At least there’s an option to switch the basic instructions shouted through your earpiece from your co-driver to the technical pace notes enthusiasts would otherwise miss. If there’s one other minor complaint, it’s that the rally events tend to be single-stage races, lacking the pressure of older titles like Colin McRae Rally 2.0, where you needed to shave a few tenths off each sector in each repeat run to eventually win the rally. Nevertheless, once you’ve got the hang of handbrake turns, it’s supremely satisfying to execute the perfects drifts round tight corners and spray the crowd with mud at hairpins. We’re not convinced they entirely succeeded in their task, as vehicles still tended to roll without persuasion and turned as if mounted on a spindle through the centre of the car. Codemasters worked closely with pros like Ken Block to ensure that each discipline was realistic, and that cars had a ‘weight’ to them. No matter what your driving skills are like, there’s a difficulty level to suit. That’s not to say that Dirt 2 isn’t enjoyable, though. If you do total it in a moment of bad judgement, you’ll be offered a Flashback (an idea lifted straight from Race Driver: Grid) which lets you rewind time by a few seconds and have another go at that overtaking manoeuvre. Damage doesn’t noticeably affect the car’s performance, and won’t prevent you driving in a straight line. However, be under no illusions that Dirt 2 is a simulation this is a casual affair that mixes the crashes and slow-motion from Burnout with the mobile phone chats from Grand Theft Auto.
You can choose how involved you get with the car’s setup (or not at all), and whether the car’s in-race damage is purely cosmetic or actually affects the car’s handling. You get to drive around 35 or more diverse vehicles and when it comes to on-track action, Dirt 2 is simply fantastic.
You make an auspicious start by being handed the keys to the late McRae’s No Fear Subaru Impreza, and you jump straight into racing at London’s disused Battersea power station.
To do so, pause the game with Options if you’re on PS4 (Menu on Xbox One), select Options, then Game Settings, and then. Of course, proper rally stages are kept in the mix for good measure.Īs with Codemasters’ previous games, such as Race Driver: Grid, you play the part of the aspiring racer, with cheery cut-scenes throughout the proceedings to link the races. Finally, you can also change difficulty in Dirt Rally 2.0 during a race.
The Colin McRae Rally series spans over a decade, but Dirt 2 – just as with Dirt in 2007 – veers away from pure rallying and heads out into the wilds of extreme off-road racing, including rally cross (circuit racing with a mixture of tarmac and gravel), point-to-point landrush events, ‘throwdown’ challenges against one other driver, last-man-standing races and gatecrasher, where you drive through barriers against the clock. It was almost exactly two years ago that rally driving champion Colin McRae was killed in a helicopter crash, but despite his untimely death, his name lives on in Dirt 2, Codemasters’ latest off-road racer.