The driving experience in Dirt 2 is a perfectly challenging, deeply satisfying and great fun involvement that you're likely to love. It's all wrapped up in many consoley adornments that may not be to the taste of all PC gamers, but once in the cockpit you'll have a smile on your dial.

Here is easily the best driving physics Codemasters has achieved. Even Richard Burns Rally purists will have a hard time turning up their noses, and it's near impossible to declare Dirt 2 either a sim or arcade - it's just really nice to drive. The cars are instantly intuitive and natural. There's no need to figure out the developer's idea of the driving model to get good (we’re looking at you, NFS: Shift), instead your love of driving and racer attitude will steer you right from the get go, and that's a big win for any driving game.



The cars feel completely dynamic and responsive to your inputs, and importantly for this genre - the terrain. We all yearn to hang perfect arse-out rally slides, whether hairpin or sweeper, and Dirt 2 does it just right without feeling artificial at any time. There's an extremely high sense of energy about the cars, they're almost begging for the next micro-input of steering or pedal to twitch to your will beautifully.

Encompassing off-road as well as Rally and street or stadium RallyX, it's likely you'll have bits you love, and bits you love less. Off road in massive slidey big-wheeled trucks didn't excite me anywhere near as much as Rally and RallyX, but let's not forget the US market this is pitched at, and there's more than enough of each flavour to satisfy any taste. What's nice is that you can purchase cars that suit your driving style, so for off road there's a tight and responsive Mitsubishi with handling closer to WRX than a big Chevy truck, making that part of the game a bit more fun. In any case, Dirt 2 is about variety, and it's pretty addictive. A charging Baja off road race will have you feeling like a bit of Rally concentration through the countryside, which in turn inspires you to get amongst the intense combat-like action of RallyX. It all stacks up as a complete driving experience that's totally engaging and very moreish.

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See Dirt 2 in all its DX11 glory.
The terrain bits all have the right effect on your drive, something Codies have taken a long time to get right. Slide through a farm fence and it'll domino as you go, slowing the car just a bit. You'll quickly learn to avoid puddles, big speed trap there, and a messy windscreen needing a flick of the wiper switch, which is cool.
Sitting against that goodness is the mouseless console menu, drawn out interface animations that can't be skipped, the whole unlocking cars and tracks thing, and that it's a GFWL game. Some, none or all of those issues may put you off, but any annoyance is quickly forgotten once you're in the car. Whatever sort of driving gamer you see yourself as, regardless of your taste in cars, Dirt 2 will give you a bloody good time. It's a wonderful combo of instant gratification plus satisfying learning experience as your skills improve. Doesn't hurt either that it looks amazing and runs well as long as you're up within the recommended specs.

The reward is a drive that's fluid, exciting, and when you get it just right, will make you feel like a driving god.

Download the PC demo of Dirt 2 right here, unmetered for Internode customers.