Pong and Beyond

493th played so far

Genre: Racing
Platform: PC/Xbox 360/Playstation 3
Year of Release: 2007
Developer: Codemasters
Publisher: Codemasters

I want to like racing games. They can be impossible to start or difficult to progress in, but when they allow you to drive and do it well, they can feel magnificent.

Thanks to family influence, rally driving is probably my preferred car racing – formula one and other circuit driving can be nice, but it doesn’t have the close experience of rally driving. This game promises a lot of that, making me pretty happy.

Our Thoughts

Colin McRae: Dirt is possibly the best racing experience we’ve had so far (at least on the realistic end of things). It can be tricky to get first place on a track, but you don’t need to beat everything to advance. It might change a bit on later levels, but starting with several levels open and easily unlocking more makes the game feel more accessible.

It’s needed as well, as there are a lot of different track modes, so being stuck because one doesn’t suit you would be a bad thing. I enjoyed the rally driving, for example, but I didn’t do as well at them. Others – like a one on one race where you are on two linked tracks – each on their own, switching halfway through – felt easier but is one that I probably wouldn’t have seen in other games.

What makes it work, though, are that different difficulties give different money rewards. I tended to start at normal but drop to easier when I couldn’t make it (which was usually the case) which gave enough progress while still feeling I could have gotten more out of the game if I had pushed it further. There are different cars and looks to unlock using the money, meaning that practice does pay off.

Final Thoughts

All in all, the variety of the game already sets it apart from most other racers, being a lot more fun and easier to progress. This is probably the first where I really could see myself getting back to it soon. I’m happy to have found it!