Erm, where's the multiplayer? Oh, I'm playing it already?
But there is one area where Colin McRae DiRT on the PS3 does fall on its arse somewhat. Yes, it’s the multiplayer, which so far has bugged pretty much every PS3 game, no matter the genre. To say the multiplayer is disappointing is pretty much about right. I’d even go so far as to say that with both the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, the Codemasters have missed a big opportunity.Ok, so competitive rally driving in the real world means that you’ll be blatting along a stage and rarely see another competing car unless it’s upside down in a field or, in the case of the notorious Kielder Forest stages, partially submerged in the lake. So an online rally means you’re not going to see anyone else.
The big problem here is that you’re limited to the Rally or Hill Climb events. There’s little to differentiate between racing online and racing in single player other than the fact that you now get a ranking according to how well you’re doing compared to everyone else. So all 100 of you set off simultaneously and then drive the course, getting a checkpoint time to tell you how well you’re doing. So you might as well be racing in the single player mode as there’s little sense of achievement.
Click for larger imageThis is a big missed opportunity and one that I can quite figure out. Why can’t we race in the CORR against seven other players? For ages now we’ve been able to customize and configure our cars and then take them online, the Need for Speed series has been doing it for ages, and there’s nothing quite so fun as racing other people…
If the lack of true player to player racing is over concerns of players cheating and ramming into each other, why not turn off inter-car collisions like TrackMania does? But then again, as Robert Duvall says in Days of Thunder “He didn't slam you, he didn't bump you, he didn't nudge you... he *rubbed* you. And rubbin, son, is racin'.”
Click for larger imageAs it is, the multiplayer is an aside at best, something for you to pop onto occasionally to see how good you are compared with everyone else. And that’s all there is to it. Sure, there’s an online leader board that’s updated with your track records etc, but with other racers letting us actually race against others on the same track at the same time, Colin McRae DiRT’s online mode is badly lacking.
Click for larger image