Colin McRae DiRT Demo

What a game…. what an absolutely mind boggling game.

After rumours of Colin McRae DiRT releasing a demo in the Playstation Store last week, I was disappointed to discover that it wasn’t yet available on the Australian network. Today that demo finally popped up, and after a relatively small download of a bit over 500mb, I was whisked into the world of DiRT.

I was pleasantly surprised with both the opening clip scene which showcased some tantalizing in game graphics, as well as the general feel of the menu system, which was all very fresh and straightforward for me. After a brief investigation of the default control layout, which I decided to use, I was straight into 1 of 3 demo tracks.

There are three cars to choose from, each car locked to a certain track. I couldn’t resist to go for the Suburu WRX, and after a rather interesting loading process which shows off interesting stats such as longest jump, top speed, races won etc, I found myself sitting at the start line of a tight circuit taking on an AI car around two laps.

Graphics

Absolutely, mind numbingly good. Really showcases the power of the PS3 with near visual perfection. All those little things we now take for granted like sun glare, dust, mud, grass, trees, rocks, sky, distant scenery and especially car models are spectacularly rendered in DiRT in a (dare I say it) better fashion than any other game… ever.

Audio

Equally good. It’s easy to forget about the grunting of V8 engines and whining of 4 cylinder turbos when you have spent many-a-day playing car games on the console or PC. But it won’t take long to notice the attention to detail in DiRT, such as a squawking tire rubbing against a loose front quarter panel or a bone crunching smash against something in the scenery or another car.

The soundtrack seems equally promising, the demo features a few highly appropriate driving songs.

Gameplay

Refined bliss.

Controls

Excellent - the PS3 controller comes into its own with the new L2/R2 extra squeezy triggers, particularly when used as accelerator and brake. After a few laps you get a feel for the controls and it is truly enjoyable to throw the cars into corners and practice power slides. I struggled a bit with manual transmission when setup as x and square in combination with L2/R2 brake/accelerate, but I think changing gear changes to L1/R1 would be the solution.

I’m also pretty keen to try the game with the motion sensors to steer, hopefully it is a bit more controllable than Motostorm and emulates a steering wheel. Speaking of steering wheels, I can’t wait to setup my Logitech Force Pro one day, that is once I can find something to attach it to! I can see alot of fun rainy days of DiRT + steering wheel.

Attention to Detail

Attention to detail is the sealer for me - I couldn’t flaw even the demo experience in any regard, and that is really saying something. 3 cars and 3 tracks is very generous for any demo, even when plugged out of the massive pool that will be in the final version.

What I like from Codemasters is the way they make playing Colin McRae enjoyable by giving the player options. For example, I love in-car camera mode, and yet alot of games seem to overlook this option - and for what? There are at least 6 classic camera modes to choose from while racing, including front bumper, overlooking bonnet, in-car close to dash, in-car back from dash, rear bumper, rear bumper high - and amazingly, they are all practical for use, and it just comes down to personal preference.

Likewise, the replay mode is a blast. I’ve never really bothered with replays until this game, simply because its so fun. It’s pretty standard, flick through camera modes, rewind, fast forward, and watch in super slow-mo, which happens to be great way to watch the biggest stacks from the race. I don’t know whether its the pristine graphics and sounds or whether its just the addictiveness of this game, but even watching replays is fun.

Tracks

Judging by the three tracks in the demo, there is going to be plenty of fun to be had. They all looked great and had unique characteristics. The Italy stage was tight and relatively challenging, as was the SS stage… you think you have it easy when getting onto a big wide sandpit in a dune buggy, but even these tracks are surprisingly challenging.

There is plenty of scenery blasting by, a few seconds in the super slow-mo replay can really highlight just how much detail is in every single frame. I particularly like the way scenery acts generally as expected. For example, crashing into a free standing concrete block means you come to a complete stop, and yet the concrete still reacts and moves rather than being an unrealistically static object. Crashing through signs on the side of the road has an obvious consequence to cornering speed, and can often result in loss of control, so corner cutting is somewhat limited.

What this means for PS3

I reckon this is the game PS3 has been waiting for. After the initial blast of Resistance: Fall of Man, its fair to say that there hasn’t been a great deal in the way of quality releases. Rainbow Six Las Vegas was ok and introduced some unique new control methods. On the driving front, Motostorm was an undebatable hit but that has been just about it. The Need For Speed release was a disastrous port of the PS2 game with possibly even worse graphics than the last gen console. And Ridge Racer is not for everyone. As such, the Playstation 3 has been starved of quality racing games.

If you put in perspective though, the PS3 has been in international release for less than 6 months. Seeing games like DiRT and other upcoming titles having true finesse and tapping into the PS3’s hardware as they should, makes the wait worthwhile and the $120 price tag more justifiable.

For all those who have cried foul at the lack of titles on PS3, eat DiRT.