Codemasters releases DiRT 2 PC demo

By Ellie Gibson Published 2 December, 2009

Download it now to try out two events.

A playable demo has been released for the PC edition of forthcoming racer DiRT 2.

It lets you compete in two events from the game. In Trailblazer you'll hoon round a Moroccan track, complete with plenty of flat-out straights and hairpin bends, in the Mitsubishi Eclipse GT.

The Landrush race takes place at the Ensenada Port circuit in Baja California. You get to race seven other vehicles in the big fat West Coast Choppers Stuka TT.

DiRT 2 takes full advantage of DirectX 11 technology and so you can see this in action, the demo comes complete with a benchmarking mode.

Visit DiRT2game.com to find out where you can download the demo. The PC version for the full game is out on Friday. Console versions are already available - read our review for the lowdown.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (13) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • bad09 #1 2 years ago

    I thought in the world of rally vehicles were now called "rides". The awseome ride driver dude in the demo I tried on 360 said so.

    When's that proper WRC game out again?

    EDIT - no date on that WRC game yet :(
    Edited by 1 at 02/12/09 @ 09:06

  • Darren #2 2 years ago

    The demo runs great on my PC and from what I've seen of the DX11 additions from the HD YouTube videos, I'm not going to be missing out on much running the game in DX9 mode. At least I won't be losing 50% performance for the sake of a few hardly noticeable post processing effects. Certainly there's nothing there IMO that justifies the three month delay or need for a DX11 graphics card.

    That aside, graphically the game is excellent but apart from the higher resolution and framerate, the game doesn't look that much better than the superb Xbox 360 version I played in the summer (which is a testament to just how good that version is). Even on Ultra settings you can still see grass and bushes popping up mid-distance on the Morroco track which is a bit disappointing. Loading times seem long as well at 15 seconds-ish. Oddly, if you disable v-sync (yeah, right!) then the loading times are quick (around 5 seconds)! Go work that one out! :?

    Anyway, nice game. About time we PC owners got our hands on it! :)

  • oreillymj #3 2 years ago

    I can't figure out how bad09's comment had been modded down to -4, even though there was only 1 other comment in the thread at the time.

    How does that work?

    People who can't be arsed to comment, but ake offence at bad09's fairly tame post?????

  • bad09 #4 2 years ago

    @ oreillymj

    Probably some Codies staff upset a better rally game is on the way :)

  • IneptPercy #5 2 years ago

    If anything like the PC version of GRID it won't look massively better just a higher res and more AA, but I found the frame rate was so much better. The 360 version felt unplayable after playing the PC version for a while, I wouldn't say the 360 version was a slide show but it felt so clunky in comparison.

    Still waiting for my 5850 to get DX11, as mentioned it may not make a huge difference here. Its more the games built for DX11 which will take advantage of the new features.

  • Darren #6 2 years ago

    @IneptPercy - I agree with you about GRID's 60 fps framerate on the PC making a huge difference to the feel and handling of the game compared with the 30 fps consoles versions but oddly in DiRT 2, despite the demo running at 60 fps, it doesn't actually look any smoother nor does it handle any better than the 360 version from memory.

    If anything the controls with the wireless Xbox 360 controller actually feel MORE twitchy than I remember from the 360 version and the Baja race with the buggies still feels like you're driving a brick but that's obviously intentional as they're heavy and slow compared with cars.

    Still a bloody good game, mind.

  • IneptPercy #7 2 years ago

    I have the still on my 360 so will get the PC demo and see what the difference is. Sure my 4870 is more than enough for this.

  • smoison #8 2 years ago

    Bad09 is 100% right, this is not a rally game.

    This is a baja 'off road' arcade racer.

  • jambo74 #9 2 years ago

    Could not care less about Codemasters games after OFDR

  • davisorle #10 2 years ago

    I really dont care what you guys are talking about... If you try the demo with graphics maxxed out and you play and you think that it doesnt play and look great then you either are crazy or have no capable rig to play the game. One of those two...

    For those that like racing games dont firget to give it a try. Game is fun and visually great on the PC.

  • MaxHughes #11 2 years ago

    Does anyone know if the 2 "events" are the same ones as the 360 demo? I'd really like to get DiRT but the 2 events on the 360 don't quite justify a purchase...

  • Darren #12 2 years ago

    @MaxHughes - Yes, the PC demo has exactly the same two tracks as the 360 and PS3 demos.

  • TeaFiend #13 2 years ago

    It is not a rally game, it is a racing game that has a sizeable amount of rally content.