Colin McRae: DiRT 2

Preview from Yug - Thursday, 30 July 2009 @ 11:43am

The posthumous rally game.

Codemasters as a publisher have quite a pedigree of racing game franchises under their belt, dating right back to Micro Machines all the way up to the more recent TOCA, Race Driver and Colin McRae.

Mind you, it must be hard to continue to come up with different and interesting ideas for racing franchises, which probably explains why so the EA ones tend to go underground and undercover. I mean honestly, how many different ways can you create the same driving experience on the same tracks using the same hardware?

Which explains the ‘Dirt’ direction for the Colin McRae franchise, attempting to mix up the numerical sequel system and imply a focus on more off road events as opposed to the tarmac based realistic championship tournaments. And as expected, each version looks prettier, has more impressive damage models, and more realistic car physics.

Zoom zoom zoom

Since Colin McRae passed away, some burning questions remain regarding his involvement in the game featuring his namesake. Yes, the game will feature the late Colin McRae, including a Colin McRae Tribute Cup, and a whole bunch of subtle nods to the racer throughout the game – in fact the first car I’m given to race with is said to be one that Colin used to rally in.

The overall feel to the user interface is certainly a far cry from the staunch and slick presentation of the non-Dirt versions, this time giving you more a sense of living on the road out of a trailer that looks like it’s been inhabited by hippies and groupies. You choose your destinations from a worn and torn map as you travel around the world competing in various events that require various vehicles. Is this the first time baja events were in a Colin McRae game?

The menu stomping ground

The tracks I played were focused around – not surprisingly – dirt tracks, and included what seemed to be a fairly built up old industrial area against other drives, all the way to a fairly standard off-road time trial rally event. Because of the terrain, timing your slides and your turns out of them becomes the most important aspect of the game, and it’s really really really easy for the slightest nudge to completely fuck you up, without a hope of catching the lead. I’m surprised they didn’t implement the Race Driver Grid / Prince of Persia replay system that worked so well.

As for the Baja event, where you spend half the time in the air out of control anyway, it’s almost impossible to win without the assistance of luck.

"The first car I’m given to race with is said to be one that Colin used to rally in"


It might sound like I’m ramping up a negative rant, but truth be told I think it’s just been too long between drinks since I last played a rally game. I remember having this level of frustration with ALL rally games during the initial stages, and it wasn’t until I became familiar with the finer control points and learnt the subtleties of the maps that I felt a huge sense of achievement upon completing levels.

More time with the game is needed, and I’ll get that time along with everyone else when Dirt 2 is released early September.