When DiRT 2 came out a couple of years ago, it blew us away. Codemasters once again improved on its rally-racing model, while adding some personality and online options to make it infinitely replayable. That said, we couldn’t help but wonder how far the company would push the formula for the third go around. And now that DiRT 3 is here, our wonders were put to rest, and we happily settled in with the actuality. This is rally racing at its utmost best. Like previous games, DiRT 3 gives you plenty to do. The main feature is the DiRT tour, in which you’re introduced to a team of helpers and various racing divisions that want you to represent them. You’re given a few easy events to start out with, along with the option to tweak difficulty and settings on each vehicle (you’re automatically started with racing assists in place), but as you pick up in the tour, more challenging events appear, including the Gymkhana Academy, a place where you thrive on stunts such as drifting and close calls with fellow racers and objects.
DiRT 3’s interface has changed tremendously over the second game. Gone is the comfort of your customized trailer, and in its place is a high tech menu system with triangles similar to the Triforce emblems from The Legend of Zelda. It’s a thorough system, and one that’s easier to use, but you can’t skip past your team’s descriptions of each event as you start them up for the first time. Your team isn’t totally lacking in personality, but they drone on too much for their own good, particularly when they’re asking you to upload YouTube clips…even before you activate your Online Pass. (More on that in a minute.) We preferred the homelier style of the drivers from the previous game over these dorks. But now let’s get to what really matters with this game, and that’s the driving. DiRT 3 handles wonderfully, just as the second one did, with a number of vehicles to choose from and circuits taking place all over the world, from the back roads of Kenya to the beautiful city streets of Monaco. There’s plenty of room to show your mettle on the road, and you can always adjust your ride if you feel like going for something more challenging or where you can really “cut loose”, so to speak.
Despite a few vehicle crashes here and there, the car handling is top-notch, and we had no problem dominating corners within a matter of miles and coming across the finish line as a winner. Kudos to Codemasters for leaving these options wide open for us to toy around with. We also like the addition of Flashbacks. Similar to Forza 3’s rewind feature, these let you remove key mistakes from the race and start back at a point where you know you screwed up. You only have so many per race, so use them wisely. Also, the less you use, the more reward you’ll get upon completing the race. The Gymkhana really opens up DiRT 3. Not only will you partake in fancy stunt driving (which is more accessible than you might think it is), but also helps you perfect drifting techniques, which are ideal when it comes to shaving seconds off of your lap times and being an overall better driver. While there are techniques to learn and master, the approach to the academy is second to none, and it proves to be a worthwhile addition to the series that we hope to see again in future installments. Hell of a staple here.
This feature review concludes on the next page, please click Page 2 below to see our final thoughts on DiRT 3.
