DIRT: Colin McRae Off-Road

June 25,2007 - It’s time to step out from behind the wheel of those other cars—or even put down the machine gun—and suit up for some old-fashion fun in the dirt. Sure, you’ll be stepping into another vehicle, but it’s completely different from what you’ll find in your Forzas or Project Gothams. Yes, racing fans, Colin McRae has returned and is packing some seriously fun racing action in his latest, DiRT.

Carrying over from the demo, extreme sports star Travis Pastrana—forever “cursed” with the voice of a 16 year old—is there to help guide you throughout the menus and give out some tips. You can choose from four different modes: career, championship, rally, and multiplayer. The clear choice in your start would be that of career mode. There are about seven tiers here to compete in. It doesn’t seem like much on paper (or in this case, on screen), but there’s plenty of depth here. You’ll have to compete in ten or so races in the first tier, which get progressively harder. As one would expect, the higher the tier, the bigger the challenge. For each race, you’ll get to choose the difficulty. There are five choices: easy, clubman, amateur, pro amateur and pro. Your prize winnings vary with each difficulty.

The difficulty can actually make a difference due to those earnings. If you race at amateur or below, you may not be able to make enough money to buy cars for the higher tiers and different ranks. There’s also a points system in place here. The max is ten points off of a first place win with the minimum being five points for fourth place. Racking up points will earn you invites to more events in each tier. The whole career system will take up quite a bit of time, and the ability to re-race some events for more points/money adds plenty of replay value.

Championship mode allows you to race a variety of events all over the world, ranging from the USA to Japan. In all, there are four overall championships to choose from, with the first two having choices of three different sub-races. You’ll be able to choose whether the event will be short or long. Since you’ll be constantly racing throughout the whole thing, you’ll choose what car you want from the start and continue through with it. And with that comes the responsibility to repair your own damages, which takes up allotted time. Obviously, the bigger the damage, the more time it will take, so prioritize accordingly. You’ll work your way up to the Global Championship, the granddaddy of them all.

In rally mode, you’ll be able to race single events from a choice of tracks. There’s not too much to it. It’s mostly just for the joy of racing and competing. Sure, it adds to your stats, but it doesn’t unlock much. Still, it’s a nice way to get a little more familiar with the unlocked tracks.

A nice addition to the game—expect multiplayer—is the ability to practice on each track before the actual event. You can also get a complete breakdown of the track should you not want to actually practice, as well as get a briefing on who you’ll be competing against. It’s a decently in-depth system.

Multiplayer provides enough fun as any racing multiplayer should. You’ll mostly be competing in rally races and hill climbs. Just like the other games modes, only certain cars will be suitable for certain race types. In online play, you’ll be able to enter a quick match or a custom match. There’s not too much to choose from though in a custom match, though.

From a technical standpoint, DiRT is great. The menu interface itself runs very smoothly and provides somewhat of a relaxed feel. In the menus, you’ll be able to find plenty of things regarding your racing stats. You can view a detailed history of every car you own—46 in all. Travis Pastrana will also give you a quick break down of every car before a race if you so choose.

Graphically, DiRT is beautiful, keeping it up in the ranks with its stiffest competition at the moment, Forza 2. The cars themselves are very well detailed, from the shattered glass after you hit a rock, to the sparking/popping of the exhaust when you rev your engine. You only have so much to design to choose from though. Each car comes with a certain amount of liveries from which to choose and they’ll cost you anywhere from $6,000 on up. Thankfully, the quality of the graphics extends into the environment you’re racing in. You’ll be able to see pretty far off into the distance, but if you’re gazing too much, expect to go flying off the track and into a devastating crash that will cost you the race. Mostly of the immediate environment is destructible, so whatever fence you crash into won’t be standing the next time you pass it. Accompanying the great graphics is pretty damn good sound. That popping of the exhaust sounds pretty authentic, as does the revving of engines and the pounding of the gravel (or tarmac, or whatever you’re racing on).

So in all, DiRT definitely stands out as a premiere racing game. The gameplay is great—though it may take a bit of getting used to for those you stick to common racing games—and the graphics help push it along as well. What’s great is there’s also plenty of depth to career mode and good amounts of fun to be had in championships and multiplayer, making Colin McRae’s DiRT definitely worth a purchase.

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