Dirt 3 First Look From a Casual Racer

Updated 5/31/2011

First off I would like to start by saying I have never done a review and I am only a casual racer. I picked up Dirt 3 yesterday and once I started playing I couldn't put it down. So here is my mini review of Dirt 3 for the XBOX 360.

Dirt 3 is a rally style racer that is part sim and part arcade. It is the thrid game in the Dirt series made by Codemasters. Dirt 3 has the following features...

Features:

1-2 player split screen

2-8 System Link/ Online Multi Player

Leaderboards

Voice

720p/1080i/1080p resolution

YouTube video uploading

Xbox 360 Wheels Supported:

Official Microsoft Xbox 360 Wheel

Logitech Drive FX Wheel

Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S Wheel (clutch support and H pattern shifting not supported on X360)

Fanatec Clubsport Pedals (clutch functionality not supported on X360)

Madcatz Wireless Racing Wheel

Game Modes:

Dirt 3 has 3 game modes. They are Dirt Tour, Multiplayer, Single Player.

Dirt Tour which is the campaign is setup into 4 seasons with each season having 4 championships. As you play the game you earn REP which helps you unlock the next championship/season as well as cars and teams. Race types consist of Rally, Land Rush, Trail Blazer, Gymkhana, and Head2Head. I have only played a small amount of Dirt Tour(First 3 races) but will come back and update this review once I have completed it. Below is a video of a Rally X Race in which I placed 2nd. I am playing on Intermidiate difficulty and 2nd is the best I have finished in the 3 events I did. I am using a wireless xbox controller.

Multiplayer consist of Xbox Live, Split Screen, System Link, My Party. Xbox Live games consist of Pro Tour(ranked races) and Jam Session(Private races).

In multiplayer races you earn fans which help increase your online REP as well as your REP overall. Out of all the games I played I never had any lag issues. I did however run into two issues. Voice chat can be spotty at times and the typical online racing issue "Timmy". There was at least one guy in every race that tried to wreck you right at the start. Once I figured out who they were I did a fairly good job avoiding them. One other thing I find very cool is you can turn REP on in private matches. Which means you can play ranked races with all your friends.

If you have not unlocked all the teams/sponsors you will not be able to use them online. I didn't unlock any while playing online but I have a feeling that REP is REP and you can do so. All the races I competed in were fun, intense, and this is my favorite game mode by far.

Single Player consist of Time Trials and Single Race. Time Trials you can compete for the best time on the leaderboards and single race is just that a single race or gymkhana event.

*DEALBREAKER* This may be a deal breaker for some of you. Especially is you wanted to get it used. There is a VIP online pass. So in order to play online or use the youtube feature you must have a code or pay for one. If your on PS3 you can't play online till the PlaystationStore is back online. The bonus is it unlocks 5 more cars. Whoopie!

Tuning in Dirt 3:

Tunning is pretty simple and to the point. You have 6 categories to tune in each with 5 levels of tunning.

Gear Ratio: Short to Long

Down Force: High to Low

Suspension: Stiff to Soft

Ride Height: Low to High

Differential: Strong to Loose

Brake Bias: Rear to Front

So far I have done zero tunning and have just raced at the default settings. Once you set your tune you can store it as a preset for later use.

New to Dirt 3:

Gymkhana is the new addition to the Dirt series. Gymkhana is a type of motorsport practiced in an increasing number of countries. Similar to autocross , gymkhana courses are often very complex and memorizing the course is a significant part of achieving a fast time(Wiki). So far I have spent way to much time playing this. This is the more arcade game type of Dirt. I haven't tried it on the hardest difficulty or with all assist off but the game kinda helps your car get into place when trying to perform tricks. With that said this is still fun as crap to me and since the game is so gorgeous it cool seeing smoke and dust flying around as you drift around a corner or do a doughnut around a cone. Below are some videos of me playing Gymkhana.

Overall:

Overall this game is just as great as Dirt 2 was if not better. The physics are spot on, the graphics are gorgeous and the racing is just down right fun. Gymkhana is a nice distraction from racing and can be a time suck if you are not careful. We could always ask for more, more cars, more tracks, more customization ,but at this point and only after playing this game for 4 or 5 hours I would have to give it a 9 out of 10. This rating of course will change should I run into bugs or lag in multiplayer, but so far this is another great racer from Codemasters.

9/10