Hope you enjoy!
Of all the various genres of gaming, racing games are one of those that I feel I must always keep at least one title of in my library. It?s the kind of game that I typically won?t dump assloads of time into and get lost in like an MMO, but they are great to have if you want to pick up and play something that will give the hand eye coordination a quick workout. Within this class of games, come many sub-genres. Ranging from futuristic racing games, a la Wipeout, to more arcade style racing like Burnout, and to simulations like Gran Turismo. There is something for everyone who enjoys racing games. Personally, I?m not only a racing game lover, but a lover of real racing. While I consider Le Mans to be the crème de la crème of racing, there is something to be said about Rally racing. Back in high school, I was a fiend for the stuff. The World Rally Championship used to be aired on the Speed channel, but has not been since 2005. So now, the only fix that I can get for the stuff is via internet videos. Or should I say, that was the only way.
In the past, I?ve owned a few of the Colin McRae games. They?ve all been aimed at an audience of Rally lovers, so typically a very niche group here in the states in comparison to the droves of fans in Europe. Colin McRae: Dirt was released in 2007. I must add at this point that I never purchased Dirt. I played the demo, enjoyed it, but I felt like I enjoyed the damage physics more than the racing itself. Something never felt solid about the driving. I know you?re driving on rough terrain, but it felt like the cars were made of used wrapping paper with as loose as the controls were. It was similar to the way the previous McRae games felt, but that type of control never felt ?wrong? until I played the Motorstorm games. Yes, Rally fans are probably hitting the big ?X? on this tab on the browser right now because I said that Motorstorm felt better than a serious Rally sim. But to me, the weighty feel that Motorstorm?s vehicles have just felt good. Not so much during the occasional lack of control by being airborne for a solid 15 seconds, but while all four wheels were planted, it felt right.
Last weekend I picked up Dirt 2. Off the bat, I was not super impressed by the XTREEEEME feel to everything. The X games vibe just doesn?t click in my mind when I think ?Rally racing?. Not to say I don?t enjoy the X games. As a former skater with long locks of hair (no joke), I dig it. I?ve just always associated racing with a more adult crowd. Yeah, I know, Rally is now an X games event, yadda yadda. Get off my lawn! But seriously, it grew on me quick. From as you walk around your camper, otherwise know as the menu, you can see that this game just bleeds style. And the camper is a pretty unique way of making you feel more immersed in the game even while performing the most mundane of tasks such as adjusting you difficulty setting.
Speaking of difficulty, another initial dislike of mine was the flashback system. I believe this was first introduced in Grid. It allows the player to rewind time up to five seconds from when you hit a button, and resets you so you can undo your wrong moves. Think like time reversal in Braid or Prince of Persia: The Sand of Time, but with usage limits based on the level of difficulty you set. When I first saw this I thought, ?What a mockery. What kind of lamer would use a system like this?? Well, it turns out I?m the kind of lamer who would. I notched the difficulty up to ?Serious? which gives you three flashbacks. In most races I don?t find myself using them, but hey, the mechanic was put in the game for a reason right? What?s brilliant about the flashbacks is they open up the game to a broader audience. If you have this game set to the highest difficulty, then prepare for a racing simulation. If you have it on easy, it?s more like an arcade style racer. It?s one of the few games I?ve ever played that truly feels different on every level you set it to. On top of that, I feel compelled to get good enough at the game so that I can set it to that ?sim? level and feel comfortable. Where I?m at right now though gives me a perfect mix of difficulty and fun. It?s not making me pissed because I can?t make a certain turn, and I?m not bored with the game in any way. I?m getting that Motorstorm feeling, but even better because it?s being done in a realistic setting.
I can?t say much for the graphics. Really, because all I can say is the game looks gorgeous. Cars collect dirt as you?d expect, the collision detection is as good as in the first Dirt, which is amazing. It runs at a solid framerate. Just wow.
One thing I?m not wowing over though is the voice acting. I expected people like Dirt 2 poster child Ken Block to be in the game, dropping some lines at you, but he and his cohorts honestly need to say more things?or nothing at all. The voice work is well done, but for example; when you bump into other drivers, especially on Rallycross events, they usually quip something at you like, ?watch it? or ?where?d you come from?. The problem is it seems that each driver got one line to say, so you hear the same thing constantly.
Other than the voice acting, if I had to draw one complaint, it?s that I wish I could concentrate down a specific path in the game. Not to say it?s impossible to only do rally events, or only do pro truck events, the game would just feel shallow without participating in them all. With that said though, Codemasters did a bang on job at making each of the vehicles feel truly unique. When I go from racing on a Baja dirt track in a Bowler Nemesis, to running a segment of a Croatian course in my rally prepped BMW Z4, it?s very offsetting. There?s such a disparity between the handling that I usually have to restart the race once or twice to get my bearings. And that is awesome.
I truly hope that my gripes didn?t seem harsh, because this game is fantastic. Other than the voice work, everything in this game just works. It feels great and it looks gorgeous. To put it bluntly, this is the Rally experience I?ve always wanted. All the previous McRae games were fantastic, but this is in a new league. If you want a great racing title to tide you over until Gran Turismo 5 gets here, pick it up.
Of all the various genres of gaming, racing games are one of those that I feel I must always keep at least one title of in my library. It?s the kind of game that I typically won?t dump assloads of time into and get lost in like an MMO, but they are great to have if you want to pick up and play something that will give the hand eye coordination a quick workout. Within this class of games, come many sub-genres. Ranging from futuristic racing games, a la Wipeout, to more arcade style racing like Burnout, and to simulations like Gran Turismo. There is something for everyone who enjoys racing games. Personally, I?m not only a racing game lover, but a lover of real racing. While I consider Le Mans to be the crème de la crème of racing, there is something to be said about Rally racing. Back in high school, I was a fiend for the stuff. The World Rally Championship used to be aired on the Speed channel, but has not been since 2005. So now, the only fix that I can get for the stuff is via internet videos. Or should I say, that was the only way.
In the past, I?ve owned a few of the Colin McRae games. They?ve all been aimed at an audience of Rally lovers, so typically a very niche group here in the states in comparison to the droves of fans in Europe. Colin McRae: Dirt was released in 2007. I must add at this point that I never purchased Dirt. I played the demo, enjoyed it, but I felt like I enjoyed the damage physics more than the racing itself. Something never felt solid about the driving. I know you?re driving on rough terrain, but it felt like the cars were made of used wrapping paper with as loose as the controls were. It was similar to the way the previous McRae games felt, but that type of control never felt ?wrong? until I played the Motorstorm games. Yes, Rally fans are probably hitting the big ?X? on this tab on the browser right now because I said that Motorstorm felt better than a serious Rally sim. But to me, the weighty feel that Motorstorm?s vehicles have just felt good. Not so much during the occasional lack of control by being airborne for a solid 15 seconds, but while all four wheels were planted, it felt right.
Last weekend I picked up Dirt 2. Off the bat, I was not super impressed by the XTREEEEME feel to everything. The X games vibe just doesn?t click in my mind when I think ?Rally racing?. Not to say I don?t enjoy the X games. As a former skater with long locks of hair (no joke), I dig it. I?ve just always associated racing with a more adult crowd. Yeah, I know, Rally is now an X games event, yadda yadda. Get off my lawn! But seriously, it grew on me quick. From as you walk around your camper, otherwise know as the menu, you can see that this game just bleeds style. And the camper is a pretty unique way of making you feel more immersed in the game even while performing the most mundane of tasks such as adjusting you difficulty setting.
Speaking of difficulty, another initial dislike of mine was the flashback system. I believe this was first introduced in Grid. It allows the player to rewind time up to five seconds from when you hit a button, and resets you so you can undo your wrong moves. Think like time reversal in Braid or Prince of Persia: The Sand of Time, but with usage limits based on the level of difficulty you set. When I first saw this I thought, ?What a mockery. What kind of lamer would use a system like this?? Well, it turns out I?m the kind of lamer who would. I notched the difficulty up to ?Serious? which gives you three flashbacks. In most races I don?t find myself using them, but hey, the mechanic was put in the game for a reason right? What?s brilliant about the flashbacks is they open up the game to a broader audience. If you have this game set to the highest difficulty, then prepare for a racing simulation. If you have it on easy, it?s more like an arcade style racer. It?s one of the few games I?ve ever played that truly feels different on every level you set it to. On top of that, I feel compelled to get good enough at the game so that I can set it to that ?sim? level and feel comfortable. Where I?m at right now though gives me a perfect mix of difficulty and fun. It?s not making me pissed because I can?t make a certain turn, and I?m not bored with the game in any way. I?m getting that Motorstorm feeling, but even better because it?s being done in a realistic setting.
I can?t say much for the graphics. Really, because all I can say is the game looks gorgeous. Cars collect dirt as you?d expect, the collision detection is as good as in the first Dirt, which is amazing. It runs at a solid framerate. Just wow.
One thing I?m not wowing over though is the voice acting. I expected people like Dirt 2 poster child Ken Block to be in the game, dropping some lines at you, but he and his cohorts honestly need to say more things?or nothing at all. The voice work is well done, but for example; when you bump into other drivers, especially on Rallycross events, they usually quip something at you like, ?watch it? or ?where?d you come from?. The problem is it seems that each driver got one line to say, so you hear the same thing constantly.
Other than the voice acting, if I had to draw one complaint, it?s that I wish I could concentrate down a specific path in the game. Not to say it?s impossible to only do rally events, or only do pro truck events, the game would just feel shallow without participating in them all. With that said though, Codemasters did a bang on job at making each of the vehicles feel truly unique. When I go from racing on a Baja dirt track in a Bowler Nemesis, to running a segment of a Croatian course in my rally prepped BMW Z4, it?s very offsetting. There?s such a disparity between the handling that I usually have to restart the race once or twice to get my bearings. And that is awesome.
I truly hope that my gripes didn?t seem harsh, because this game is fantastic. Other than the voice work, everything in this game just works. It feels great and it looks gorgeous. To put it bluntly, this is the Rally experience I?ve always wanted. All the previous McRae games were fantastic, but this is in a new league. If you want a great racing title to tide you over until Gran Turismo 5 gets here, pick it up.
