At a glance...

Dirt 3 review

Unpredictability is probably the primary reason for the popularity of rallying. The idea that even those at the top of their game, including seven-times World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb, can slip up and send their car into a tree, or down a hill, or into a wall makes every stage of a rally compelling. Those who are charging ahead can see their lead swept away by a single misdeed. That unpredictability element is the key to a successful rally game, and like the Colin McRae-branded predecessors, it's something that Dirt 3 does rather well.

After a relatively rally-lite outing in Dirt 2, Codemasters have put a great emphasis on the feature event in this edition. While it's still an 'off-road racing game', with a variety of other events, a far greater emphasis has been placed on the series' core motorsport. It's still not a 'true' rally title, as it doesn't feature any of the World Rally Championship (WRC) stages, and almost none of the drivers, although they have managed to licence the vehicles, including the leading vehicles from Ford and Citroën. It also doesn't present rallies of quite the same scale as the real thing, but you do get multi-stage Events with your time adding up to an overall total. It's certainly enough to keep those dissatisfied with the previous game happy, and is one of the game's concessions to its core audience.

What might be more contentious is the new Gymkhana mode. Based on the sport popularised by Ken Block's hugely popular YouTube videos, it's more about playing around on a tarmac arena than it is traversing a pre-defined course. In Dirt 3 it encompasses a variety of different gametypes, from the showcases where you compete with opponents for score, to the more bizarre, but enjoyable, challenge of knocking down a series of cardboard robots within a time limit. It aims to provide something different for both the hardcore high score-seeking audience, and the newcomers who might otherwise be overwhelmed by an endless series of 'regular' Events. However, Gymkhana will still remain contentious for some, so they will be pleased to discover that you can generally progress without completing the Gymkhana sections. Each Event will give you points depending on your ranking, and these points unlock further Events such that you don't need to complete them all in order to get to more of what you want.

The Events comprise the main World Tour mode of Dirt 3 which, as it suggests, involves travelling to a wide variety of countries including Norway and Kenya, as well as Battersea Power station right here in the UK. Each set of events in the tour jets across multiple locations, which provides some variety, but also makes the campaign feel a bit disjointed. The events seem to lack a common connection beyond a tie in to a brand, and a steadily increasing difficulty level. This could have caused many player’s interest to stagnate making their progress to slow if it wasn't for the fact that the events themselves are hugely enjoyable. You are compelling to keep playing and making progress because it's a lot of fun and you'll want more of it. It's easy to find yourself hooked into a rally, such that when it ends you'll be searching for your next burst of adrenaline.

Continued bursts of enjoyment are maintained over the course of a campaign which will last many hours, thanks to that disjointed variety. What can be jarring for some will likely be a key to success for many. And that's a key to Codemasters' recent racing games; while they don't want to abandon the audience, which has been right behind them for many, many years, they are well aware that reaching that wider group of gamers is important for their future success. A part of making the series inclusive without dumbing it down is providing a wide range of difficulty options. Always falling off the track without traction control, but also don't want your opponents to be cruising gently around the track? Then Dirt 3 has you covered. The controversial flashback system returns, allowing you to undo up to five of those silly mistakes.

The balancing act regarding flashbacks and other difficulty options comes with the new experience points system, whereby "XP" is earned not only through completing events, but also by completing them with unused flashbacks remaining, and by doing special missions - such as reaching a certain speed. Experience points add up to driver reputation levels, and each new level brings new liveries and cars to choose from. Curiously, while vehicles between each of the different classes are notably different, the vehicles within the same class don't feel particularly different from one to the next. If, later in the game, you go back and play with those that were available in the beginning you will see how far you've come, but because the game seems to providing almost a too smooth upgrade path, you never seem to appreciate the differences. The upshot of this is that you don't seem to really care about the car you select. Every time something newer comes along you'll hop into that - the car offering either the highest horsepower or the greatest mission reward is the only choice you'll make, and often this will be the same vehicle.

It's clear, then, that in contrast to Gran Turismo 5, this is a game much more about the on-track action than the cars themselves. And that's certainly not a bad thing, because Dirt 3 offers some of the most enjoyable on-track sections, as suggested above. It achieves this thanks to two important aspects that Codemasters have mastered over the years. The first is a driving model that feels just right; the vehicles may not be perfectly realistic, but with your hands on the controller you know you're in charge of them, making every slide, every jump, and every crunch into the suddenly approaching wall your achievement or fault. It's the perfect balance between arcade and simulation that's accessible to all, and will bring a smile to anyone's face by the end of an event. The second aspect is genuinely competitive opponents. When you get the difficult level right you'll find yourself caught in tight battles for victory, as the AI drivers vary their performance not only from event to event, but through each retry. Crossing the line in a rally can be a nerve-wracking moment where you find out if your excellent corner cutting was enough to outdo an opponent who may or may not have done the same. The AI is also wonderfully vulnerable, making mistakes just like humans. They lack the wonder of flashbacks, so when they spin on the wet gravel, or send the car flipping down a hillside in a rally then you can be ready to take advantage, just as you would do against fully fleshed opposition. In addition, those moments of mistakes feel much more genuine and unique because they probably won't happen again (at least not in the same way) if you were to try again.

Human opposition is also much more interesting in Dirt 3. For a start there is the very welcome return of split-screen multiplayer, allowing two people in the same room to compete with each other like the Good Old Days(TM). While it's is still possible to engage in competition across all the usual events such as rallies, rally cross, and more, some of the silliness of the Gymkhana events has been given full rein in the multiplayer modes. Party play will include things such as the cardboard robot smashing, as well as an addictive game of tag where one 'zombie' car must try to spread an infection until all competitors have been converted. Or the time runs out. They provide a very different experience to regular online racing, and allow Dirt 3 to compete with multiplayer games in other genres for mainstream appeal. No matter how much you think you're a hardcore racing game fan, you should give these sections a go.

One criticism of the series is that it has opened up to the mainstream in its transition from Colin McRae Rally days to the Dirt of today and that it has become overly American, despite coming from a distinctly British company. Voices from the other side of the pond dominated the last game in particular, and while you'll still be hearing from Ken Block and Christian Stevenson, there's the friendly British voice of your manager too. In fact, you'll be hear a lot less voices in-game this time, restricted only to your co-driver and maybe your Xbox Live Party friends. The characters are no longer shouting in your ear at each turn, and are now more like over eager mentors popping up only between events.

There's also a presentation shift in Dirt 3 back towards some of the earlier games in the wider series. While Dirt 2 had you operating out of a trailer as you toured, there's more abstract and clean-cut menus this time. They're still animated and in 3D, but the transition times are shorter, and most of those animations now add to the style rather than providing unnecessary wasted time. Further changes include the ability to upload replays to YouTube, allowing a 30 second moment of glory or failure to be shared with the world. Unfortunately to save bandwidth the clips are only recorded in 480p, but it's a nice addition nonetheless, and one that should be standard in racing games today.

It's a pity you don't get the full HD visuals in the video clips because Dirt 3 is a very pretty game. Codemasters have had a reputation for pushing the graphical boundaries in their off-road racing series for a while now, partly thanks to not having many cars on screen in events such as rallying or trailblazer. However, having the freedom to choose their own environments and create their own tracks has allowed them to bring visual splendor to the forefront, resulting in beautiful backdrops in Kenya, delightful forests in Finland, and snow covered landscapes in Norway. Advancements in the EGO engine developed for F1 2010, and further refinements since, have resulted in the return of both rain and snow to the series, which will please fans. Not only do these look great, but they have an noticeable impact on your driving. Tearing up the snow, or sliding across wet gravel is challenging but certainly enjoyable.

Dirt 2 was a great game, but in Dirt 3 we see the game it should have been, with more rally, full weather effects, a comprehensive online mode, and a more refined interface. Those who absolutely want an all-rally game will need to look elsewhere, but everyone else certainly shouldn't.

Ratings

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