POSTED 26/5/11


DIRT 3

Codemasters

An Aussie, a Yank and a Pom walk into an auto garage. The setup for a really shit gag? Nah, it’s actually your ‘team’ (in which we assume there’s no ‘I’), dealing the ‘ra!’ as you careen joyfully through DiRT 3.

After drowning ourselves in DiRT 2, we were curious as to how Codies could do gooderer. Consider that curiosity sated. Menus have been given a smoothness makeover that makes Slick Willie look like a total bumblefuck. Triangles and tetrahedrons are the go rather than crapola RVs, and everything just flows (although loading times = ARGH!). No more earning $$$s to accumulate cars, as racing teams come courting, dangling all the motors of your dreams from five decades of rallying in hopes of buying your loyalty. Including Minis new and old – yay!

Codemasters’ super-solid racing engine’s been hardened further, with extreme weather introduced, as well as the big newbie on top of the classic racing modes, ‘gymkhana’. A specialty of Colin McRae’s successor in flogging this product, Ken Block, it’s essentially It’s A Knockout for cars. From slalom and drifting to “fully sick mate!” donutmania that’d make Gino Tagliatoni sully his leather dacks, it’s bloody hard, but damned ace fun when you start mastering things. That you’re given London’s Battersea Power Station (sans flying pig) to play in definitely helping.

DiRT 3 is wonderfully nonpartisan. Got a functional left thumb and two pointer fingers? Then you can feel non-sucky as you maraud with all assists set to stun. Dial them back gradually though and the need for skill will kick in – do it easy or do it really fucking hard, it rocks to have options. Mind you, drifting challenges and the aforementioned gymkhana will soon sort the heroes from the zeroes.

DiRT 3, you're really living up to all the hype mate. Good job!

CLICK THIS!



CLICK THIS!