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REVIEW OF VIRTUAL GAME - DIRT 2
'It's filled with insanity of dirt filled mud tracks, burning smell of rubber and a lot of crushing ego attitude. Oh! And there is some serious racing too! Enter the high speed world of Colin McRae's 'Dirt 2'. The Dirt series of games that bought off-road rally racing onto the virtual screen all over world. This game, Dirt 2 is the newest installment to this penultimate series.
In the game, you choose the role of an up-coming 'rookie' rally race driver who goes head to head against some of the biggest names in rally racing. Two of the pro drivers you get to compete are Ken Block and Travis Pastrana. Unlike other racing titles there is no quick race mode. So you immediately start with a career which in terms is quite lengthy. The game amazingly caters to wide range of players. Skill set that can suit individual style and playing ability can be toggled at any point through out the game. Whatever the difficulty (or easy) level you choose, you are able to finish the lengthy career mode as a champion.
For the purist at their games, those who prefer 'real' world simulation; Dirt2 can prove to be nostalgic mix of both. It retains the arcade style playing factor yet has a touch of (very lightly) a true blue simulation driving game. Handling of the cars varies very significantly as you progress in the game. Each car posses its own set of handling needs, so you do need some time in getting used-to the driving style, as you adopt a new set of wheels.
When you start off with the career, the first car you get to drive is a 'Subaru Impreza that belonged to Colin McRae. "You need to fill (feel) some big shoes!' say's the narration voice, when you are presented with you're first car. The developer team at Codemasters, has offered nearly 35 (+) cars in the game. At the beginning the cars offered are less powered and to be frank are found sluggish for those accustomed to other such racing games. But as the game progresses, the cars become faster, with the plethora of upgrades that you can avail. Most of these upgrades are mandatory for keeping up with the competition, unless you need a really slow and sluggish ride, when all the opponents are leaving you slithered in dirt and zooming towards victory.
These upgrades come in the form of kits, specifically designed (meant) for different race events. The cash that is awarded when completing the races can be used to buy those upgrades. A nice touch to this, you can tinker with the various settings, on or before resuming any race event. You are allowed to play around making 'necessary' changes to the differential setting, adjusting the down force of the car, intensity of the brakes and also the ride height. Even if you are new to such terminology and get confused during making the changes, there is good chance that you will do so without any hitch, as all the setting are clearly explained. The changes that are made prior (or during) can be immediately noticed as you drive on the dirt filled roads.
Usually with driving games, a game pad or racing wheel is highly recommended to enjoy game, but the game control also works flawlessly with use of a keyboard. Regardless of driving a rally car, a truck or even a buggy, the responsive controls help keep the car where you need it the most i.e on the road (off the road if you prefer too!) Even while circumnavigating all the slopes, hard pin corners or driving off the muddy hilled roads, which can be done with formidable ease. The damage engine used in the game is superb. Though it is purely cosmetic, every bump and dent to the car is purely visible. Although this damage doesn't affect the cars handling, but to add a touch of virtual realism, if you crash into any obstacle at high speed, the cars gets totaled. You can use the flashback feature to regain for the point just before the crash, but for most of us the idea of transforming a vehicle into a mangled piece of shredded metal, sounds more fun. Yes! In a devilish kind of way, it is even more enjoyable when watching the havoc unfold in uber HD.
The visuals to the game are hyper realistic. On our machine that consists of an AMD processor with 4GB of RAM and an NVIDIA 8800GT graphic processor, the game gave us decent enough frame rates with all the setting notched up. That includes the AA turned all the way up. HDR has been shamelessly thrown into the game; this makes watching even the tiniest of light reflected from the shiny surface of the car, a royal pain on the visual cortex (eyes). The detailing to the environments and the cars are rendered to a near perfect. Dirt 2 isn't necessarily resource hungry, considering all the awesome visual candy that has been added to the game. Any PC with decent (recommended) hardware can play it without any sort of glitch or dropped frame rates. The other element that makes the game fun is the audio design. The roaring engines sound monstrous on a decent set of speakers, and the aural sounds, like scratching of the metal against rock hardened surface, can be clearly heard. This does add a touch of realism to the game.
Dirt2 is immersive, and being available on all the gaming platforms (PC, PS3 & XBOX360) the players have as many options to choose, for unduly fulfilling their off road rally driving needs. One more thing, 'Don't forget those seat belts!'
