Over 50 rally cars representing the very best from five decades of the sport.
DiRT 3 is the culmination of a lot of hard work and investment spanning over many years, since the inception of the Colin McRae games in the late 90’s; and the expertise of the Codemasters team in this genre has really paid off. If anyone should know how to create a racing game it’s these guys, and unsurprisingly DiRT 3 surpasses anything we’ve seen before in the series by marrying sublime graphics and car handling with aggressive and exciting rally racing around some gorgeous-looking tracks. Just when you think it’s the same old - albeit impressive - formula from DiRT 2 though, DiRT 3 throws in a bunch of new game modes and tweaks which brings DiRT 3 screeching into a brand new era.Gone has the painfully slow menu system and long load times from DiRT 2, to be replaced instead by a slick way of navigating through the mass of options available. The new streamlined menu system, which uses triangular prisms to represent the events, allows you to get where you want to quickly without fuss. The new, cleaner interface is complimented by a great soundtrack that runs throughout the game, which includes electronic beats from the likes of ‘We Are Scientists’ “Rules Don’t Stop,” that fits in perfectly with the high-speed action around the tracks.
The cars are the real bread and butter of DiRT 3. Branding adds authenticity and cars are meticulously modelled both inside and out on their real-life counterparts. Most impressive, however, is the handling. There’s a wide variety of terrains and tracks to master and the diversity of the car classes ensures that there’s plenty to challenge your driving skills. You’ll switch from handling the likes of a light and speedy super buggy to a weighty and much slower truck. Despite the class changes, the action never lets up. DiRT 3 is gritty, fast and furious, and the vehicles handle impeccably and realistically across the different terrain as you hurtle around corners at break-neck speeds. The changing weather and the varied terrain adds to the challenge and excitement around the track.
Continued overleaf...