Colin McRae DiRT: Review (2007)

Colin McRae DiRT: Review

Ah yes, Colin McRae DiRT. Way back in 2007 I was able to get a good look at this game, due in part of numerous trailers, interviews and of course, gameplay videos. Yet, every one of the videos shown of the game all had one thing in common; that is the game  looked extraordinary, it pretty much blew my mind away; I even remember seeing one particular trailer and I said, "Wow I really, really want that game!". I begged for weeks and weeks for it and that very year I brought it on PC. Only later on did I find out my old computer could barely play the damn thing. It was slow, ugly and prone to crashing. Unfortunately, my old computer specs were weak and being unaware of such things as 'graphics cards' and 'processors' my twelve year old self did not realise all this until much, much later on.

It's 2015 now and of course I've learnt so much about computers, various specs and even partly building one last year do I finally purchase a rather nice laptop to once again try my hand at DiRT. So, has my view on the game changed or is it time to put an old broken dream to rest? Read on to find out...

Presentation:

First i'll start off with how the game opens up to the player. We first see at the time, the newly designed logo of Codemasters, the developers of this game coming towards us to end up nicely at the midpoint of the screen. After this the opening CGI kicks in to remind you just how much you'll be having to do in the career mode of DiRT with the various vehicles shown not limited but including Buggies, Hill Climb cars and my favourite, the Rally cars. After a spectacular crash-out, the menu music plays, the game makes you do a profile and you are almost ready to play. 

(Highly detailed menus? Yes please!)

The very first thing I take into my eyes is the highly talked about menus of the game. Usually a menu is well, menu; it is just there to allow the player to go to different sections, changing various settings before finally starting the game proper. In DiRT however the menu is a fascinating thing to behold. Everything looks superb here, from the high quality visuals, to the use of blur effects to the way the transitions work. It is seamless, loading screens free and just a sight to relish at. Before the start of every race the stats of your racing career come up and its a nice reminder as to the possible achievements you've done during your time playing DiRT.       

(Important stats about cars are explained in the career mode)

Sadly, once you start the actual career mode, Travis Pastrana talks you through the basics of how the career mode works as well as explaining your cars and what each different component on a car does... Which is very nice. Mind you, Mr Pastrana cannot be skipped until he finishes boring you to death with information you already know about or in some cases, do not care about. Ultimately this dampens the excitement levels a tad but, once he finally lets you race, it's time for the fun stuff.   

Gameplay:

DiRT is actually a rather huge game, so huge in fact you will not completely finish the game for at least 10-20 hours. Trust me the difficult nature of the game will make sure it is finished later rather than sooner. So, there's a good number of different vehicles in this game; about 46 to be precise, all with different liveries, a kind of way to apply basic customising to each vehicle. You have different rally cars, trucks, buggies, pickup trucks and hill climb cars. Honestly, all are fun to drive and have different ways of changing up the gameplay. Rally for example is a single car timed event, meaning you have to finish a track in the quickest time possible without wiping out and totalling your car. Every stage has a set of checkpoints to determine how fast you are compared to the rest of the field. You will not see another car in this mode, meaning all that stands between you and first place is your own driving skills and of course, mother nature.  

(Mmmmmm, nice interior...)

The modes CORR, Rally Reid and Rallycross are all circuit based modes where you have to race a certain number of laps against other drivers, trying to beat them while you continue to fight the elements in typical rally fashion. And finally Hill Climb will see you using powerful-super modified rally cars with big spoilers rear and front, combined with lots of horsepower to climb various mountain peaks, all in the name of seeing how fast you can beat nature and survive. (Note you cannot fall off and blow up your car. *Sad Face*)

(Hill Climb events will test your courage and skills)

How does the game feel to play then? Well with a keyboard, (Which I do not use, thank god!), its not good at all. The cars feel loose and lack weight and it's just not the ideal way of trying to play this game. Granted you can get somewhere with a keyboard if you practise and give it time but, as is the case for most modern games, you are better off with a controller. Now with a controller, the game is much more fun. You can easily adjust the turning, you can control the breaking and acceleration more smoothly and in general it feels all the more responsive than a keyboard. Not only that but the track design is thoroughly well thought out too. Tracks are littered with signs, dirt, potholes, trees, bushes, fences; essentially any obstacle you can think of, this game will have it. Minus whales, turtles and battlefields in the distance of course.

(The AI will keep you on your toes as you go through the career mode)

Although lacking weight, the cars are fun to drive. Each car has it's own unique properties, such as being more resistant to damage or having quick changes in gears. Either way, all cars respond well with excellent breaking, agile turing and of course that satisfying feeling when accelerating and breaking. Of course when switching camera views, once you get to the nicely rendered head camera, it shakes, rattles with jumps and bumps, its a really nice way to view the experience and it makes you feel like you really are in the vehicle, tearing up the tracks and driving these souped up rally cars.

(Pickup trucks are a challenge, especially with jumps!)

But, the biggest draw for me was the damage model. Oh yes the second best thing this game has to offer is the way cars deform when they collide with anything in the game environment. Cars wrap around trees, bits and bobs fall off, cars deform in a number of ways, resulting to wreaks never being the same, cars can get scratched, windows break, bushes and small trees can be run into and crushed and of course for the first time in the Colin McRae series cars can finally be killed in a number of ways. Oh the joy I had destroying cars in this game, so much pleasure just seeing what the damage model could really achieve. All I can say is DiRT's damage engine is still one of the best out there, almost ten years into it's release.

(An example of the damage engine on show here)

The only real disappointment here is the online mode. Basically all you can choose is rally and hill climbing modes and you randomly choose tracks by voting. You never see your opponents, just ghost cars and you can hardly talk to people due to how fast the voting system is. I honestly believe this game should either have been single player only or, Codemasters add in the other modes where you would be able to race other players on the same track as you. Overall it's a massive let down on a otherwise great game here. 

Graphics:

The one thing I could never enjoy as a kid is finally realised here. The game is drop dead gorgeous. The game engine used in this game is called "Neon", an engine which allowed the developers to push the boundaries of how cars and objects should behave in environments, as well as produce stunning graphics and a great damage system. The results are brilliant. The textures are all of the highest quality, from the trees, to the environments and of course the stay of the show, the cars themselves. Every bit of this game got the high class treatment and it shows every time you play it. You just appreciate all of the hard work Codemasters did here and it still blows my mind to think a game from 2007 not only looks this good but it is also capable of running at 1920x1080, in 2007! Even just seeing different textures on the ground to the huge draw distance to the high quality text on the sign posts and the game's nice use of motion blur all adds up to a game that is just a pleasure to the eyes.  

(This was made in 2007? Wow, still looks good to me...)

We all know that games are nothing really if the gameplay is as good as getting a rotten apple to eat but, seeing how much this game pushed consoles and average PC's at the time, it's no wonder my friends keep saying how good DiRT really looks after all this time. Codemasters really need to push this kind of level of graphics again and, hopefully the new game in the series, DiRT Rally can finally rectify this issue. 

(Racing doesn't look sweeter than this right?)

Sound:

Sound design is important in gaming. Without good sound effects, music or voice acting, one's game experience can get dampened somewhat and it can change how we think of certain games. DiRT's sound effects are very good. Most of the great sound effects come from the sound of the cars themselves with their gear thunks being loud, the superb crash sound effects that will deafen your ears, I promise you and the nice roar of the engines as they speed past spectators to their destinations.

 (That will hurt!)

Mind you, the music in the replay mode was a bit.... Hmmm... Well I only liked two songs and even then the songs are bland and forgettable in my opinion. They just do not provide the kick ass entertainment other racing game songs would provide and on their own, without the game background noise going on, it just sounds like a very weak effort here.

Then again after having to hear Mr Pastrana constantly tell me to, "Move on up to pro am mode", in the career mode over and over again, i'd be happy to keep hearing that music just so I can rid my brain of his over obnoxious voice over. The long time co-driver of Colin McRae, Nicky Grist has also been replaced too, for the worst. The unknown man just spouts jokes that only people who may have watched Saved By The Bell, a 90s sitcom which featured similar jokes to the ones this man blurts out, will understand. While funny the first time, after the 6th time of hearing, "I'm mister cool and you're mister smooth", all I want to do is kick him out of my car and drive without his "help".

Overall Verdict:

With the game out for cheap on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, DiRT is a fantastic rally/racing game. Despite some silly issues, such as the voice overs and the lack of a decent online mode, DiRT is a game you shouldn't miss out on and for everything the games does right, it practically exceeds or meets of expectations of a true next generation game. And besides, with how powerful PC's have become, its finally time to enjoy DiRT the way it was meant to be all those years ago. Codemasters out did themselves with this and now we can finally experience this game the way it was meant to be nearly ten years ago. Happy racing!

(I bet you like the look of this, don't you?)

(Gameplay Of DiRT in 4K)

  

 Presentation: 8

Great menus, decent menu music and of course, those transitions though!

Gameplay: 7

Floaty driving and poor keyboard controls aside this is a fun, well built and fluid rally racing game, with amazing ways of deforming and destroying every car.

Graphics: 9

Back then, graphics like this was only something us gamers could only dream of. Even today the game still looks stunning and still holds up better than most games released in 2007.

Sound: 7

The game's crash sound effects are well worth hearing, as are the cars themselves. The replay music is dull however and the voice overs get annoying rather quickly.

Overall rating: 8.3 out of 10 

Great!

This review was done by:

Jonathan Burden