Colin McRae and DiRT to return

By Robert Purchese Published 20 November, 2008

Sequel to pay tribute to the late race driver.

Codemasters will be resurrecting the Colin McRae brand with a sequel to rally racer DiRT next year.

The famed driver lost his life in a helicopter accident last September, and Codemasters has come to an agreement with the McRae family to continue using the name in tribute.

"He could do things with a car that no one else would and that's where we're taking the series with new events at the extreme edge of rally and autosport. It will be a great tribute to an incredible champion," said Gavin Raeburn, senior producer of the game.

Colin McRae: DiRT 2 will arrive on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, as well as on Wii, PSP and DS.

The first set of platforms will benefit from the full grunt of the third generation EGO engine under the hood; better physics, graphics, mud, damage, and maybe animals that walk across the road so we can run over it and break its legs off.

Aggression and pace are key, with the most powerful cars from DiRT 1 to be available from the outset. These will be accompanied by wide-ranging event and location types; from single-car races in jungles to multi-vehicle brawls in stadiums.

Topping that all off will be a full suite of online options, which includes head-to-head as well as some community stuff.

Racing games are what Codemasters does best, and with the SEGA Racing Studio back under the publisher's control, Colin McRae: DiRT 2 should definitely be worth keeping an eye on.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (17) Latest comment 3 years ago

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

  • Hangman #1 3 years ago

    loved the first game.
    akll they need to do is put in more weather options and i'l be happy. being unable to choose what time of day and the severity of the weather is what killed the replay value for me.

  • Beano #2 3 years ago

    DIRT sucked sweaty donkey balls. Wish Codemasters would make a proper rally game again!

  • potatoes #3 3 years ago

    in my humble opinion all they need to do with dirt is move the front wheels to the front of the car, as opposed to having them in the middle of the car; giving the whole steering a pivot feel.

  • Res #4 3 years ago

    How about a true representation of the sport as a tribute to him, rather than all that dumbing down and crap they keep adding?

  • superjag86 #5 3 years ago

    agree with Hangman

  • Beano #6 3 years ago

    "How about a true representation of the sport as a tribute to him, rather than all that dumbing down and crap they keep adding?"

    Could not agree more. GRID was the same, but at least that was entertaining.

  • actionfitz #7 3 years ago

    Gavin Raeburn is a twonk, when he ran the TOCA studio, laughter meant you were not working and was worthy of a telling off. Headphones were banned as you apparently cant listen to music and work on art etc at the same time...
    Those of us upstairs in 'Red Studio' (CMR) used to poke fun at our poor beleaguered colleagues. /facepalm.
    I think its great that the guys who got dumped by Sega got picked up by Codies, but its a shame that they are under the authority of Captian ass-hat - who im sure is the reason some left codies in the first place :/

  • Machetazo #8 3 years ago

    FUEL will run this off the road.

  • Oh-Bollox #9 3 years ago

    How about a helicopter sim instead?

  • Jay-ITFC #10 3 years ago

    I think it's great the Colin McRae name will continue to front the Codies rally game. Keeps his good name in the public eye and people can continue to remember him through playing the game. Fantastic news all round!

  • LOLLERS #11 3 years ago

    It might have been a nicer tribute if they'd called it 'Colin McRae: Legend' or 'Colin McRae: Champion Edition. As it is, it's more like 'Colin McRae: SHiT''

  • neilka #12 3 years ago

    "Resurrecting" may not be the best choice of words...

  • number9 #13 3 years ago

    @Beano "DIRT sucked sweaty donkey balls. Wish Codemasters would make a proper rally game again! "

    +1. I never understood GRID. The previous Collin rally games were so good! The handling in GRID was a joke.

  • Rodriguez #14 3 years ago

    Colin McRae DiRT was a pretty good game, the only downside was that it had virtually nothing to do with...... Colin McRae, apart from his name and a special stage race against a Subaru Impreza with his name on it, no voice or anything, which kinda ruined it. Now he's passed on there'll never be a 'true' McRae game ever again. It should have been called Travis Pastrana: DiRT because he had a major role in the whole bloody game!

  • StevilKnevil #15 3 years ago

    "How about a true representation of the sport as a tribute to him, rather than all that dumbing down and crap they keep adding?"

    Spot on, this is what they should be doing. Sadly I dont think its what we will be getting :(
    Edited by 1 at 20/11/08 @ 14:44

  • TheEnd #16 3 years ago

    The first step should be changing it from a track racer with dirt textures instead of roads into a rally game again.

  • jasonkav #17 3 years ago

    i have waited for a long, well anticipated time for codies to release a 'high def, up to date RALLY GAME' .
    DIRT was a waste of time, i have never heard colin mc rae shout the likes of, 'we kicked butt', or whatever rubbish the drivers come out with, its sad really, i feel there is a huge fan base for genuine rally games like colin mc' 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, which to be fair all improved with technology. however dirt, sega rally, nfs, ETC, have all struggled to match a winning formula from nearly desert strike days on the mega drive. i may sound stuck in my ways, but i feel codemasters sold their souls and every rally fan to the hill climb gang, NOT INTRESTED, STILL WAITING FOR PROGGRESSION ON THE COLIN MC'RAE FRONT AFTER COLIN MC'RAE 4. **** BUGGIES AND LORRIES, GIVE ME ALL WRC CARS TO RACE ONLINE.