Dirt 3:
I’ve been waiting for this in anticipation for months. I’ve loved all of the Colin McRae games and then following his death in 2007 the Dirt games. All have IMO been spectacular games and even the earlier ones are still very playable despite older generation graphics. The last three games have been cutting edge and really immerse you in the rally driving experience. I thought I’d give a quick summary of what I think of the latest iteration of this great franchise.
If you’ve always fancied buying a Rally game, but have always though you wouldn’t be able to play one, then this is the game for you. It’s got the best driver assists in any racing game I’ve ever played . What I mean by driver assists, is ways of making it easier to drive the cars and which enable you to win easier. Not that that is the aim. When I first started to play racing games I was always coming in last or at the very best next to last. No matter how I tried I could never improve on my positions so consequently I got bored of the genre. I would argue that using a keyboard as opposed to a decent racing wheel was probably partly to blame, but that said, it was always a great disappointment to me because I really did want to play these games, but losing all the time just made the games seem too hard and ultimately boring. That had been the story for many years. I’ve bought many racing games (if you could see my book shelves and my steam games list they would give testament to that statement). It’s only recently with the release of Need for Speed: Shift that has an innovative process whereby your performance in the first race determines how hard the AI is going to be. Basically if you are a really poor driver, then the AI will also be poor, which will then give you a chance to actually win races, or at least come in the top three; which then enables you to gain decent experience points that go towards new cars and unlocking new races. That concept has been repeated in the latest Need for Speed: Shift 2 as well.
Anyway, Dirt 2 and now Dirt 3 have taken a different approach with driver assists. These include such things as automatic ABS breaking, automatic gear changing (been available in a less pro-active form in most racing games for a long time) and best line, which takes the form of a green broken line that changes to yellow and then red if you need to slow down. (Shift 1 and 2 also use this system). Which gives you a visual warning when to break. Dirt 3 now has more driver assists that makes it almost impossible to lose a race if you have them all turned on. You can change the difficulty which will automatically turn off some or all of these assists which then give the game a much mre difficult playing experience. Which is a good thing. Some of the game si have such as Race 07 (which is still releasing expansion packs four years after it’s release and the last years F1 2010 are really hard games. They have a level of realism that necessitates you having at least a racing wheel and better still foot pedals to play effectively. I’ve only just got these so will be returning to both games soon, but first I want to experience this new game to the fullest. When I Dirt 3 on the easiest setting with all driver assists on I was beating all opposition by up to 20 seconds. I’ve now changed the difficulty because I do like a challenge. It’s great winning, but not at the expense of game play. With all driver assists set to on you can literally just keep the accelerator pressed down on full and steer yourself around corners without crashing because the games coding automatically reduces speed approaching bends etc. When I played dirt 2 I was able to win still, but only by the skin of my teeth because I had to break myself, lol.
I would highly recommend Dirt 3 to all novice racing gamers, you’ll really feel like you’re winning. That said, I was little disappointed with the game. I liked the dirt 2 format, but they have changed it significantly. Also I feel that the graphics are not quite as good as dirt 2. There seems to be something missing. But it may just be me and my fading eye sight, lol.
The Game:
Get ready for DiRT 3! Race through the snow, rain and dirt and experience dramatic night races with the most amount of rally content in the series yet.Express yourself in the stunning new Gymkhana mode, inspired by Ken Block’s incredible freestyle driving event, and upload your best runs direct to YouTube! Compete in iconic rally cars representing 50 years of the sport, from the classic Audi Quattro to the 2011 Ford Fiesta WRC, and take on all game modes in split-screen and competitive online multiplayer. Competing as a professional rally star you’ll enjoy intense racing across three continents – from the forests of Michigan to the infamous roads of Finland and the national parks of Kenya.
Powered by Codemasters’ award-winning EGO Engine, DiRT 3 features Flashback to rewind time and genre-leading damage. DiRT 3 is the ultimate off-road racer
Reference accessed HERE 24th May 2011
You Tube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7day7jC9f0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_9KyQaQ0G8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxeoLm3bNl0
System Requirements
Minimum:
OS: Microsoft Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 2.8GHz, Intel Pentium® D 2.8Ghz
Memory: 2GB
Hard Disk Space: 15GB
Video Card: AMD Radeon™ HD 2000 256MB, NVIDIA® GeForce® 8000 Series 256MB
DirectX®: DirectX® 9
Sound: DirectX® compatible soundcard
Recommended Specifications: Enhanced for DirectX 11:
OS: Windows Vista® or Windows® 7
Processor:AMD Phenom™ II or Intel® Core™ i7
Memory: 3GB
Hard Disk Space: 15GB
Video Card: AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 Series
DirectX®: DirectX® 11
Sound: DirectX® compatible soundcard
Check the game out on Steam HERE
To all of you who have bothered to read this far I have a surprise for you. :) I have a spare copy of Dirt 2 that I’d like to giveaway. Please make sure you’re going to like the game by downloading the demo that’s available via steam before you post a “I want this game” message to me. The game is a steam version so you will need to have a free steam account and the client installed. You can download Steam HERE (the download link is near the bottom of the page on the right; it’s a big green button that says “Install Steam Now” . You can download a demo of Dirt 2 HERE. After playing the demo, if you still think you’d like the game PM me. (If my inbox is full leave a note here and I’ll delete some PM’s then you can try PM’ing me again). I’ll leave this running for as long as I feel is necessary, then will put all the names of those who’ve asked and will pick out a winner. The winner will need to give me their Steam account name or their email that they use to register Steam so that I can gift the game to them.