Driving games can't be much better than this!
- I allways try to buys games of different genres in order to have an eccletic library on my video-games shelf, so I try to pick the best of each.
- For the reason mentioned above I consider myself a slightly above average player in each genre, and as you know there are people who are really, really good at driving games, so sometimes multiplayer games in those becomes a chore to people like me (taking hard beatings can only be so much fun...).
Getting over those issues (wich I think it's important in order to figure out why the lackluster online features for me don't mean much, or anything, as a matter of fact).
The game:
Heard many things about the game prior to buying it. The most stressed out points were the lacking decent multiplayer (don't really care), and the oh so amazing graphics.
The 1st point, as I said, doesn't bother me at all. I like mainly a solo relation with my games, especially the driving ones. And DiRT manages to deliver one of the best solo experiences a drivinvg game can do. Beautifully put together, the Career, the Rallys', the Hill climb, everything is well placed and balanced. You're in controll, you're seeing yourself develop, you see your score in the leaderboards, you climb up, you're happy because you went 100 places higher, you have money for a new amazing beast of a car..., the list goes on, and on, and on...
The graphics, yeah..., they're good looking, but after what I read I was expecting more. Don't take me wrong I play it in my 32" 1080i TV, it looks fabulous, but I thought it would be like the trailer, and it's not. For example, our car on the replays, look a bit "out" of the landscape, it looks like it was glued there afterwards, could/should be better placed. In my opinion, PGR3 graphics are better.
The controls: a dream!, it plays like a freakin beautifull dream, like one of those that you don't want to wake up. Fluid, responsive, aggressive, powefull.
Sound: The least amazing part of the game, and I feel sorry for it. I allways thought the sound would be the easier part to "make good" in a game, but some devs mess it up, or as in this case, it doesn't live to the rest of the game. It should, it should!
This is a must buy for everyone, IMO. Even if you don't like driving games, put it on "very easy" and have a ball. If you're an harcore driving, put it on "very hard" and be challenged, be very challenged. If you're like me put it on "normal" and play harder.