''Colin McRae: Dirt 2'' (stylised as ''Colin McRae: DiRT 2'') is a

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

developed and published by

Codemasters The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in Octo ...

in 2009, first for the

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

and

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

, and then later for PC platforms (

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

). It is the first game in the series since McRae's death in 2007 and the last to feature his name in the title. It is also the first and only game in the series to be available on a

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

home console and the last game in the series to be released on

handhelds A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...

. It features

Ken Block Kenneth Paul Block (November 21, 1967 – January 2, 2023) was an American professional rally driver with the Hoonigan Racing Division, formerly known as the Monster World Rally Team. Block was also one of the co-founders of DC Shoes. He also ...

Travis Pastrana Travis Alan Pastrana (born October 8, 1983) is an American professional motorsports competitor and stunt performer who has won championships and X Games gold medals in several disciplines, including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, an ...

Tanner Foust Tanner Foust (born June 13, 1973) is an American professional racing driver, stunt driver, and television host. He competes in rally, drift, ice racing, time attack, hill climb and rallycross with multiple podium placements, national championshi ...

Dave Mirra David Michael Mirra (April 4, 1974 – February 4, 2016) was an American BMX rider who also competed in rallycross racing. He set the record for most medals in BMX Freestyle at the X Games (later tied by Scotty Cranmer) and earned at least on ...

and

Mohammed ben Sulayem Mohammed Ahmad Sultan Ben Sulayem ( ar, محمد بن سليم; born 12 November 1961) is an Emirati former rally driver and current president of the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile). He is one of the Arab world's leading mot ...

. The game includes many new race-events, including stadium events. Along with the player, an RV travels from one event to another, and serves as "headquarters" for the player. It features a roster of contemporary off-road events, taking players to diverse and challenging real-world environments. The game takes place across Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. The game includes five different event types, plus three more "special" game modes. The World Tour mode sees players competing in multi-car and solo races at new locations, and also includes a new multiplayer mode. The sequel ''

Dirt 3 ''Dirt 3'' (stylised as ''DiRT 3'') is a simcade racing video game developed and published by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was the first game in the series without the ''Colin McRae'' moniker. A sequel, DiRT 4 ...

'' was released in 2011.

Gameplay

''Colin McRae: Dirt 2'' features five racing disciplines, all of which are playable offline (against AI bots when applicable) and online. In addition, three "special modes" are included. ''Colin McRae: Dirt 2'' runs on an updated version of the EGO engine, which powered Codemasters' ''Race Driver: Grid'' as well. The engine features, most notably, an updated physics engine, which models realistic weight transfer during turning maneuvers, allowing the player to incorporate advanced driving techniques, such as the

Scandinavian flick The Scandinavian flick, Finnish flick, pendulum turn, or Scandi flick is a technique used predominantly in ice racing and rallying. The technique induces oversteer using weight transfer to carry a vehicle through a turn while simultaneously red ...

. * Rally racing occurs on non- circuit roads which usually involve public (closed) routes and technically challenging courses. Usually involving staggered starts, each driver competes against the clock. In addition, during rally events, a

co-driver A co-driver is the navigator of a rally car in the sport of rallying, who sits in the front passenger seat. The co-driver's job is to navigate, commonly by reading off a set of pacenotes to the driver (what lies ahead, where to turn, the severity ...

is present, constantly reading

pacenotes In rallying, pacenotes are a commonly used method of accurately describing a rallying route to be driven in extreme detail. As well as dictating the general route to be taken, in terms of turnings, junctions, etc., all notable features of the rout ...

to guide the driver along narrow and meandering tracks of up to 6 km in length. Rally races span across

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. * Rallycross races involve cars identical to those used in rally events; the races themselves, however, are very different. Each rally-cross race involves up to eight racers competing in multiple lap events on circuit tracks of mixed surface type. The tracks, half tarmac and half dirt, exist in closed settings, such as in or around stadiums, and are approximately 1 to 1.5 km in length. Rallycross races span across

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. * The most similar real-world equivalent of Trailblazer events are

hill climbs Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the firs ...

. Unlike hill climb events, however, trailblazer races do not require a positive change in elevation. Similar to rallying, trailblazing features staggered starts. Trailblazer (and hill climb) cars, unlike rally cars, usually feature massive aerodynamic aids, such as spoilers, diffusers, and splitters to help keep traction at higher speeds, regardless of track surface or conditions. Trailblazer events span across include

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, China, and Morocco. * Raid races are multi-car events involving heavyweight vehicles, such as buggies and

trophy trucks A trophy truck, also known as a Baja truck or trick truck, is a vehicle used in high-speed off-road racing. This is an open production class and all components are considered legal unless specifically restricted. Although any truck that meets t ...

. Each race begins with a simultaneous start of up to eight competitors, with tracks averaging 5 km in length. Raid races span across Baja California, Croatia, Malaysia, and Morocco. * Landrush events are similar to raid races, but take place on a circuit. Each event features eight racers on a dirt track of about 1 km, and involve multiple laps. Landrush events span across Baja California, Malaysia, and Morocco.

Special Modes

In addition to the five straight game types, there are three special variants, each applicable to multiple modes. * Gatecrasher, which uses Rally courses and cars, involves smashing yellow barriers; competitors race against the clock. When smashed, the "gates", strategically placed along the best racing line, add time to the clock; whichever racer finishes the event with the most time on the clock wins. The format of the race is more similar to a multi-competitor time trial than to a traditional rally race. * Domination, playable Rallycross and Land Rush stages, involves multiple drivers competing to set the lowest time in any given track sector. Points are awarded based on the final number of controlled sectors, as well as the final race position. * Last Man Standing is an elimination-style race based on rallycross, during which the driver in last place is eliminated at 20-second intervals, the winner being the final driver left after all others are eliminated.

Multiplayer

''Colin McRae: Dirt 2'' features a set of multiplayer modes which the user can partake in over, the

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

Games For Windows - Live A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

and

Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an Internet, online multiplayer video game, multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox ...

, as well as

local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

multiplayer. Up to eight players can compete in ranked (Pro Tour) or unranked matches (Jam Session). Within the "Jam Session" category, any class of cars may be used on any track; the game lets hosts know when a combination is not necessarily advisable, such as Trailblazer cars on a Rallycross circuit. Ranked matches are, by comparison, much more restrained; only the prescribed cars may be used on a track.

Development and release

Shortly before the release of '' Colin McRae: Dirt'', ''Colin McRae: Dirt 2'' was described by Matthew Horsman, chief game designer for the game, as a game more improved and refined than its predecessor. The engine, EGO, initially featured in '' Race Driver: Grid'', was updated to better take advantage of the PlayStation 3 specifications, as well as improving multi-core processor utilization on the Xbox 360 and PC. The Flashback ability, allowing players to rewind time mid-race, a new feature in ''Grid'', was kept and improved due to its popularity. In addition, the features and expanse of the multiplayer component, which was often criticized in ''Colin McRae: Dirt'' as being fairly anaemic, was completely new to the series. Ken Block, a rally driver featured in ''Colin McRae: Dirt 2'', served as a consultant throughout the game's development of the handling and physics model. For example, when Block was playing the first development build of the game, he had noticed the cars did not have enough grip. This was taken into consideration and the handling model was improved. ''Colin McRae: Dirt 2'' used the audio technology

Ambisonics Ambisonics is a ''full-sphere'' surround sound format: in addition to the horizontal plane, it covers sound sources above and below the listener. Unlike some other multichannel surround formats, its transmission channels do not carry speaker si ...

. It was the first PC video game to use Blue Ripple Sound's Rapture3D sound engine by default. It was also one of the first video games to implement the then newly released DirectX 11 graphical standard on ATI 5000 and NVIDIA Geforce 400 series chipsets. Firebrand Games, developer of '' Race Driver: Create and Race'', developed a Nintendo DS version of ''Dirt 2'' that would run on its Octane engine, also used by Firebrand's DS version of ''Race Driver: Grid'', utilizing its 3-D graphics, user interface and track editor. ''Colin McRae: Dirt 2'' was an official sponsor of Ken Block, Travis Pastrana, Tanner Foust and Dave Mirra of the

Subaru Rally Team USA Subaru Motorsports USA (formerly known as Subaru Rally Team USA) is Subaru of America's motorsports arm that participates in events in the United States and its operations are managed by Vermont SportsCar, previously Prodrive. History The tea ...

. A demo of the game was released on the

PlayStation Store The PlayStation Store (PS Store) is a digital media store available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The store offers a range of downloadable content ...

and

Xbox Live Marketplace Xbox Games Store (formerly Xbox Live Marketplace) is a digital distribution platform used by Microsoft's Xbox Series X, S, Xbox One and Xbox 360 video game consoles. The service allows users to download or purchase video games (including both ...

on 20 August 2009. The demo appeared for the PC on 29 November; it features the same content as the console demo with the addition of higher graphic settings and a benchmark tool. The

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...

version of the game was released by

Feral Interactive Feral Interactive is a British video games developer and publisher for macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows platforms. It was founded in 1996 to bring games to Mac and specialises in porting games to different ...

. In February 2009, Codemasters revealed plans to release "a number of small DLC packs soon after launch which players can use to personalise and augment the boxed game". Ultimately, Codemasters only released two small downloadable content items, which essentially functioned like

cheat code Cheating in video games involves a video game player using various methods to create an advantage beyond normal gameplay, usually in order to make the game easier. Cheats may be activated from within the game itself (a cheat code implemented by ...

s. They were "Trust Fund", which unlocks all vehicles, liveries and upgrades, and "Access All Areas", which unlocks all events and tracks.

Reception

The PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC versions of ''Colin McRae: Dirt 2'' received positive reviews from critics, receiving a Metacritic score of 89 for the PC and 87 for the two HD consoles. These versions were reviewed positively by

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

, receiving a score of 8.4/10 from the U.S. site, and a slightly more favourable 9/10 from the UK site.

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...

gave those same versions ''Colin McRae: Dirt 2'' a score of 8/10 with their main criticisms being reserved for the lack of weather and track deterioration, and the fact that damage now has very little influence on the game, with drivers receiving a brand new car for each race. In Japan, ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'' gave the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions a score of one nine, one eight, and two nines, for a total of 35 out of 40. The Nintendo DS version was regarded by a smaller number of reviewers to be almost as good as the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions, achieving a Metacritic score of 73. IGN and Nintendo World Report gave that version an 8 out of 10, praising its quick setup and meaty content, including the ability to upgrade and customize cars, as well as design custom courses. The Sumo Digital versions released on Wii and PSP were deemed to be the worst, with Metacritic scores of 51 and 55 respectively. IGN faulted both versions for their poor controls, AI and content, giving out a score of 4 and 4.2 respectively.

References

Notes

External links