About
Dirt is really the best name for this last instalment of the legendary Colin McRae Series. Once the game was  the  pioneer of realistic rally sports racing, but today it is just an off-road, just for fun, just another video racer.
The actual rally is just one of the events that you can choose from the new McRae range. It looks like Codemasters have totally turned their priorities to probably more profitable US like buggy/truck racing. The game just doesn’t stick to real rally sport any more. They need a new name for their games, I Think.

The game
But if we leave all this behind we’ll see that, what Codemasters have managed to create, is something really different and kind of great in its own way. The graphic detail is absolutely stunning. The interior views which change together with the car damage render are just superb. The  speed blur and dust effects are so detailed and real.

Environment
The courses are another big plus for Dirt. They are so picturesque and live, you’ll find it very hard not to leave the track almost all the time and  go off-road crazy, just for the sake of watching the environment changing when you drive through bushes and rivers. You get so many different courses: from British forests and moors to Japanese lakes and mountains. The game doesn’t offer classics like Sweden and Greece but there’s plenty of other thrilling courses and tracks to make it up to you.

Game Play
Codemasters say that their game engine is nearly ultra-realistic. Which is something quite overrated to say, but the truth is the game is a great fun. There’s an incredible sense of  speed with super realistic surface response. You will learn to think again before trying to stop too late or just killing your speed with the side barriers or trees. It just won’t work here. Car damage is so spectacular and effects your vehicle performance a lot. Game audio is simply superb. The race music and sound effects are rendered to perfection.

Game Interface
Another great feature of the Dirt is having logs. Game data saves every statistic of your performance and proudly displays it in between menus and races. It remembers the miles you’ve driven, the meters you’ve jumped, top speed you’ve reached etc.

Controls
Although  the game is proper laugh, some hard core game racers might find it very disappointing. Offending even. I mean it’s just not we were all expecting from the latest Colin McRae. I sat in my driving simulator all prepared for an afternoon of rally madness. But only after an hour I realized that the  game was not even made for proper racing gear. My steering wheel was just helpless with the corners. The force feedback was either too strong and unreal or just nowhere at all. At one point I thought that the insides were about to come out from all that nonsense vibrating. I really don’t thing the game was designed for steering wheels use.
And then I just switched the normal controller on and what a change it was. The game experience was totally different. I couldn’t take my hands off of it. For hours. Even the truck races were fun. I never thought I would enjoy this kind of racing before.

The Verdict
Colin McRae Dirt is definitely not the ultra-realistic rally game  Codemasters like to believe. They are clearly running away from the classic rally-dedicated original. But what they have made is a very well rounded off-road racer. A guaranteed  fun for everyone.

Developer: Codemasters

Publisher: Codemasters

Platforms: PC/PS3/xBox360

Release Dates: PC/xBox360 15 June 2007
PS3 14 September