Colin McRae: DiRT 2
X Rated.
"Rallying as a global sport has changed," says Matt Horsman, chief game designer on DiRT 2. Standing as we are in blazing sunshine by the rooftop pool of a hotel in downtown LA, cocktails in hand, it's hard to disagree. It's a world away from the nipple-hardening winds, soggy sandwiches and desolate dawns of a Euro rally.
Which is the traditional style of rallying Codemasters first exploited over a decade ago with the endorsement and assistance of a fearless Scottish pro racer called Colin McRae. DiRT 2 is the latest title to bear his name, albeit posthumously now, following his untimely death in a helicopter accident in 2007.
It's the final weekend of July and LA's Home Depot Centre is hosting X Games XV, extreme sports' insurance-nightmare Olympics for bikes, boards and bangers. This is the third year rally racing has featured, and the first year Codemasters has included the X Games in its flagship racing series. Which has gone down like a slashed tyre amongst some hardcore McRae fans, if reaction to the announcement in forums is anything to go by, with accusations of dumbing down, Americanisation and such bandied around biliously.
But, Horsman maintains, not only does this reflect rally's evolution and growing prominence, particularly in the US, it was also driven in no small part by McRae himself. His astounding roll and recovery in the final of X Games XII gave rally its big box-office moment in the US. On a more mundane level, it's a simple business decision for Codemasters, which wants to make more money Stateside - prior to the original DiRT, sales were declining year-on-year.

Kenny from the Block and 'Dangerous' Dave Mirra at the game event.
But in the face of strong criticism - the ferocity of which has taken the developer by surprise - Horsman moves to reassure. "In the game, the European fans shouldn't worry too much because we've got a lot of traditional rallying," he says. "Staggered starts, eight cars on-track at a time, traditional tracks like Croatia, the Malaysian jungle. DiRT covers all bases. Extreme sports, super special style, traditional stuff - it's five o'clock in the morning and you are racing pretty much alone through a forest." How are those nipples looking?
This weekend is all about the X Games, however, and the new wave of McRae-inspired stars like Ken Block, Travis Pastrana and Dave Mirra, competing for medals on the real track and in the game. Codemasters is unveiling its X Games content - and multiplayer - with the pro drivers along for the ride (for a full report on the event and the X Games, look out for an EGTV show later today).

A car makes the big jump during the X Games final. But how did he land? (Can't remember).
The rally course at the X Games is predictably built with an ADD-ridden TV audience in mind. The blockbuster moment is a 70ft do-or-die jump across the centre of the Home Depot Centre stadium which each driver tackles once on alternate laps. There's an optimal speed to hit the slope and precious little margin for error: there are no McRae rolls during this year's competition, but body parts are blasted to oblivion and bumpers torn from bodywork with anything less than a perfect landing.
It's these make-or-break milliseconds that manufacture most of the drama in the race, and it's captured with flair in DiRT 2's fictional homage, the Estada Del Ray stadium, based in the Marina Del Ray area of Los Angeles.
Testy chicanes and dirt surfaces are complemented by zippy tarmac sections between expansive, twisting bends that test both resolve and reflexes. Close to the end of the circuit, a perilously tight corner snaps suddenly into a short straight leading into a ramp which, hit at speed, launches your car up, up and away; then down, down and.... And, either you make it and lurch forward with a victorious surge; or the car angles absurdly and flings you into a clown roll that wrecks your race.
As with the Home Depot Centre jump, the line between success and failure is agonisingly fine: screw up the lead-in corner and you won't build enough speed; come out of it wide and your jump angle will whip you off at a tangent. On the one hand, yes, it's just a jump in a racing game. Big deal. But its dramatic potential is fully realised by the precision afforded by the driving model, and a seasoned awareness that not all jumps are created equal. Block, who knows a thing or two about jumping in cars, closely advised Codemasters on angling this one to create the kind of game-changing moment with which real drivers are painfully familiar.
That's a lot of words on a single in-game jump. But it's a jump which, throughout an afternoon's play, duly causes disproportionate waves of frustration, joy, despair, agony and excitement. Mainly the agony and despair bits in my case, if I'm honest. And this is particularly apparent during the media multiplayer tournament, where no race is settled before the final jump, feeding the hopes of the trailing pack, while breeding doubt in the leader's mind.
Beyond the LA stadium we try, the X Games discipline forms a big chunk of the career mode. Its aim is to tease you with the exploits of the sport's fanciest show ponies, encouraging you to work your way up to challenge rally's new superstars.

Block sneaks in a few practice laps alongside Johnny. He's actually bloody good at it. Ken, not Johnny.
So before you even get to race, you're shown a video of Block and Pastrana 'avin' it large in the final of the US X Games. To get there you must battle through the European leg, with a final at the visually stunning Battersea Power Station circuit in sarf London. Succeed and your entourage shifts to Asia, climaxing in a race around downtown Tokyo against the likes of Tanner Foust and Dave Mirra, the forerunner to the grand finale in Los Angeles against the big guns. "It's you trying to get the gold rather than watching those guys on TV," Horsman explains.
More than just the addition of a new discipline and new locations, the X Games has informed the design of the entire front end of the game. As detailed in our E3 preview, the previous menu-based system has been ditched in favour of a coherent and consistent world that is meant to make the player feel more immersed in the game and more "emotionally attached", as Codemasters has it, to the cars themselves.

The X Games in DiRT 2 take place across three continents.
So wherever you go to race in the world, your trailer comes with you and pitches. And shifting between menus and modes also involves switching between areas in your base camp. Outside is where you select cars; inside is where you choose circuits, styles, check on leaderboards and stats and so on, with updates on the movements of both AI racers and your mates communicated via magazine reports. It may not be the fastest way possible to navigate, but it's slick enough and visually compelling.
Four-player races over system link are great fun. And while we're limited to trying out just a handful of multiplayer races at the event, every mode in the final version will be fully playable online. Codemasters wants to please everyone. Pro Tour Mode is meant to service the hardcore, with game-selected circuits and anti-cheat methods implemented; Jam Session is for lightweight Sunday drivers, where the player hosts and can pick where, when and what to race; and private sessions, Party Play and Team Play are also supported.
In single-player there are 100 events across nine racing disciplines, including Rally, Rally X and Trailblazer. "Over 40 licensed vehicles" feature, reckons Horsman, including the Subaru STi used by Block and Pastrana, the Mitsubishi Evo 10, Class 1 buggies and trophy trucks.
Nevertheless, Codemasters would sooner the player be a one-car kinda guy than an insatiable, bonnet-humping speed slut. So you are encouraged to build an attachment and expertise in a single vehicle which you can keep for the full duration of career mode, and the game showers you with amusing tat to clutter up the dashboard, like furry dice, hula girls and - in a neat touch exclusive to 360 owners - your avatar dangling from the wing mirror, all visible using the in-car view.
DiRT 2 is gorgeous in motion, whether thrashing around Battersea Power Station after dark as fireworks bloom, spotlights swirl, lasers criss-cross and thousands of spectators (up to 100,000 per course) roar you along beneath the amplified ravings of a DJ, or you're zipping through the tight lanes of a deserted Asian idyll with mountains looming in the distance.

Kenny B's Subaru STI, faithfully reproduced for you to trash into a wall.
Car handling has been reworked from scratch, Codemasters says. This was apparently in response to criticism from the community, with a particular focus on ensuring there isn't such a dramatic loss of speed when sliding sideways through turns. Its hard to gauge how much has changed without putting the sequel and original side-by-side, but with DiRT 2 the third game from the same team (after DiRT and GRID), these guys are amongst the best in the business at core driving mechanics.
As to whether it's a realistic experience, the ultimate compliment is perhaps Ken Block's aptitude when racing like a racer rather than a game. Moreover, Codemasters claims that at a recent event where the game was linked up to ludicrously expensive hydraulic racing simulator, the professional rally drivers beat everyone else by a significant margin.

The Estada Del Ray, Codemasters' in-game homage to the LA X Games circuit.
A feather in the cap for Codemasters, for sure. But if you don't sniff petrol for kicks, what matters is that it's fun, responsive and an undoubtedly positive experience during the first couple of hours of play.
But thrilling moments, slick presentation and a robust driving model are only part of the equation. They need to be matched by effective balance and pacing in the meat of the game's single-player mode, in both progression and engagement with other drivers, of which the studio is making a big deal. And we can't call that until we've dug deep into a review build, so hang tight. Impressive in practice, let's hope DiRT 2 makes a clean jump in the final.
DiRT 2 is out on PS3, 360, PSP, DS and Wii on 11th September, with a PC version due later in the year.
You may also like...
-
Digital Foundry: PS3 Skyrim Lag Fixed?
-
Why Devs Owe You Nothing
-
Game of the Week: Catherine
-
Face-Off: The Darkness 2
-
Who Killed Rare?
-
Gotham City Impostors Review
-
EA evaluating FIFA Street features for FIFA 13
-
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Review
-
Sony admits "dropping the ball" with Demon's Souls
-
Grand Slam Tennis 2 Review
-
The Darkness 2 Review
-
CD Projekt: Witcher 2 intro cinematic "the most expensive asset we ever created"
-
Skyrim patch 1.4 now live for Xbox 360
-
King Arthur 2 Review
-
Catherine Review
-
Metal Gear Solid: The "Lost" HD Remasters
-
Skyrim patch 1.4 performance tip: make a new manual save
-
Epic's Sweeney on graphics tech: "the limit really is in sight"
-
Next Xbox has tablet-like touch-screen controller - rumour
-
Mass Effect 3 FemShep trailer debuts
-
Blizzard legally opposes Valve's Dota trademark application
-
Skyrim gets high-res PC texture pack
-
Double Fine Adventure passes Day of the Tentacle budget
-
Valve admits hackers accessed Steam transaction log
-
Diablo 3 release date narrowed









Comments (54) Latest comment 3 years ago
Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I'm not aware that rallying has changed. I think the expression should have been "X Games has changed and for three whole years, America has had rallying".
Here's some other motor sports that have nothing to do with rallying that could be added to Colin McRae: Dirt 3...
1. Ski jets
2. Speed boats
3. Quad bikes
4. Tractors (ok, I wouldn't expect these to be raced, but I bet I know a country that does!)
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
getting tired of saying this,but yet again still no tarmac footage.
altough im moaning im gonna get it,just wish codies would remember us folk in europe and shows some footage that will apeal to us.
come on codies you know you want to
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
[link url=http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=I74ITAWZvNo
]http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=I74ITAWZvNo
[/link]
That jump is actually pretty cool.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
They do do tractor pulling in America, it involves connecting your tractor to a big weight and seeing how far you can pull it or something. I think they're saving that for Colin McRae: Redneck
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Not that this game shouldn't exist, just give me a choice.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
[link url=http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=hXu8QmAMaYI
]http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=hXu8QmAMaYI
[/link]
Main things for those who don't speak dutch.
-1/4 of the game is against the clock. I don't know if this is only rally or trailblazer too.
-Fysics feel real good, you can really feel the difference between the hard gravel in the middle of the road and the loose dirt at the side.
-The rewind feature from Grid is in.
-The old CMR-feeling is a bit gone. Everything is made more 'extreme'.Like only 10 seconds betwwen cars in rally so there's always the possibility that you must overtake someone. (and a crash)
-You can earn sponsership stickers (I guess like in Grid) and even fussy dice or a puppet of your X360 avatar to put on your dash.
Overall conclusion is that it feels like an offroad version off Grid.
Also at 3.09 in the second vid: Pontiac is in.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I'm still amazed Codemasters failed to understand that because Colin McRae often had the worst graphics of all the rallying/racing games in the past, that may have played a part in it's lower sales. Good job they made enough money out of the original fans to create the Dirt engine before the series turned it's back on Europe.
But I agree with them, if they want to sell more copies of the game, appeal to the Americans and f*ck the European market... put in monster trucks, banger racing, drag racing, racing around in circles, and any other motor sport America likes, then it's clearly going to appeal to Americans and potentially sell more. If all they care about is the amount of units they sell, then they'd probably do well to stick to arcade racing games and first and third person shooters.. they're the highest sellers these days, aren't they? If there's no love for rallying at the developers, and America doesn't know or care about the sport, I'm surprised they've wasted time throwing in a couple of rally type tracks at all. It sounds like their new audience would rather jump a car 50 feet in the air than race down a tight country lane, or a snowy mountain road, or snow and ice covered road, or through a muddy forest. Anyway, good luck with the American co-driver – at least he'll only be with you for a handful of tracks!!
Update: Now I know it's got the talentless rewind feature from Grid and furry f***ing dice... I'm sold! Just stick me an 1970s muscle car (gotta love their handling!), I'll have a child with my aunt, and I'll be ready for Dirt 2.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Sounds really good, It's the guys who did GRID only it's rallying, I'll almost certainly be picking this up, I need a new racing game.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Why did they remove that feature, it worked so well, you went first (fastest) the other could see the track, so they could be a bit quicker, of couse we all knew all the tracks even thru the smoke hazed room. You always got passed the blunt just before your go too..
/edit and it still think it had the best handling model.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
It's a total waste of time complaining about the americanisation of the games, they simply do not give a fuck. The only way to get the message across is not buy the game. In terms of Rally, I don't really mind, it's on Grid that it really hurts because they've totally fucked over the BTCC. At least this is still rallying.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
What a load of developer sucking rubbish. There's a reason Mr Minkley that they've made several games and are now having to re-build the physics model. Sure, I'm one of the many that kicked off about the handling in Dirt/ Grid etc as IT DOES centrally pivot and lose power during power oversteer. Still, I accept they're not building a SIM and I guess I should stop wanting them to produce one. I just wish they had a sim mode where the handling was anything by arcade.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I have always wondered why they removed that game mode from Dirt1?!? That was my favorite drink and drive game mode with friends with older CMR games! It was so wonderful to play in big screen (instead of shitty split screen) and try to win each other.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
However, I do find the American style voice-over annoying and the emphasis on non-rallying events makes it feel like it shouldn't even carry the Colin McRae name at all (it doesn't in the US, ironically). I can understand Codemasters wanting the game to do well in the US but how about tailoring the game for each market, making the European one more of a proper rally game with a UK voice-over and co-driver (hardly a big issue since each non-English speaking country has its own anyway) and giving the Yanks the monster truck events and all that crap. They could then offer the other's content as DLC for those that want it.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
This may be a stupid question but I want to check. Does anyone know the 360 wheel works with Original Xbox games? I'm desperate for a proper rally game and can't wait for GT5 some old CM action is in order!
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I never bothered with Dirt and I wont bother with Dirt 2 unless there's a PC demo out anytime soon. Grid was alright for 10minutes until I realised the handling was terrible and the car selection was relatively poor.
As for Colin McRae 2, played that loads on the PC multiplayer at LAN's and online, it was superb. Not the most realistic game, but it felt good enough, the layout of the game was right, nice variation in stages and the multiplayer element worked well.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
the only things that has improved are the graphics.
The gameplay has gone downhill since 2.0
the original is still the best
Comment below viewing threshold Show
+100
RBR is the only real rallying game. Truly terrifying. Truly rewarding.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
please.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
The original was reviewed well in PC Gamer, who did make the point (which broke it for me) that if you just want to rally, you're stuck doing all the other shit too. And if you want to just do other shit, the rally part will bug you.
Alas, it seems you can't have a game that just focuses on one motorsport (*cough* SBK09, Superstars V8, MotoGP, F1) can you, Codebastards?
Well, how's this: I'm not buying this. Because it sounds like it sucks from this preview alone. The last good Colin game was the original, the last good racing game was TOCA 2. Your sales have been dropping over the last ten years you've been riding the success of those games because you keep skanking it up with stupid shit like this.
Altogether now! WOOOO! HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO!
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
If they do a demo then, like your good self, I would like to try the rallying experience, not the X Games sell out...
In other news:
Having re-read the article, my most pressing question has been answered:
"More than just the addition of a new discipline and new locations, the X Games has informed the design of the entire front end of the game."
The question being: where will the focus of this title be?
In other news, since when has "eight cars on-track at a time" been "traditional" rallying? Strange one that.
All this talk about jumps, and being whjipped off at a tangent on final corners etc...it all sounds supadupa, but don't call it rally, call it rallycross or something (although I'm sure rallycross exists??)
Did that sound too bilious?
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Those would be Captain Slow (or Mr. Camp to some), Herr Hamster and Jezza The Power-Hammer.
Perhaps Codies should get them to be the announcers for their next automobile game?
Besides, it's not like rallying is a british invention...
Comment below viewing threshold Show
God that's the truth! I was just checking that dutch video and noticed you go to "My rides" for cars. GT5 save us please...
Still a very good EGer told me 360 wheel does indeed work with old xbox so at the weekend I am 100% hunting down an old CM or maybe RBR, many of you mention it and it looks good on Youtube.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Insulting their previous audience with talk of 3rd rate X Games crap being the way rallying is moving is not a good start, but I still hold out hope the traditional rallying and rallycross sections are half decent.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Surely the slow speeds and poor handling of buggies and trucks, and ultimately the boredom of just jumping for the sake of it, and desperately trying to make 'rallying' more exciting for the Americans would pale by comparison to all those amazing memories we have of driving perilously fast in tight, twisty, bumpy tracks, roads and lanes of Finland, Germany, Japan, Sweden, etc!
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Quit living in the past and get with the times, DiRT was fantastic, GRiD was amazing (still play it loads online), DiRT 2 will be amazing and so will F1 and GRiD 2, mark my words,
And wasn't it only a few days ago people here were slagging off the "pre target" screenshots released even though they were proven to be in game graphics as confirmed by codies and IGN? exactly.....
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I need a Rallisport 3.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Have to agree with other comments. Richard Burns Rally had the best physics going...and as such the gameplay kept you right on the edge and the replays always looked amazing.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
CMDirt was alright, not amazing. and it probably sold well because people assumed, as it carried the mcrea name, it would be a great next gen rally game. That's why I bought it.
I won't get burned this time though, lessons were learnt.
edit: oh p.s. does anyone know if this will be compatible with Tony Hawk: Ride skateboard controller?
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Just because it looks good it doesn't mean it IS good. It'll probably just be a superficial beauty.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Probably because all the previous iterations of Gran Tourismo have offered a AAA experience?
Why would you expect it to "a superficial beauty" ? I'm guessing it's probably because you own an Xbox.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
D.I.R.T. 2 is enough as title.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
And I believe that Codies are trying to break away from the Colin McRae connection with the DiRT series. It seems to me that all the Colin McRae Rally fans are the ones that are constantly bringing up his name. It's an insult to his memory, using his name as leverage.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show