many areas. I've found that the difficulty settings are top notch - each race on Career (and there are many of them) can be raced at 5 different levels, from Rookie to Pro, with prize money available according to the difficulty level. With this, you can purchase new cars and liveries, the ranges of which have been expanded exponentially from previous games. This is a hugely welcome addition and with 46 cars to choose from, all handling, looking and sounding different, you do have an incentive to gain those credits.
In Pro mode, as an experienced racing game fanatic, I am pleased to say that this really does represent a stiff challenge. I find on most point to point rally events, you have to put a near perfect run together to win by a matter of 2-3 seconds. The tweaks you can make to the set up do have a marked effect on how the car handles, and will help beat some of the Pro times more easily, but you will often find that the margin of victory is very tight, and almost impossible to come by without tweaks on many of the group racing events, or direct competition, such as crossover (a la rally special stages).
The damage modelling is absolutely superb, and again varies with difficulty level in terms of how terminal clipping that rock will be for your car. Get it slightly wrong, and you'll still have the satisfying barrel roll and a crumpled mess to drive. Smashed glass, twisted metal are all superbly rendered along with the rest of the games' stunning visuals.
The variety of events is huge, and the tracks vary in length and difficulty, form the twisting tarmac of Corsica, to the deserts of Australia as ever in the Mcrae games. The visuals are truly a delight to behold, and unlike any other game before it, I've found myself watching several of my replays in awe of the detail. With variety of events and tracks, along with the difficulty, the game should hold lasting appeal for many. The pacing is good, and career mode is varied enough to keep it interesting and there's always the option to take on single events or championships seperately.
However, there are a couple of points which have taken away the authentic feel of the Mcrae series. The first is the most annoying addition - one mentioned before in many reviews - and this is the addition of X-Games Travis Pastrana and his American pals in the co-driver seat. Initially, you do get the inane end race/menu quotes "We were the best because we were the fastest" and "Wow dude we won, I'm soooo stoked" (which have to be laughed at because they're so ridiculous) however these can be largely ignored as they don't break the game.
What does annoy me is the Americanisation of the co-driver. This really is something that has frustrated me - I don't personally feel that the Colin Mcrae brand should be on here at all, as the only appearance he gets is by name as one of the opposition in some of the rally events. Poor old Nicky Grist must be wondering what he did to deserve being cast out - perhaps he knew more about it than we did!
I also find the truck racing/buggies etc a little gimmicky, but they are implemented better than any other attempt of its type. That's a matter of personal preference. I have heard that the online experience is also limited, with a lack of voice comm and no way to see other players, but I am not taking it inot account in the review as I have not experienced this first hand.
Despite these negatives, there's just something that makes me keep coming back - it's a really enjoyable game - hard enough to keep it interesting; fun so that you can pick it up and have a blast at any time. I know some elements are missing from your true sim experience, but the variety of events, stunning visuals and challenge keep me coming back for more.
In summary then:
+ Stunning visuals
+ Great variety of tracks, events and cars
+ Impeccable damage modelling
+ Varied difficulty
+ Replayability
- Slightly more arcade like than previous installments
- Americanisation of the co-driver/commentary
Overall, not perfect, but a whole heap of fun!
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unfinished, 19 Jun 2007
Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars
If you were repairing a rally car, you wouldn't just polish up the paintwork and drive off without checking under the bonnet, but Codemasters have been doing that with the Colin Mcrae series for years. So here's the shiniest title yet, given an extra spritz of "new car" smell. Try shifting into second gear, though, and the problems start to surface.
The menu system for the game is beautifully designed, the rally cars in this game look great, the graphics are pretty impressive and there is some diversification in the sports on offer that will remind rally enthusiasts of the Rallisport Challenge games. Uphill truck racing, for example, is a blast, but since there's only one uphill track you won't get the chance to do much of it. Still, variety is the spice of life and what's here adds to the sparkle.
Unfortunately, the good news more or less ends there. There's no night driving, no snow driving, no rain or other weather effects, no standing water to drive through and there are too few tracks. The 100-event pyramid that constitutes Career Mode actually features many of the same tracks over and over again. Worse, some of the new motorsports have awful handling and dramatic drops in frame rate when there are multiple cars on the same track. Oh, and the online multiplayer (which could have been a lot of fun had it featured trucks and buggies) is severely limited and looks like an afterthought.
The premature and lamented death of McRae means that this game is presumably likely to be the last in the series; if so, it is a poor testament to his remarkable career. I can't imagine, for example, that he would ever have driven around a track with the co-driver here, whose ludicrous and oft-repeated cries of victory (e.g. "We were the best because we were the fastest!") will have most players grinding their teeth after a few minutes. The game isn't awful (you'll spend the first couple of hours gawping at the graphics and the rally mode is still a lot of fun) but it's poorly thought-out, and adds nothing of real value to the formula.
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