X360 Monday, June 11, 2007 | 12:00 AM

The first 10 minutes : Colin Mc Rae DiRT

The embargo around DiRT is finally lifted, so it's with great pleasure that I release these three videos I recorded last week. You'll discover quite a lot of environments and a few game modes in there, and no doubt the majority will agree that this is a great looking game even if there is a lot of tearing and slowdowns in some modes.

As for the gameplay, I guess you all tried the demo so you already know how strange the handling can be at times. DIRT sometimes feels like a simulation, sometimes like an arcade game and sometimes like a big "WTF is going on?", very difficult to describe. Also worth mentioning are the incredibly long loadings between each race (thankfully only a couple of seconds for a restart), made slightly more acceptable by the excellent and very slick looking menu interface.
A game I can only recommend if you actually managed to get around the strange handling in the demo. Then you are in for an excellent single player experience.

Review build: Rally tracks

Stream the video

Download: WMV HD

Review build: Misc tracks

Stream the video

Download: WMV HD

Review build: More misc tracks

Stream the video

Download: WMV HD

All comments

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DigitalOrgasm

Commented on 2007-06-11 00:09:28

Thx for the videos, getting this game so will be nice to see it in action.

cheers

Winter_wolf

Commented on 2007-06-11 00:10:14

Nicely done Blim, this and IGN's review convinced me to DIRT this by weekend.

Thanx for the vids.

citizenx

Commented on 2007-06-11 00:31:12

you must have had this a while, the new achievement popup isn't there :P

BlimBlim

Commented on 2007-06-11 00:31:59 In reply to citizenx

Posted by citizenx
you must have had this a while, the new achievement popup isn't there :P

Actually I still don't have a debug version of the new dashboard :/

OpiZA

Commented on 2007-06-11 00:36:41

Excellent thanks, hows the framerate? I found in the first level of the demo, when i went into the "inside" camera, the framerate became very choppy at points.

KORNdog

Commented on 2007-06-11 01:15:08

i never noticed any framerate issues in the demo, nor did i really notice much tearing (which is strange considering i notice them in most other games) so is the final game any worse then the demo?, if not im in for a hell of an experience. i even liked the controls, sim enough to have some depth while being arcade enough to just blast around corners at 100mph. cant wait for my pre-order to arrive.

best racing game on the 360....i think so.

GangstaNip

Commented on 2007-06-11 01:38:33

yep, gonna cop this.

Xion4360

Commented on 2007-06-11 01:44:12

looks very impressive

Bingham67

Commented on 2007-06-11 01:57:26

Nice videos i really want to know does this game have any local 2 player splitscreen ? thanks in advance. :)

XBox360Man77

Commented on 2007-06-11 02:18:57

Thanks for the vids Blim, I'm stoked for this one. Any possibility of some 3rd person perspective videos to show off the car models? And maybe a wreck montage? I was really wanting to see that rollover in the first vid in 3rd person.

KORNdog

Commented on 2007-06-11 03:00:51

i'll add to the requests and ask to see a replay on one of the desert tracks. there was a little in the first vid but a full track would be awesome. i just love seeing the dust clouds that are kicked up from the car. also, is there any UK based tracks, set in the rain? on wet mud? (cos the ps2 colin mcrea's had some AMAZING water droplet/ windscreen wiper effects) would love to see how that looks in HD.

caiaya

Commented on 2007-06-11 03:33:55

GREAT!

mustacio

Commented on 2007-06-11 05:16:30

EPIC

Damake

Commented on 2007-06-11 07:15:32

And I just got Forza 2 yesterday, and now this is coming right around the corner..darnit

Slabs

Commented on 2007-06-11 09:56:02

"Knock 'em dead tiger!" What the hell is that about? So annoying.

Game looks stunning though.

Blim: Do they have many of the Cyprus Rally tracks in there still?

acm2000

Commented on 2007-06-11 10:04:27

if the 360 version has some framerate issues and tearing, id hate to see a ps3 version would be like lol

dluv81

Commented on 2007-06-11 12:09:19

Game looks impressive and it shows what 4xAA, realtime HDR and good lightning/shadowing effects can do to a game. Especially when you compare it to Forza2 where everything but the cars looks extremely bland and dead. In case of a game like DiRt it certainly was the right decision to trade off the 60 fps target against those amazing visuals.

palamede

Commented on 2007-06-11 12:17:22

Given its framerate/vsynch issues at 30 fps, I guess 60 fps wasn't really an option (huge trade off in the graphics department I guess).
Even at 30 fps, I wonder whether we would have been better off with 8 cars on track and maybe less trees, grass, whatever slow downs the game...
Otherwise, when you look at that and then, you have to deal with the horrible reflections on car's hoods in Forza2...

graf1k

Commented on 2007-06-11 12:39:55

Thank you! Great to hear I wasn't the only person mutter "WTF" to themselves about the handling in the DiRT demo. I mentioned it to a friend of mine who had played it too and he gave me this blank look as if I was crazy. There is just something not right about it. I'm not a huge car buff so I don't have the vocabulary to go into detail about what exactly that 'something' is, but it just doesn't feel right. Pretty floaty I guess is the best way to put it.

SimonM7

Commented on 2007-06-11 12:58:17

Yeah, floaty pretty much is it. It has no traction, there's no sense of the tires doing anything underneath your car. Especially after the absolutely spectacular Rallisport Challenge 2 it's difficult to go back to wonky physics like these.

Demo put me well off it, which I'm rather thankful for to be honest! I've gotten Motorstorm and Forza 2 within the same week, and Flatout Carnage is due in a couple of more weeks. I'm already waggling my feet to accelerate when I sleep at night.

StephenR92

Commented on 2007-06-11 12:58:34

This message is in "Boulet Time" (TM), If you still *really* want to see it, click here

MooseOnLoose

Commented on 2007-06-11 13:44:04

Amazing graphics but as all McRae games sucks in handling!

Misguided

Commented on 2007-06-11 13:52:22

Hey Blim, in the last week or so, I've lost the ability to view the streaming versions of the videos in Safari.
Any ideas?

BlimBlim

Commented on 2007-06-11 14:00:31 In reply to Misguided

Posted by Misguided
Hey Blim, in the last week or so, I've lost the ability to view the streaming versions of the videos in Safari.
Any ideas?

Nothing at all changed on my side, so I really can't tell. Does youtube still work for you?

team56th

Commented on 2007-06-11 14:11:54

Yeah handling was very strange in Dirt demo and too bad that it's not fixed.
Handling was not hard, but very annoying and boring.
Considering Forza 2 looks bland but plays just insanely addictive and fun, Dirt is the very opposite of Forza 2 I think.

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Videos: CoJ Gunslinger

About the game

Colin Mc Rae: DiRT
X360, PS3
Published by Codemasters
Developed by Codemasters
French release: Available

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