DiRT, the next game in the Colin McRae series, is the first real rally racing game to come to the Xbox 360. It was hyped well for a while before release, but just how well did it hold up? Here is a breakdown of some of the facets of DiRT for the Xbox 360:

Presentation and Graphics: The graphics in DiRT are very good. I’d say probably the best I’ve seen in a racing game on the Xbox 360 (that includes Forza 2). The car models are very realistic and the tracks are well laid out with great detail. DiRT sports a dynamic damage model system which adds a nice depth of realism to the game. Hit your passenger side too much and the door will swing open the rest of the race, which not only looks cool but also affects your car’s performance. The mud and dirt effects on the track look beautiful as well. The only environment effects I’ve ever seen look better are in Motorstorm. The graphics do take a large hit, however, because of framerate and tearing issues. Many times during a race you’ll encounter framerate slowdowns or vertical screen tearing, which really takes away from the experience. 3 of 5

Sound and Music: DiRT has a very immersive sound system during the race, which is most evident with a good surround sound system. It’s great to hear the cars coming up on your rear left or right. There’s many times when you can even hear the cars behind you back-fire. The engines sound great for all the cars as well. The environment sounds are well places with skids and hitting bushes as you drive by. This is one area where the Colin McRae series has always shined, in my opinion. 4 of 5

Gameplay: The controls for DiRT are very solid, which has been a staple of the Colin McRae series since the beginning. Being used to other rally games, it took me a bit to get used to the controls and feel of DiRT. Once I did, I was very happy with the feel of the game. You really feel the car sliding around turns, which is the key to rally racing. The game features a few race types in each of the modes. Many have you on the track alone either against ghost opponents or to beat a certain time. There’s a crossover race type, which I found most interesting, which features a track that that crosses over itself around the mid-point. One car starts on one side of the track and your opponent starts on the other. These are usually short, looping tracks, which allow you to see and hear your opponent as they make their way through race. All of these race types give the career mode, the game’s main staple, a huge deal of depth to provide hours of racing fun. 4 of 5

Multiplayer: DiRT has a fairly good online lobby system, about standard for a racing game. The really frustrating part about playing DiRT online is all of the people who want to just skid out and knock you off the track. Out of 20 races online, I had this happen at least once intentionally in 13 races. Some of the races it would happen two to four times by multiple people. This really took away from online experience for me. 3 of 5

Lasting Appeal: DiRT has a very deep career mode, which is complimented by a Championship mode which relies on unlocking cars in the career mode. You can spend at least 15 hours just to get through the single player portion of the game with all of the challenges at each level. Couple that with the Championship mode and online play, and DiRT will keep you occupied for a very long time, as long as you can put up with the framerate drops and screen tearing. 3.5 of 5

Final Word: DiRT is a great rally racing game that is hindered by framerate troubles and screen tearing issues. This seems like something that could be patched by Codemasters, but no word has come down from the developer yet on this issue. The depth of the career mode and the solid control make the game very fun to play if you can get past the graphical problems.

Overall: 3.5 of 5

1 = Not worth the bandwidth.

2= Demo is enough, not worth your money.

3= Game is good, depending on the price, seriously consider picking it up.

4= Worth your money. Should provide some good times for quite awhile.

5= Buy the game. Lock your door. Pick up a case of beer. This could take all night.