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DiRT

Written by DM on Saturday, June 30 2007

Many off-road video game enthusiasts know that the Colin McRae series games have always taken a back seat to the more popular Rally racing franchises. Rallisport, Sega Rally, and even the rally portion of Gran Turismo have always seemed to prove more popular with most gamers. Why this is true is unclear, but it may have something to do with the year-by-year fluctuating quality of the Colin McRae games. While some years the Colin release is the belle of the bunch, some years it turns out to be a less-than-spectacular effort. On top of that, the Colin McRae games have always been geared towards the hardcore Rally racer, with technical jargon and excessive vehicle hardware tweaking making the title daunting and inaccessible to most casual gamers.

With DiRT, Codemasters took all the lessons learned from the previous years of Colin games, and heeded them while developing DiRT. The most important of these learned lessons being the “mass appeal and accessibility” factor. DiRT not only looks and plays great, but Codemasters has made the title accessible to even the most novice rally racer out there.

Let me take a break here and provide a brief overview of rally racing, for those who are unfamiliar with the sport. A rally race generally takes place along a stretch of dirt road, mountain trail, or highway that has been closed to the general public. The racing is mostly power sliding and navigating tight turns, most times with the help of a co-pilot who gives you a constant rundown of what turns and hills the course has in store just ahead. The vehicles used can vary greatly, but for the most part, the racers use modified small cars from makers Peugeot, Mitsubishi, Toyota, and Opel. The cars are not geared for power, but instead are tweaked for maneuverability, which is based on the track the race takes place on. In general, it is less hardcore and much more fun than regular racing, but it does take some getting used to.

The better rally games out there find a way to mix just the right amount of simulation and arcade aspects in order to keep the player on board. Rally racing, by its nature, is not a sport where there is much variety in the equipment or methods used. This makes programming rally games a challenge for developers who have to provide enough for the player to do both on and off the track – all the while making sure that the player is not so bogged down with technical aspects that they just say to hell with it altogether. Codemasters is able to achieve this balance perfectly with DiRT. For the casual player, the “pick up and play” factor is in full effect, and for those who enjoy a bit more of the sim experience, DiRT provides a multitude of vehicle tweaking options and difficulty levels, all adjustable on the fly.

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