DiRT 2 (PS3) Preview
Posted by Mark Salmela on 08.21.2009
Hands-On: 411’s Mark Salmela goes hands-on with the European demo of DiRT 2.
Back in 2007 Codemasters released the first "next-gen" Colin McRae racing game titled "DiRT". Well it's been nearly 2 years but Codemasters is back with the official sequel to DiRT, simply named DiRT 2.
The first thing to note about the new game is the presentation. I was a big fan of the menu system and presentation in their previous 2 games DiRT and GRID, but DiRT 2 easily tops them both. Gone are the futuristic menu styles and in their place are gritty but colorful menus that make you feel as if you're an actual off-road racer. The menu options are cleverly inserted into objects such as racing magazines to make it feel as if you're an actual person walking around backstage at a racing event. Travis Pastrana is the official announcer to DiRT 2 and can be heard explaining the game types as well as giving you hints and tips throughout the races.
In the demo there are two different types of races. The first is a traditional race with actual laps set in Baja, California. There are a total of 8 racers including yourself and your only option is to drive a Stuka TT Trophy Truck. It's a pretty low end truck in terms of acceleration and handling but it gets the job done. The course itself looks awesome. There are giant cruise ships in the background and there is a lot of detail hidden throughout the course. Sure the majority of the course is just brown dirt but it looks awesome. Dirt is kicked all across the screen as players drive by and it looks a lot like the original CG Motorstorm trailer from E3 2005.
One thing to note in Baja is that there are a lot of puddles hidden throughout the track, and while it may not seem like much they can really make your car spin out. So be careful, what may seem like a harmless 6 inch puddle can send you tail whipping all over the track and really throw you off your game.
Another thing to note is the Flashback tool, which is making its return from Codemasters previous games. Get in a game ending crash? Simply hit the select button and you'll gain access to your previous 10 seconds or so of driving where you'll be able to restart the race from that given point in time. You can only do it a few times a race, but it does save gamers a lot of frustration when they make a single mistake that could end up costing them the race.
The other type of race is called Trailblazer and is a long and narrow stretch of land where the goal isn't necessarily to pass every car you see, but rather beat their previously established times. This mode was also seen in DiRT 1 and GRID, and while not as fun as the traditional type of race, it does make for some great crashes. With such a narrow strip of land to race on, your car is much more likely to go crashing into a barricade or go flying off of a jump into a pile of giant rocks. The damage system returns from DiRT 1 and GRID, and it looks awesome. If you're not a good driver be prepared to turn your sexy cars into compact boxes of scrap metal. In the demo the second race is set in Morocco and allows you to drive a Mitsubishi Eclipse GT.
Overall DiRT 2 is shaping up to be Codemasters best racing game to date. The single player will feature over 100 events and the multiplayer will allow for up to 8 people to gather in a single race. DiRT 2 will be launching on September 8th for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, DS, PSP, and PC.
