Colin McRae's DIRT Review

Colin McRae is now a household name due his amazing career, and for that reason it is no surprise that Codemasters decided to base their game on the famous rally racer.

The first thing you'll notice is the amazing menu system. It's extremely attractive and works well - a real joy to use.

However the first oddity you'll recognize is the fact that Colin McRae isn't in the game till you're actually on the track... racing against him. Rather, Travis Pastrana greets you, and walks you through the game as you play, cheering you on when you win, and consoling you when you lose. I'm going to be honest - it isn't that nice listening to a surfer dude talking you through the game.

The second and more major oddity you'll feel is the way the car reacts. Since the inception of the series the physics have been based on a central pivot mechanism for turning, rather than using the actual tires to turn the car. Or perhaps it's a combination of both tires and central pivot, but it's extremely evident at times that the physics are far from true to life. It's not as unrealistic as Sega Rally, or intended as an extremely arcadey game, but it could be considered a cross between arcade/simulation.

And the last major disappointment is the multiplayer. Yes, there are many races with up to 8 cars on the track at once, however for whatever reason, you can't do so in multiplayer. A seemingly perfect opportunity for multiplayer would be the Cross-over tracks where you race against one other person, but this is out as well. So how do you race multiplayer? By yourself. Everyone in the race is racing by themselves and it's timing you against each other - essentially the same thing as racing hot-seat.

Now that we're done with the negatives - on with the good: The game is FUN! If you want a rally simulation, play Richard Burns' Rally - it has amazing physics. But if you want to simply have fun and enjoy absolutely amazing tracks with jaw-dropping graphics, play Dirt simply for what it is.