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This thread has been linked to the game 'DiRT 3'.
After years of waiting and after numerous requests submitted on the various forums by die hard fans of the Dirt series, Codemasters have finally done the decent thing and brought the Rally genre back to life with quite a bang! Indeed the focus of DIRT 3 is mainly rally plain and simply. A feature which has although been included in both Dirt 1 and Dirt 2, hasn't really dominated both games, especially Dirt 2 which focused mainly on bumber to bumber racing and competing in events such as the X Games Championships; an event which dispaointed many fans of the long time Colin McCrae series of games.
Dirt 3 does indeed feature bumber to bumber races like Dirt 1 and Dirt 2, however the focus has now switched to rally. Approximately 60% of the game that is, according to Codemasters' team of developers. However with more rally events, does this mean the Dirt franchise has hit a new high? mmm... Sadly not! Read on...
From the moment you insert the game disc into your console, you get straight into the action pretty much. Codemasters have kindly brought back the customization ferature of creating your own character before the actual racing, a feature which was included in both Dirt 2 and Race Driver GRID. Then the biggest change from after Dirt 2 opens before your eyes. We no longer have the 3D trailer setting like in the last Dirt game, but a selection of menus to navigate through, more akin to the likes of how Dirt 1 looked in comparison, although perhaps slightly more elegant to he eyes. Anyway, the fun begins when you choose your first race, which is a track racing event on a short oval type track. This opening event is actually very fun to play and the impression factor begins rather high. OK I won't lie, I absolutely loved this opening event. A nice easy race to get you into the game. The perfect opener to a racing game I would say.
However it's as you progress through the game you will begin to notice a few minor niggles with the game. The biggest of these is the length of the rallies. Most of them only last 1 and a half minutes each which is a far cry from the 4 or 5 minutes they generally lasted in the last two Dirt games, especially Dirt 1. The game difficulty is also pretty severe. There is a change difficulty option before each race which is helpful and has a full auto braking option along with a full racing line to help those inexperienced racers out there. However the fun of the Dirt games is somehow lost in Dirt 3 because of this feature. Why Codemasters couldn't just stick to 3 difficulty options such as Casual, Normal and Hard is beyond me. However practice does indeed make perfect but be prepared for quite a few nasty crashes along the way!
One of the biggest problems with Dirt 3 is the inclusion of 'Gymkhana' which is a brand new event added to the franchise. In each of these Gymkhana events, you must complete a number of different tasks, including Drifting and performing various other tricks. It's all pretty self explanitary overall, but it quickly becomes rather tedious as your Dirt Tour career progresses as you will have to perform in at least one of these Gymkhana events in each new season in the Tour. Codemasters perhaps thought Dirt needed a touch of arcade added to it's mantle piece, but for many of us, it's a rather pointless and frustrating addition. This should have been left as an optional event in a sub menu somewhere!
There are many positives about Dirt 3 however, including the beautiful graphics and weather effects, carried over from Codemasters' above par Formula One 2010. The snowy events in particular look stunning here and it actually becomes quite hard to focus on the track at times which only adds to the fun and offers a new challenge in the game. The handling has also improved somewhat since Dirt 2. Gone is the over steering and over sensitive handling from that game and in comes a much more stable handling model. Although of course the cars themselves, depending on which car you're driving, can sometimes handle differently depending on how much damage your car has taken in an event. It's the same old Dirt really, you just have to try and make sure you avoid crashing your car into tree stumps and roadside fences. Plus of course there is the return of Codemasters beloved 'Flashback' feature which enables you to rewind the action up to five times per race. So if you have a pretty nasty crash anywhere in a race, it's nice to know you can rewind the action back and restart that particular corner or straight. It's all pretty fun stuff really.
There are many good and fairly bad points to mention about Dirt 3, but overall if you're a fan of Dirt 1 and Dirt 2, you will absolutely love Dirt 3. Although Gymkhana may just be the deciding factor here as to whether you will hang on in there or retire from the game for good. The latter does become quite tempting after a while!
Overall, a great game from Codies in spite of the criticisim of Gymkhana!
RATING: 8/10
Dirt 3 does indeed feature bumber to bumber races like Dirt 1 and Dirt 2, however the focus has now switched to rally. Approximately 60% of the game that is, according to Codemasters' team of developers. However with more rally events, does this mean the Dirt franchise has hit a new high? mmm... Sadly not! Read on...
From the moment you insert the game disc into your console, you get straight into the action pretty much. Codemasters have kindly brought back the customization ferature of creating your own character before the actual racing, a feature which was included in both Dirt 2 and Race Driver GRID. Then the biggest change from after Dirt 2 opens before your eyes. We no longer have the 3D trailer setting like in the last Dirt game, but a selection of menus to navigate through, more akin to the likes of how Dirt 1 looked in comparison, although perhaps slightly more elegant to he eyes. Anyway, the fun begins when you choose your first race, which is a track racing event on a short oval type track. This opening event is actually very fun to play and the impression factor begins rather high. OK I won't lie, I absolutely loved this opening event. A nice easy race to get you into the game. The perfect opener to a racing game I would say.
However it's as you progress through the game you will begin to notice a few minor niggles with the game. The biggest of these is the length of the rallies. Most of them only last 1 and a half minutes each which is a far cry from the 4 or 5 minutes they generally lasted in the last two Dirt games, especially Dirt 1. The game difficulty is also pretty severe. There is a change difficulty option before each race which is helpful and has a full auto braking option along with a full racing line to help those inexperienced racers out there. However the fun of the Dirt games is somehow lost in Dirt 3 because of this feature. Why Codemasters couldn't just stick to 3 difficulty options such as Casual, Normal and Hard is beyond me. However practice does indeed make perfect but be prepared for quite a few nasty crashes along the way!
One of the biggest problems with Dirt 3 is the inclusion of 'Gymkhana' which is a brand new event added to the franchise. In each of these Gymkhana events, you must complete a number of different tasks, including Drifting and performing various other tricks. It's all pretty self explanitary overall, but it quickly becomes rather tedious as your Dirt Tour career progresses as you will have to perform in at least one of these Gymkhana events in each new season in the Tour. Codemasters perhaps thought Dirt needed a touch of arcade added to it's mantle piece, but for many of us, it's a rather pointless and frustrating addition. This should have been left as an optional event in a sub menu somewhere!
There are many positives about Dirt 3 however, including the beautiful graphics and weather effects, carried over from Codemasters' above par Formula One 2010. The snowy events in particular look stunning here and it actually becomes quite hard to focus on the track at times which only adds to the fun and offers a new challenge in the game. The handling has also improved somewhat since Dirt 2. Gone is the over steering and over sensitive handling from that game and in comes a much more stable handling model. Although of course the cars themselves, depending on which car you're driving, can sometimes handle differently depending on how much damage your car has taken in an event. It's the same old Dirt really, you just have to try and make sure you avoid crashing your car into tree stumps and roadside fences. Plus of course there is the return of Codemasters beloved 'Flashback' feature which enables you to rewind the action up to five times per race. So if you have a pretty nasty crash anywhere in a race, it's nice to know you can rewind the action back and restart that particular corner or straight. It's all pretty fun stuff really.
There are many good and fairly bad points to mention about Dirt 3, but overall if you're a fan of Dirt 1 and Dirt 2, you will absolutely love Dirt 3. Although Gymkhana may just be the deciding factor here as to whether you will hang on in there or retire from the game for good. The latter does become quite tempting after a while!
Overall, a great game from Codies in spite of the criticisim of Gymkhana!
RATING: 8/10
Well done Steve, nice to see some new blood in the reviews section.
Great review, hope to see more of the same :)
Brilliant review mate, well deserved win!
After years of waiting and after numerous requests submitted on the various forums by die hard fans of the Dirt series, Codemasters have finally done the decent thing and brought the Rally genre back to life with quite a bang! Indeed the focus of DIRT 3 is mainly rally plain and simply. A feature which has although been included in both Dirt 1 and Dirt 2, hasn't really dominated both games, especially Dirt 2 which focused mainly on bumber to bumber racing and competing in events such as the X Games Championships; an event which dispaointed many fans of the long time Colin McCrae series of games.
Dirt 3 does indeed feature bumber to bumber races like Dirt 1 and Dirt 2, however the focus has now switched to rally. Approximately 60% of the game that is, according to Codemasters' team of developers. However with more rally events, does this mean the Dirt franchise has hit a new high? mmm... Sadly not! Read on...
From the moment you insert the game disc into your console, you get straight into the action pretty much. Codemasters have kindly brought back the customization ferature of creating your own character before the actual racing, a feature which was included in both Dirt 2 and Race Driver GRID. Then the biggest change from after Dirt 2 opens before your eyes. We no longer have the 3D trailer setting like in the last Dirt game, but a selection of menus to navigate through, more akin to the likes of how Dirt 1 looked in comparison, although perhaps slightly more elegant to he eyes. Anyway, the fun begins when you choose your first race, which is a track racing event on a short oval type track. This opening event is actually very fun to play and the impression factor begins rather high. OK I won't lie, I absolutely loved this opening event. A nice easy race to get you into the game. The perfect opener to a racing game I would say.
However it's as you progress through the game you will begin to notice a few minor niggles with the game. The biggest of these is the length of the rallies. Most of them only last 1 and a half minutes each which is a far cry from the 4 or 5 minutes they generally lasted in the last two Dirt games, especially Dirt 1. The game difficulty is also pretty severe. There is a change difficulty option before each race which is helpful and has a full auto braking option along with a full racing line to help those inexperienced racers out there. However the fun of the Dirt games is somehow lost in Dirt 3 because of this feature. Why Codemasters couldn't just stick to 3 difficulty options such as Casual, Normal and Hard is beyond me. However practice does indeed make perfect but be prepared for quite a few nasty crashes along the way!
One of the biggest problems with Dirt 3 is the inclusion of 'Gymkhana' which is a brand new event added to the franchise. In each of these Gymkhana events, you must complete a number of different tasks, including Drifting and performing various other tricks. It's all pretty self explanitary overall, but it quickly becomes rather tedious as your Dirt Tour career progresses as you will have to perform in at least one of these Gymkhana events in each new season in the Tour. Codemasters perhaps thought Dirt needed a touch of arcade added to it's mantle piece, but for many of us, it's a rather pointless and frustrating addition. This should have been left as an optional event in a sub menu somewhere!
There are many positives about Dirt 3 however, including the beautiful graphics and weather effects, carried over from Codemasters' above par Formula One 2010. The snowy events in particular look stunning here and it actually becomes quite hard to focus on the track at times which only adds to the fun and offers a new challenge in the game. The handling has also improved somewhat since Dirt 2. Gone is the over steering and over sensitive handling from that game and in comes a much more stable handling model. Although of course the cars themselves, depending on which car you're driving, can sometimes handle differently depending on how much damage your car has taken in an event. It's the same old Dirt really, you just have to try and make sure you avoid crashing your car into tree stumps and roadside fences. Plus of course there is the return of Codemasters beloved 'Flashback' feature which enables you to rewind the action up to five times per race. So if you have a pretty nasty crash anywhere in a race, it's nice to know you can rewind the action back and restart that particular corner or straight. It's all pretty fun stuff really.
There are many good and fairly bad points to mention about Dirt 3, but overall if you're a fan of Dirt 1 and Dirt 2, you will absolutely love Dirt 3. Although Gymkhana may just be the deciding factor here as to whether you will hang on in there or retire from the game for good. The latter does become quite tempting after a while!
Overall, a great game from Codies in spite of the criticisim of Gymkhana!
RATING: 8/10
Dirt 3 does indeed feature bumber to bumber races like Dirt 1 and Dirt 2, however the focus has now switched to rally. Approximately 60% of the game that is, according to Codemasters' team of developers. However with more rally events, does this mean the Dirt franchise has hit a new high? mmm... Sadly not! Read on...
From the moment you insert the game disc into your console, you get straight into the action pretty much. Codemasters have kindly brought back the customization ferature of creating your own character before the actual racing, a feature which was included in both Dirt 2 and Race Driver GRID. Then the biggest change from after Dirt 2 opens before your eyes. We no longer have the 3D trailer setting like in the last Dirt game, but a selection of menus to navigate through, more akin to the likes of how Dirt 1 looked in comparison, although perhaps slightly more elegant to he eyes. Anyway, the fun begins when you choose your first race, which is a track racing event on a short oval type track. This opening event is actually very fun to play and the impression factor begins rather high. OK I won't lie, I absolutely loved this opening event. A nice easy race to get you into the game. The perfect opener to a racing game I would say.
However it's as you progress through the game you will begin to notice a few minor niggles with the game. The biggest of these is the length of the rallies. Most of them only last 1 and a half minutes each which is a far cry from the 4 or 5 minutes they generally lasted in the last two Dirt games, especially Dirt 1. The game difficulty is also pretty severe. There is a change difficulty option before each race which is helpful and has a full auto braking option along with a full racing line to help those inexperienced racers out there. However the fun of the Dirt games is somehow lost in Dirt 3 because of this feature. Why Codemasters couldn't just stick to 3 difficulty options such as Casual, Normal and Hard is beyond me. However practice does indeed make perfect but be prepared for quite a few nasty crashes along the way!
One of the biggest problems with Dirt 3 is the inclusion of 'Gymkhana' which is a brand new event added to the franchise. In each of these Gymkhana events, you must complete a number of different tasks, including Drifting and performing various other tricks. It's all pretty self explanitary overall, but it quickly becomes rather tedious as your Dirt Tour career progresses as you will have to perform in at least one of these Gymkhana events in each new season in the Tour. Codemasters perhaps thought Dirt needed a touch of arcade added to it's mantle piece, but for many of us, it's a rather pointless and frustrating addition. This should have been left as an optional event in a sub menu somewhere!
There are many positives about Dirt 3 however, including the beautiful graphics and weather effects, carried over from Codemasters' above par Formula One 2010. The snowy events in particular look stunning here and it actually becomes quite hard to focus on the track at times which only adds to the fun and offers a new challenge in the game. The handling has also improved somewhat since Dirt 2. Gone is the over steering and over sensitive handling from that game and in comes a much more stable handling model. Although of course the cars themselves, depending on which car you're driving, can sometimes handle differently depending on how much damage your car has taken in an event. It's the same old Dirt really, you just have to try and make sure you avoid crashing your car into tree stumps and roadside fences. Plus of course there is the return of Codemasters beloved 'Flashback' feature which enables you to rewind the action up to five times per race. So if you have a pretty nasty crash anywhere in a race, it's nice to know you can rewind the action back and restart that particular corner or straight. It's all pretty fun stuff really.
There are many good and fairly bad points to mention about Dirt 3, but overall if you're a fan of Dirt 1 and Dirt 2, you will absolutely love Dirt 3. Although Gymkhana may just be the deciding factor here as to whether you will hang on in there or retire from the game for good. The latter does become quite tempting after a while!
Overall, a great game from Codies in spite of the criticisim of Gymkhana!
RATING: 8/10