Colin McRae: DIRT Comments by Luke Albiges

The most irritating part is that with the X360's processing grunt, the physics should be simply amazing.

Instead, amazingly bad is what we get instead.

BadBoyBonner - but what if it is fun and hectic? I like fun and hectic games, me.

Played the demo of this - and it really made me think this is what's wrong with gaming. For me it seemed like every other racing game I've played before, but with slightly prettier trees and background. Major yawn.

Give me innovation and originality please......................

Having said that, I don't mind too much when it's the latest football game that does this, so maybe it's just because i'm not a massive racing fan. Im praying that the new burnout offers something that feels new though, and not just a 'prettier' game.

"In car view on the demo was the most satisfying next gen experience I've had... even better than Gear of War.. picking this up on Friday for sure."

My sentiments exactly. Gorgeous graphics, handling that, once you get used to it, is great and alround exciting fun! Even the voice-over I can forgive.

"I'd still rather play Rallisport 2 on the 360, if Microsoft actually get around to making it compatible. "


Ditto. RBR is great and that, but it's inaccessible for 99% of people since it's a sim, Rallisport and Forza show how to do a realistically handling game that's accessible.

Unfortunately I doubt we'll see a new Rallisport or a BC patch for a while though, judging by this interview - http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_pag...


:( EA

Yup the in car view on DiRT is pure win.

"Played the demo of this - and it really made me think this is what's wrong with gaming. For me it seemed like every other racing game I've played before, but with slightly prettier trees and background. Major yawn.

Give me innovation and originality please......................"

What do you want? Driving with no wheels on the car? Skidding on the roof round a track? Or perhaps floating round on tyres filled with helium?

Funnily enough, driving hasn't changed much for the last hundred years and that goes for racing as well, so of course every racing game is going to seemsimliar to the last one. How the hell can you change it?

No mention of how excruciatingly bad it is with the wireless wheel?

"driving hasn't changed much for the last hundred years"

You forgot cup-holders, fool. Back to class.

Yea it has tearing, yeah it's "Only" 30fps but the impression of speed is great. I agree with a post above about the STUNNING in car view with sunlight dancing over the dashboard... extremely impressive stuff and very, very immersive. The demo played amazingly too, I could have done without the minor slowdowns and occasional tearings but Codies have REALLY upped the stakes in this game, it makes Forza 2 look like Pole Position on the Atari VCS by comparison ;) (and yes I've now got Forza 2 and I enjoy it for what it is).

Still can't quite work out how it got less than Forza when it surpasses forza in so many ways, but that's just the usual eurogamer quirkyness kicking in (all the best games get an 8 on eurogamer - fact! ;) )

I used to work in Juice Studios (which I belive combined with the Colin Mcrae team) and seeing this running they have come on a LONG way and I wish I was still their with them helping to put stuff out like this. It is the most "next gen" of all the racers so far, easily. Just seems very very polished and the driving is not so serious as to be clinical/boring but instead gives the feeling of what it would be like rather than 100% "By the numbers" copy which would never work so well on a 2D Screen anyway.

Massive thumbs up to Codies. Oh and the american voice bothers me not a jot, I prefered it a thousands more to the scottish voice in the Race Driver games - but as I used to spend hours every day listening to it I guess that's understandable, drove me up the wall! :)

The only thing next gen about CMR:DIRT is the graphics.

GTR2 is a far more 'next-gen' racing game than Dirt will ever be.

Certainly "immersion" is an important factor (to which visuals can contribute greatly), and I agree that the Cockpit view in DiRT is absolutely amazing. It makes you wince when you crash, which is pretty unique.

I love Simbin's games (and at the same time hate the sterile feel of their games) but this is a different genre, really. Ace Combat isn't shit because it's not Flight Simulator.

@LeD - but what if it is fun and hectic? I like fun and hectic games, me.


With that said - surely then the multiplayer online aspect could have given this a shot in the arm - in the very same way that PGR3 managed it as a launch game. Instead it seems to have shot itself in the head by not including it - The mind boggles.

Well for many people, graphics are still important. The underlying game / gameplay is far from lame... it is FUN while not being amazingly accurate. Tie that with outstanding presentation and you have a "next gen" experience. These are video *GAMES* after all they are meant to be visceral, enjoyable, something out of the norm.

The emphasis too many so called 'hardcore racers' put on the value of exact simulation is missing the point of mass market games, codies have got to make money and make a game appealing to all kinds of players, and this is a brilliant game.

I don't know why we always get the predictiable "gameplay is nothing new" after a review of ANY game that looks great, take it as read that it's only on the rare occasions we are going to get innovation or 100% perfect gameplay WITH stunning graphics and the rest of the time just be happy that we have the technology and the people using it to make all kinds of games to suit all kinds of players.

"No mention of how excruciatingly bad it is with the wireless wheel?"

Here. here. Probably not even bothered to test it. If they have, then that is even worse, as they then have not bothered to even write about it - in a product review?!?

Edit - I say here, here - as I have the wheel and it controls terribly - due to the pivot point mentioned earlier. Might be better to adapt some Tank controls, or better still, have the analogue sticks acting like tank tracks - able to thrust independantly.

Infact - think that would get me interested enough to have a few more goes on the demo if you could do that.

Yes the voice is annoying in CMR but the lad who does it travis pastrana beat colin mcrae in the last xgames on the rally event and they are buddies now which explains the reason why he's in it. Also anyone crazy enough to pull off this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VngJrAIzFNE can annoy me anytime, his voice is too american but he's a legend

/fails to win stage

"Oh maaaan!!! You suck!"

/shoots Pastrana in face

"Yes the voice is annoying in CMR but the lad who does it travis pastrana beat colin mcrae in the last xgames on the rally event and they are buddies now which explains the reason why he's in it. Also anyone crazy enough to pull off this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VngJrAIzFNE can annoy me anytime, his voice is too american but he's a legend "

I take it you didn't actually see the X-Games you mentioned? Because Pastrana only just managed to beat McRae in that Special Stage even after McRae rolled the bleedin car.
In other words a past it rally driver (as evidenced when Colin subbed for Loeb in the Citroen last year) almost beat him despite crashing, which is hardly boast worthy material for Pastrana, and definitely not indicative of a superior rally talent....

Face it, Pastrana was shoehorned in because he's a big star in America, and has had some success driving a rally car over there amongst competition which you can hardly call 'world class'. It's an obvious tactic by Codemasters to get more sales over in Yankland.

Played the demo of this and forza and thought this was actually more fun.

/feels dirty

I such a graphics whore, I just want to buy the title just for the gfx alone.

Colin McRae's name doesn't have an awful lot of clout over in the US, which why it's just called DiRT over there.

Played the demo of this and forza and thought this was actually more fun.

/feels dirty

Same here. But fun is fun and you should never feel any shame for it.

/masturbates furiously

Is it still an 8 or is it back to 9 now?

It's a 9 if you squint a bit.

Too simplistic driving physics and why make a bloody circus out of the rally genre? Oh I remember, it had to be molded for the trip across the atlantic. Give me WRC or Richard Burns any day. And that commentator is just embarrasing to listen to.

Can someone comment on the longevity of this as an arcade racer? The graphics looks fantastic and I might invest in it for saturday night quick fixes :)

This reminds me of the first time I tried Toca Racedriver, also from Codemasters. I wanted some more on-track cars and car damage after getting tired of Gran Turismo, but the physics SO let me down I just had to throw the game away. Never played it afterwards.

Smaller screenshots please !

"...as the market filled with uninspiring rally titles like Rally Fusion and RICHARD BURNS RALLY"..!?!?!?

Richard burns Rally is better than this pish will be. On that basis I didn't even bother reading the review, I've seen some movies and this game looks uninspired, flashy (yet still shit graphics during actual gameplay..), and yet more cheap arcadey thrills. Richard burns Rally dear reviewer sir is a fucking quality, challenging game.

First time I've been truly pissed off at any remark a reviewer has made here, so ill informed and.. grrr!!!

I used to work at Codies, so I won't be buying this.

@the no-doubt frightened reviewer - Is the physics of the demo anything to do with the difficulty setting it's set at?

I thought it was damn fun, although I'm not blind to the fact it felt floaty.

First time I played this (got some review code) I nearly turned it off before I'd even started because of that tosser American. 'No, I thought, give it a chance, it's just the menus'. So start a game (proper time trials, not that buggy shit) and I nearly cried as I found they'd even put a Yank in the car reading out my pace-notes in his stupid nasal tone! WHY?! WHYYYYYY?! At least give us the option of different co-drivers FFS!

Also, I couldn't find *any* reference to Colin in the game other than his name printed on the title screen, not a picture, not a voice clip, nothing! The whole game seems to be a sham designed specifically for the American market with we Europeans (who actually like rallying) as an after thought...


EDIT: To summarise the above, no one who I don't know is allowed to call me either 'dude, 'bud' or 'tiger'(!)

Does Dirt support the official wheel?

Edit: Nevermind!

Calm down, dude!

/runs

A driving review with virtually no reference to the handling model (in fact I can't remember any mention at all!), ok so you probably haven't driven a rally car, but surely you can comment on how it feels? Too mamy rally games rely on the cars pivoting from the centre, which is as aabout as far from realism as you can get.

Although saying that, I should have probably stopped reading when you dissed RBR. That would be like dissing GTR2 when reviewing a track-based game.

@ruttyboy

You confirmed all my worst fears about the full version. I refused to believe that Codies would go that far in alienating the core fan base, but I always had a gut feeling that the whole Pastrana thing was only hinting towards their overall plan for the game.

Not getting it now, even though a next-gen Colin McRae game was my number most looked forward to prospect :(

Never played RBR, but this sentence told me a lot about the reviewer:

"The usual spread of Lancers, Subarus and the smaller rally cars of today..."

I don't think he/she knows anything about rallying. Don't get me wrong though, that's not a bad thing if you want a review from the perspective of someone looking for an arcade rally experience. Sadly I am not.

I definetlmy think this deserves a 9 on PC. No slow downs there and it looks even better.

I don't understand why there's so much hate for Travis' is voice over? Or any American voice over in the game, its still better and MORE understandable then any UK accent.

That and Travis ROCKS, you try a double backflip!

"Codies please, please, please - stop using the central pivot mechanism for turning, and use the actual tires turning the car while the back wheels try to go straight."

Havent read the review yet BUT... is it STILL doing this? Gah, refuse to buy :)

"I don't understand why there's so much hate for Travis' is voice over?"

Because not all of us listen to Avril Lavigne? ;)

We've only just noticed this, but there hasn't been a good rally game since Rallisport Challenge 2 on the good ol' Xbox.

WRC: Rally Evolved, probably the best console rally game ever, although it didn't have the range of tracks that WRC 4 had...

So all americans have a lady voice?

Or are you just a biggot like FluffyTucker...

Ya, I wonder.

Browsed the official forums a bit:

It's a completely new engine with no connectioon to previous CMR games. No pivot point, Though I'm sure we'll get accused of it anyway. Race Driver's been pivot-free for years but people still claim it's using one.
__________________
Rich Tysoe

If by 'shoehorning a yank' into the game, DiRT sells more copies, thus allowing the codies to produce more games who really gives a shit?

If the games are too annoying to play, who gives a shit if they can produce more.

re pivots - it's an illusion based on the way the third person camera is set up - if the camera pivot is placed too near the centre of the car you get the infamous "cocktail stick" effect, even if the physics of the car are working correctly. Try reversing in first person view - the turning motion will feel completely different to moving forward if the physics have been modelled properly.

Well, if you want to miss out on a good game just because the announcer annoys you, thats your problem, to be honest.

Im just happy to see a big game from the Codies again.

"Does Dirt support the official wheel?

Edit: Nevermind!"

Phew! You almost got me started there! Lucky save!

the demo was extremely good.
Yes it tears now and again. Yes the framerate dips every now and again. yes the septics voice is irratating to hell.

But in THAT cockpit. With THAT rumble. At THAT speed...the first real next-gen experience ive had to date.

/boots up Forza until this comes along

I did not enjoy Dirt Demo that much cos of the handling and thought Forza 2 demo was a bit boring and stale...

But what do I know? I now can't put down Forza and got myself to level 20 since Friday last week, I would however rent Dirt first to see if I can enjoy this despite the handling and worse, the tearings on x360 in general absolutely drives me up the wall!

Though when tearings happens I switch from preferred VGA back to component i.e. Dead Rising and Splinter Cell, but a lot of bother.

tiddles: even WRC4 came out after RSC2, but the caveat there (which I missed too) was "Xbox", heh.

The way the sentence is constructed implied to me that it meant "hasn't been a good rally game since RSC2 on Xbox", rather than no good Xbox rally game since RSC2.

I didn't think much of the demo the first time I played it, but second time around it was much more fun... the handling is definitely dumbed down, but still fun and playable - think somewhere between RSC and Shox. The announcer is a bit annoying, but I think you would tune him out after a while...