DiRT 2 Hands-on Preview

Gamezine gets its hands-on Codemasters' latest off-road racer DiRT 2.

So today we were lucky enough to visit Codemasters and get our hands-on with DiRT 2; the off-road sequel to the critically acclaimed 2007 racer.

First off the bat, you might have been impressed by DiRT's front-end menus, but DiRT 2 really does up the ante with a real-time festival event framing the game's selectable options.

Head into your personal RV, choose your event, and check out your gathered souvenirs from each of the countries you've visited; USA, Japan, Malaysia, Baja, Croatia, London and others are included.

DiRT 2's graphics certainly look spectacular, building on 2008's GRID (showing the scant amount of time Codies had to create the game) with lush jungles, shimmering water and dirt being sprayed all over your windscreen.

Head into the cock-pit view and you might notice one of the toys you've been awarded during your racing career, such as fluffy dice or a skull (it's eyes roll to the bumps of your racing).

From stadium racing in the US, to driving through Battersea in London, and canyon racing in Utah, to rallying through Malaysian rainforests; the game's locations are varied, with each sporting its own festival, DJ soundtrack and unique atmosphere.


It's good to see that the team has answered gamers and critics alike with their online multiplayer: by adding 8 player online (the number is not due to technical limitations; play-testing discovered that this was the perfect number) to the first game's solitary experience, competitive racing is in.

Choose any car, any track and any mode from the outset and find that you can start your online racing with wither all the cars leaving the start line at the same time, or in a staggered realistic rally race, where you can play cat and mouse with the other drivers.



Other notable inclusions include the X-Games license, which brings an extreme sports feel; the flashback re-wind of GRID; and night time racing.

The last inclusion is important, due to the night racing showing off the game's deferred rendering; a feature Codies has been working very hard on. Like Killzone 2, this technique allows the game to sport multiple light-sources to bring the track to life, and on the night-time London track we played (Battersea), it was definitely impressive.


Though the late great Colin McRae is no longer with us, DiRT 2's design is still inspired by him, prompting a move into more extreme sports and even resulting in the Colin McRae Memorial Challenge at the end of the game, which is tough, very tough.

DiRT 2 will hit the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS and PSP on September 11th.

Patrick Steen