It was one of those moments when you couldn’t believe what you heard as news broke out of one of Scotland’s top sportsmen and his son passing away along with some friends in a helicopter crash close to the family home. His reputation and legacy were huge, as well as his loyal following both far and wide. The situation threatened to derail the Codemasters franchise which was closely analysed by the great man, eventually creating a very close bond between the virtual rally specialists and the real McCoy.

How fitting that this posthumous title is one of the best to not only grace his name, but also has the ability to sit proudly amongst the top 3 racers the British coding house have ever done.  Let me tell you why.

Back in the days of the PSX, when pixels were the new black and dual shock was only associated with someone grabbing an electric fence twice, Colin McRae Rally appeared out of nowhere in 1998 to critical acclaim. The graphics were good for the time, but it was the handling and the way the cars moved on the track that kept people coming back for more of the same. The sequel gave us more of the same, but it then began to lose its way (for me at least) when the series moved to the PS2 and Xbox machines. The handling just didn’t feel so crisp and the skiddish movement just didn’t make for the best of playing experiences, with some plumping for Sony’s WRC series or Microsoft’s Rallisport Challenge.

The original DiRT managed to address some of these control issues, as well as gaining admiration in the public eye again, with its well praised EGO engine powering the game, giving it lush visuals and an almost FMV style quality to the graphics. It’s used again here, with a few extra tweaks here and there and the results are nothing short of spectacular. The cars, although varied in their stature (who ever thought they’d see a METRO in a modern game?) all look fantastic, with the lighting effects giving an already gleaming package that extra wow factor. They also look just as good when you’re crashing them, which you will inevitably do, trust me on that. As well as this, all of the nine varied locations featured are just stunning, from London’s dark, metallic, almost street punk style rally cross stages to Malaysia, with it’s lush green jungle stages. It even features the very stadium that McRae raced round when he took part in the summer X-Games, where he met up with the new cover star for the game, Ken Block.

Some may think that going down the road of including people such as Block, Travis Pastrana and Dave Mirra is not the right thing to do, taking into consideration that McRae was first and foremost a WRC driver, but I can assure you there is nothing to worry about. If anything it’s made it more rounded, as it encapsulates almost all of the various types of rally types and brings them together, whilst catering for a much wider audience. I must admit, I was worried too, but for a slightly different reason. Being a die hard TOCA: Race Driver fan, I thought GRID just didn’t cut it, like it had lost it’s edge due to widening the target area in terms of user base, but with DiRT it has done it the world of good.

There may not be multiple stage events, which along with damage to take to the next day would have made this an even better choice, but the way things are presented here you can have 5 minute blasts or while away hours going through the HUGE amount of races on offer. Within the nine locations mentioned, you can have anything from four to fifteen races of different types. Then you have the Subaru USA team challenging you to one off races, as well as five world tours and X-Games events held in three different continents. The scale of what is on offer is epic and when you add free race and online leader board time trials into the mix as well, one thing you cannot say is that you don’t get value for money.

The amount of cars is also rather impressive. Sure it may not stand along the lines of Forza or Gran Turismo in sheer amount, but the cars picked are a mixture of Baja off roaders, buggies and a selection of Subaru makes old and new. To keep things varied, the different styles of event are well mixed and entertaining in equal measure, with rally stages and rally cross taken as a given, you also have Domination (try and maintain the best time for each sector of a circuit) Gatecrasher (smash through barriers to keep your clock above zero) Trailblazer (fastest time over one stage with staggered starts) and the Landrush and Raid events (off-road vehicles in a race round a track). There is literally something for everyone contained within.

With over 11 years of knowledge in this field, Codemasters’ audio department have shone again with some truly brutal sounds to match the already gorgeous eye candy. This is probably expected when you consider they at one time had a Guinness Book of Records (Gamer Edition) entry for most audio samples used in a game, ironically for DiRT,  Turbo chargers, high revs and firing exhausts all combine wonderfully with the massive amount of engine noises to create a rich and vibrant noise. The option to turn off the X-Games crowd is there also, but in general they don’t get in the way and the co driver stuff is just as good as ever. The music is of notable mention too, as the selection is a good mix of modern rock and chart tunes, which fit well with the new image the game has created and although this is probably a geeky point, I do love the way the songs are almost sewn into the loading of each level and integrate from external event tannoy to in game ambience.

The way DiRT plays is what totally surprised me. I was expecting another GRID operation, in terms of it being another series brought down a peg or two, with crisp movement replaced with sponge like handling. I’m so glad to have been proven wrong. The way you’re able to sling big hunks of metal round corners with the pull of a handbrake lever is just (for want of a better word) awesome. You always feel like you’re in control and that any mistake you make is your own. The flashback option from the Race Driver series is included for the first time here, but can be turned down by ramming the difficulty level up and this is a good thing, as the temptation to use it can sometimes become a luxury and something you depend on if used too much.

All of the options in single player are available in multiplayer too, which allows for 8 players to have a ball, with a Ferrari F355 Challenge style wait in expectation as you drive across the finish line, waiting to see what time everyone else has clocked up. The result is a game that is so easy to just pick up and play, but allows veterans and hardcore gamers alike to get stuck in, with the ability to tweak under the hood before each race and the hardest setting in full effect.

Colin McRae: DiRT 2 is a great tribute to the man as is as hugely diverse and impressive as he was. Codemasters have produced a title that is so lovingly dedicated to him, with an event in his name, featuring his brother and father amongst the racers, as well as his Mark II Escort to drive in. In a way the torch has now been safely passed, but for me this will ALWAYS be Colin Mcrae’s rally. I can only find it fitting that I leave the last words to the man himself…

“If in doubt….flat out.”

VideogameUK verdict: 8.5/10