It's hard to believe that Dirt is about 6 years old now, because the graphics that have stood the test of time. Even before you start racing, you notice how technically brilliant it is with the fancy, glossy menu and excellent presentations. Even the loading screen is great, which toggles though statistics such as wins, cars, total races, air time, damage taken etc. The menus are voiced by Travis Pastrana which is surprising given that it is 'Colin McRae's Dirt'. Sadly, this presentation comes at the cost of long loading times, but if you are patient, there's a great game at the end of it. The main Career mode has a hierarchy of races and a certain number of points need to be achieved before the next tier unlocks. Although there is less races in each tier, the races are longer and harder. There's plenty of types of races and tracks and enough cars and decals to purchase. Sometimes you play the usual rally, racing against opponent's times on a track, but there are circuit based races too where many opponents are racing on the same course. The courses are either mainly road, pure off-road, or a mixture, and have all sorts of elevation. Obviously, the usual rally cars make the core game, but there are races involving buggies and even delivery van like rigs. The variety of cars, race types and tracks helps keep things fresh and keeps the game interesting and fun. In terms of the actual race, the difficulty can be tweaked, similar to the Forza series where the opponents become harder, and your car is affected by damage more easily; but you are rewarded with more cash. Some races are single races, but other events are comprised of multiple races where the damage to your car carries over. Usually this format is three races, where you have to race twice before being able to repair your car for the final race. Although the physics seem generally fine, it does feel very arcade-like and bouncy once you get in the air and land/roll. The main focus on the race is to make sure you keep your car on the ground and to minimise damage, since that can dramatically affect your car's performance. The course design tends to stick object at the side of the road that can easily wreak havoc on your car. These objects are often deceptive, such as a rock that you think your car would glide over, but instead will send you flying and rolling. In some race types, your co-driver gives you assistance, stating what severity the next turns are, and at what distance they are, so it's important to listen. On events where you don't have the co-driver, you need to keep glancing at the mini-map and judge the corner yourself. Annoyingly, your co-driver insists on an annoying quip at the start/end of the race like "Smooth and steady. I'm Mr. Smooth, and you're Mr. Steady", and you will hear the same 3 comments over and over again. If you do crash, or go off the road, you can easily reset your car via the menu, and sometimes the game does it automatically; but is very inconsistent. Sometimes, one tyre goes off the road and it automatically resets you, but then other races, you will go flying off the track and the option to reset may even be disabled. Dirt is a brilliant game and it's hard to find much wrong with it. Obviously the reset feature is a bit inconsistent, but it's nice that the feature is there rather than making one mistake and ruining the race. To be honest, it's probably too beneficial because sometimes you will only lose 1 second if you react quick (and if the game allows it). When I play the sequels, maybe I'll rue giving this game such a high score, but until then it gets 9.5
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