... Colin McRae rally games have been around for sometime and are often thought of as simulation games. Tricky to drive, lots of fiddling about with settings etc just to be able to reach the end of the course. One for the purist rally fanatic you might say but over the generations the realism ... Read review
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with up to 12 individually styled cars in each race100+ off-road racing events including rally, rallycross, raid and trailblazerPlayers are no longer constra...
Postage & Packaging: £1.94 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Huge Variety of Race Styles&FormatFeatures intense solo races and frantic multi-car events ... more
with up to 12 individually styled cars in each race100+ off-road racing events including rally, rallycross, raid and trailblazerPlayers are no longer constra...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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Advantages: Graphics, gameplay and variety. Disadvantages: Long load times before races.
...of the racing game. Colin McRae rally games have been around for sometime and are often thought of as simulation games. Tricky to drive, lots of fiddling about with settings etc just to be able to reach the end of the course. One for the purist rally fanatic you might say but over the generations the realism has improved and the controls been ironed out to make the games more playable and now that Dirt has been offered as the first McRae game on ... ...most famous names in rallying, Colin McRae (rest in peace) it doesn't really feature him in the game which is a good thing in my honest opinion as celebrity endorsed games are often annoyingly bad. This isn't one of those games I hasten to add.
*First Impressions*
When the game first loads you get the usual adverts for the software houses, yeah yeah very nice and then you get a nice simple menu screen with a floating ... more
I am an avid gamer who has been playing games since the days of early Atari consoles and have always enjoyed the thrill of the racing game. Colin McRae rally games have been around for sometime and are often thought of as simulation games. Tricky to drive, lots of fiddling about with settings etc just to be able to reach the end of the course. One for the purist rally fanatic you might say but over the generations the realism has improved and the controls been ironed out to make the games more playable and now that Dirt has been offered as the first McRae game on the next gen consoles I thought it might be worth a play.
The first thing that hit me about Dirt was that even though it carrys one of the most famous names in rallying, Colin McRae (rest in peace) it doesn't really feature him in the game which is a good thing in my honest opinion as celebrity endorsed games are often annoyingly bad. This isn't one of those games I hasten to add.
*First Impressions*
When the game first loads you get the usual adverts for the software houses, yeah yeah very nice and then you get a nice simple menu screen with a floating menu that looks like its drifting in open space, nice touch. The worst thing as a first impression is that the voice over that to be fair does a good clear job of explaining the menus etc is very american. Now don't get me wrong, thats not a bad thing in itself but as its endorsed by a scot I just though the game my have more of a UK feel about it. Not a big issue I know but there you have it. As you navigate the menu you can drift nicely to other menus deeper into the screen to get more info about events etc which again has a nice feel about it. So all in all first impressions are good, if they have taken this much time over the menu then just imagine what the game must be like.
*Getting Started*
With your friendly American guide starting off in the world of Dirt is pretty simple. You have about 4 cars to start off with and you can choose from a selection of races and styles of racing. The events are laid out in a pyramid with you starting off at the bottom tier and by successfully completing the events here you can unlock new events on this level and once you have unlock enough at tier one you can move up to tier 2 etc and this can be done with or without completing the whole of tier 1 although you will gain a small achievement if you do all of a tier.
*Racing Styles*
There are several race styles in the Dirt game which offer plenty of variety.
Rally - The normal point to point rally stages on a mixture of surfaces including gravel, tarmac and dirt etc.
Rallycross - This involves racing curcuits which are usually dirt and tarmac tracks against 6 to 8 other competitors who don't hold back.
Rally Raid - This is usually bigger more pupose built off road vehicles and you race purely off road, like desert racing, some point to point and some long tracks. Other vehicles involved here like the rally cross.
Pro Truck Racing - US style big V8 truck racing on a motocross style track with other competitors, lots of bumping and bashing in this race class.
Crossover Racing - This is you against another car on a closed curcuit with a cross over point so you start half a track apart and both race around the same track and the quickest wins, think race of champions if you have seen that on TV?
So plenty of types of racing to keep you going in this game with each one linking to live if you have it and at the end of each race you get to know just how many thousands of people are quicker than you in the world from the online score boards. Replays are quite good also and are shown after each event but can be skipped.
*Controls and Views*
Driving games always have the same controls and there is nothing new here for Dirt, the progressive steering and breaks etc are good with the analogue features of the 360 controllers and would be better with a wheel set but I haven't got one of those. The views are good with the usual chase cameras and bonnet views but you also get a great in car camera angle that shows your arms driving etc which gives you an even better feel of what it might like to be in a real race car.
*Achievement etc*
Those familiar with 360 games will know how addictive collecting the useless gamer points is and Dirt dishes out quite a few small achievements early on and they keep coming the better you get and higher you climb up the tiers. Clean racing also rewards you with some points but this isn't so easy to achieve early on.
*Graphics and Sound*
Visually this game is great with dust and dirt flying, glass shatters and flys around the cabin when you crash and the cars crumple dramatically with body parts flying off all over the place if your careless. Sound effects are the usual affair with an absense of music in the races but I don't miss it. Some of the race styles have co drivers to guide you and if you are really concentrating they can really save your bacon although occasionally I have found myself shouting back when they don't give you a lot of warning about a sharp bend etc but you do have a little scrolling map of the track on the screen which can help you too.
*Deeper Game Play*
In the main Dirt is a game you can just pick up and play and get plenty to keep you going without delving deeper but for those who like to tinker there are decent levels of car settings to fiddle with to try and get that extra tenth of speed. A huge variety of vehicles which you can purchase with your generous winnings and each with a number of colour schemes to choose from which cost a few grand to collect. I believe you can also upgrade cetain elements although I haven't delved into this yet as I am only on tier 2 of the events. Crashes in races will also cost you and on the harder levels can even end the race, in multi stage events you will have to fork out hard earned credit to repair cars and the damage will also effect the performance so a nasty bang early on and your times will suffer badly. Drive with Care!
*Overall*
This is a good racing game, better than Forza 2 for variety and is now coming down in price making it better value than at release, I have the game on rental and I know it'll have to go back before I'm tired of it so thats a good sign.
Great graphics, pick up and , deeper gameplay for those that want it, recommended. If i have to pick on something as a negative load times between races are a little long although the nice 3D floaty menus fill the time showing you interesting stats about your time in the game like how far you have travelled on 2 wheels and you biggest jump etc.
Advantages: Best Graphics of any game, long career, many disciplines and vehicles. Disadvantages: Terrible handling, annoying pace-notes and menu commentary.
...a huge fan of the Colin McRae series (and the man himself) since it began almost 10 years ago in 1998, so i was salivating at the prospect of this game. Even though McRae has since retired from WRC in the real world, i guess the license is yet to, so it'll be interesting to see how many more games they push out under his name.
So firstly the most pronounced aspect of this game is the graphics engine. I have muttered to my friends many times "best ... ...Grist and the retiring of Colin McRae to mean they haven't had any input from either of them, and it really shows. Colin and Nicky are back doing the odd rally again now, so maybe fingers crossed for the next installment? ...
If you want to see what current graphics can offer, and you like easy arcade handling, you'll prob love it. If you're a fan of rallying though, i'd shy away.
They've got the graphics engine sorted now, good. Please Codemasters, ...
bobdobs 13.08.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Colin McRae: DIRT (Xbox 360)
Advantages: Graphics are amazing, good fun Disadvantages: no offline multiplayer, handling is poor
Colin Mcrae DIRT for the XBOX 360
Ok, the game - Good, but not brilliant.
Its a rally driving game from the late Colin Mcrae, its a great game to play, with lots of things to do, and the graphics are phenominal, it has to be one of the best games for graphics available at the minute. Their is Career, championship and multiplayer modes, career is good fun, with a huge variety of courses and events available, however, it can be really repetetive, ... ...The handling of the cars disappointed me, it can be difficult to control them, and they dont usually handle like a rally car would, which is a shame, you woul dhave expected to see this from a modern rally game, as you did in the previous ones.
Multiplayer is good, but difficult, as you get some really good world class drivers on there, so you need to get some skill first, but you can race with up to ONE HUNDRED players online, which is impressive.
...
andy17898 16.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Colin McRae: DIRT (Xbox 360)
Advantages: gameplay online play career good length car choice !GRAPHICS! Disadvantages: none
...in a bit of effort to become good at the game, but in the end you will get there. I managed to get up to 25th in the world so theres a target :)lol
Also look out for the new Colin Mcrae Dirt 2 that hits the stores soon ...
gavallan2020 15.05.2009 (10.09.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Colin McRae: DIRT (Xbox 360)
Advantages: Great fun, long playability, exceptional graphics, adjustable difficulty and reasonable price :-) Disadvantages: Lack of music, can be slightly repetitive >:-(
...the best game in the Colin Mcrae series and possibly the most realistic rally game in the world. Codemasters have gone to extreme lengths in creating the latest addition to the series, which includes 40+ vehicles of a great veriety, ranging from super buggys to the ever popular rally car the Subaru Impreza WRX. The career mode is so vast and has specific goals for you to aim for which increase the playability factor of the game, and also can make ... ...you have played the other Colin Mcrae games, even with the latest features the game can still seem a bit repetitive, but to new rally drivers you will be addicted if racing games are your thing.
2. The game lacks music during gameplay. On certain tracks you have a co-driver informing you of the track layout, which you need to listen to in order to race effectively however there are a lot of races withou the co-driver. The sound of a engine roaring ...
darron89 24.07.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Colin McRae: DIRT (Xbox 360)
Advantages: Graphics and Lengthy Career Disadvantages: No multiplayer offline, repetetive
Colin Mcrae DIRT for the XBOX 360
Just gonna write a quick one for this.
Ive played it a fair bit, and there are goo dpoints to the game, but also bad points.
The graphics are the best i have seen for along time, with a nice feel to each of the maps, with great realism to the cars and still realistic when they are damaged.
the career is lengthy, and fun, as is the championship mode.
Bad points however, its quite repetetive throuigh out the game, ...
bez1972 17.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Colin McRae: DIRT (Xbox 360)
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Advantages: Lengthy career, Lag Free Multiplayer, Visual and Audio Presentation is Great, Ontense Gameplay Disadvantages: No Split Screen Multiplayer, Damage does not Affect Gameplay as Much, No Track Deterioration
After the great Colin macrae dirt from 2006, Dirt 2 had some tough job trying to better the formula.
Dirt 2, you assume the role of an up-and-coming race driver who's competing on the off-road circuit against such pros as Ken Block and Travis Pastrana for the first time. You get to choose when to race, fix up your car in between races and can even see what rivals are up too.
Obviously the main gameplay is racing. The floaty feel of the cars from the first game has been tweaked and the races feel much more intense. The Other drivers in the races are not pushovers and will put up a good fight, resulting is awesomy intense races. it isn't as reaisttic as other racers out at the moment, but it makes up for it with the fun and fast gameplay.
The graphics have been improved since 2006 and the cars look amazing with all the engine ...
Advantages: Fun for the family, Amazing online gameplay, cool cars. Disadvantages: Not enough control (basically gas and brake), Could have better graphics.
Overall a pretty good game, Controls are easy and the cars are fast. Surprisingly enough the car drive great on dirt, and they dirt awesomely around the horseshoe curves.
The Controls are pretty basic; Love the way the gas and brake are the trigger button. There not much complication with controls with racing games just gas and brake. The cars are good. They are pretty detailed and realistic. I bought as many cars as I could but the Car they give you in the beginning is the best. All the cars are great the trophy truck a really fun. All tracks are fun rally would have to be the best in my opinion. I love how you have the co-driver. Raid is exhilarating fast paced and down to the bone. And a new one last man?standing, talk about a hard one. Online multiplayer is great on Dirt 2 huge community and all up to par. It?s a good challenge ...
Advantages: Graphics, Multiplayer. Disadvantages: Single player is a bit repetative. Not enough traditional point to point rally.
Dirt 2 is a fantastic game, the first was pretty stunning visually, but yet again codemasters has done a great job with the graphics, Dirt 2 looks even better than the first.
The gameplay is as good as ever, making racing games accessible to all, there is more focus on buggy racing and other racing modes, rather than the traditional rally mode, which was the bread and butter of the colin mcrae games of the past. This is a little disappointing, however there is still much fun to be had.
The multiplayer is excellent, matchmaking is fast and there is plenty of multiplayer game types to suit all types of player. There is the time trials for the more hardcore racers and contact racing if you want a bit more fun. Overall the multiplayer has been executed perfectly in Dirt 2.
However Forza 3 is soon to come out and it looks very promising. ...
Product Information for "Colin McRae: DIRT (Xbox 360)" »
Product details
Publisher
Codemasters
Developer
Codemasters
Release Date
15th June 2007
Age
12+
Genre
Racing/Driving
Sub Genre
Rally/Offroad
Format
DVD-ROM
Platform
Xbox 360
EAN
5024866332988
Manufacturer's product description
Codemasters Studios' designers are back creating a totally reinvigorated McRae experience. The new Colin McRae title will go beyond the series' point-to-point rallying to deliver the most diverse selection of extreme off-road competitions. Sensational gravel, mud and dirt racing events from the world over will include perilous Hill Climb and collision-packed Rally Cross events.
International rallying competitions will also feature, with official cars on tracks based on real roads and locations around the globe. The title will also expand on beat-the-clock racing and include events with multiple cars on track to satisfy anyone who wants to push their on-the-edge driving just that bit further.
With official cars and official events across a wide variety of off-road and rally disciplines, the most authentic and thrilling tracks ever in a McRae game, modes that make the most of online multiplayer and the series' trademark intuitive car handling system tuned to perfection, Colin McRae Rally is evolving.