This week CVG went hands-on with a near-final version of the game at Codemasters' Code07 show.
"Codemasters promised that the new physics engine would accurately model the differing handling of the vastly different vehicles, and that no two cars would feel the same. That was no lie. We raced around a super special course in a four-wheel animal that pumps so much power into its rear wheels that the second you touch the accelerator those wheels spin wildly causing the back end of your car to swing out into an awesome drift.
This is awesome because it completely changes the way the game is played. Instead of going into bends as fast as possible holding the handbrake to slide round, you find yourself slowing these muscle cars down before turning, then nailing the throttle as you start your turn to hear the engine's sudden roar - which sends the car into a high-revving drift around the bend."
Steam has slashed 75% off of several Codemasters' racing titles including GRID, FUEL, DiRT, DiRT 2 and ToCA Race Driver 3 along with a bundle containing all five titles as part of its weekend deal promotion.
The first DiRT title was released just before McRae's horribly premature passing, and saw Codemasters essentially rip everything up and start again, giving the franchise a face-lift fit for the next-generation. It highlighted the tone of a series moving increasingly further from the realistic, 'pure' brand of rallying in the earlier games to a more arcade-orientated, thrill-seeking approach. Whether seduced by the bright-lights of, for example, Project Gotham Racing, or whether Codemasters were just seeking change for the sake of change lest creative stagnation take hold, DiRT 2 (yes the strange lower case 'I' is intentional) represents the consolidation of this new approach.
Colin McRae: Dirt 2 (Dirt 2 outside of Europe) is a racing game scheduled to be released in September 2009, and is the sequel to Colin McRae: Dirt. This is the first game in the McRae series after Colin's death. It was announced on 19 November 2008 and will feature the late Colin McRae as well as Ken Block and Travis Pastrana.
It sure is sounding really impressive, i can'y wait to try this one out.
PATHETIC!
Dirt looks awesome, I'll be getting a copy for PS3.