DiRT 3 Review

DiRT 3 slides a few changes into the successful formula driven by its predecessor. New modes, less repetitive tracks and weather effects are the most prominent of these changes. A reduction in repetition is welcomed during the later stages of the tour with a many rally tracks feeling like entirely new courses. Annoying characters from DiRT 2 have been silenced in favour of some fictitious personalities residing in the slick new menu. Multiplayer offers more modes, suiting a broader range of gamers. Gymkhana, perhaps the biggest addition, is designed to be fun, challenging and rewarding.

All these donuts are making me hungry

Gymkhana is a new type of racing that allows you to have fun with your vehicle. The structure of Gymkhana revolves around putting you in an open area with lots of obstacles to do tricks around. The basic tricks are jump, donut, drift, smash and spin. Obstacles have finely tuned detection zones to judge your proficiency on each of the tricks and the game awards you points. If you crash, you lose your current point multiplier and any progress on that trick. While most of the Gymkhana challenges are optional, there are a series of compulsory Gymkhana events at the start and a few mixed through the rest of the campaign. If you dislike Gymkhana or find it hard you are going to struggle to finish the tour. Initially you may be opposed to the idea of Gymkhana but it actually becomes rather enjoyable.

The biggest idea behind Gymkhana is mastering control of your car in a sandbox like environment. This involves liberal use of the handbrake to turn on a dime, sliding through pipes, flags or just getting good air. Training and some events occur in Battersea where lampposts, cranes, containers and pipes will play a central role in tricks. You can even complete series of mini missions around the compound at your own leisure.

In large spectator events strategically placed colored markers will guide you toward certain trick types. Maintaining good car control after and during tricks is actually a very satisfying experience. Chaining tricks together in the freestyle events is also quite enjoyable. I have never been a fan of drifting events, seen frequently in GRID, but Gymkhana is a good additional feature on top of the existing events.

Head2Head makes a return to the series along with the standard point to point and competitive events. Head2Head, used often for finales, raises the adrenaline when you cross the finish alongside your competitor. Rally and Trailblazer offer the most variety in terms of course layout although they are fairly short to start with. Landrush and RallyX provide the standard competitive race modes with AI that acts a little more aggressively. There are also other events closely related to Gymkhana that ask you to smash through aliens, speed through markers or just drift down tracks.

Left, three, into water hazard

The brand new tracks are located in Kenya, Los Angeles, Aspen, Michigan, Finland and Norway. Although there aren’t a huge number of global locations the actual courses vary quite considerably. During later races existing crossroads are sealed off and alternate routes are opened making some of the tracks feel new. You still drive through recognisable areas (forward and reverse) but will be surprised by some alterations. The course start and end locations and everything in between have been marvellously jumbled to provide greater replay value when moving through the 15-25 hour dirt tour. These jumbled courses suffer no degradation in quality with amazing off-track detail including spectators with flares, snow villages and even a bobsled to race. Driving in DiRT 3 is as good as it has ever been in the series.

Without fantastic, responsive driving mechanics the game would be but an empty shell. Thankfully the controls, with and without assists, are superb across the entire generation of vehicles. For many events you can choose which decade or type of vehicle to select. This enhances replay value due to the differences in speed and handling. The introduction of weather effects and snow only helps to demonstrate how amazing the driving feels. Sliding around on snow through Aspen contrasts nicely with high grip tarmac of Los Angeles. There are also the superb transitions from tarmac to dirt in the woods around Michigan.

Racing a bobsled down the mountain

It is important to find a difficulty that matches your own skill level. Much of my time was spent without assists using a 360 controller. The difficulty sweet spot was higher than the prequel for racing and rally events thanks partly to five flashbacks being available on all difficulty levels. On this higher difficulty I was brutalized during the competitive Gymkhana events due to my propensity to crash. Being able to change difficulty on the fly with no adverse consequences removes much frustration. There are still some timed events that will be tough to get through no matter what difficulty or assists you use.

The on-track personality has thankfully been redirected for the sequel. Although drivers from the previous game return they say nothing when racing. No longer do you have Ken Block or other characters talking during races. Nor do they make comments when arriving at a new destination. Ken Block does provide some basic training for Gymkhana early on but he is never heard of again. Most of the personality has been shifted to the three characters, Ellie, Christian and Jack, who are also silent during races.

These three characters cover a wide demographic but manage to stay out of the way. They provide some memorable gems like, “being the fastest is a good strategy for success,” although these words of advice can be skipped. As they narrate the tour they tell you how good you are and preview upcoming events. Spectators are also more vocal and responsive. They will boo and flinch if you crash near them. In some events they are seen running from the track and jumping over barriers as your car approaches. During races in particular they will call out flattering or derogatory comments depending on how well you are driving. These nice extras go along well with the improved graphics.

Visual improvements include color toning, weather effects and a sleek new menu system. The menu is still 3D but it’s minimalistic, consistent and quicker to navigate than the trailer interface from DiRT 2. Pyramids and triangles hold seasons and events, and cars drift through the menus kicking up more gold pyramids to make everything flamboyant. Music is mellower than the original, solidifying the reduction in extroverted personality.

Let is snow, let it snow, let it snow

Aside from the improved menu system the weather effects provide some visual variation to the tracks and vehicles. Varying conditions make attractive texture modifications to your car, placing layers of icicles on the hood or mud on the rear. The precipitation events do result in a change in vehicle handling. Rain naturally makes the tarmac slippery and snow storms make Trailblazer events hazardous at full clip. Color toning does change the look of locales from sunburnt Kenya to overcast Finland. Those who enjoy racing online will be pleased with the inclusion of more modes.

Multiplayer has a wider range of modes thanks to Gymkhana and party modes. Party modes might involve driving around Battersea smashing aliens, avoiding infected cars or carrying flags. The Zombie mode, Outbreak, is disappointing with only a few players due to its simplistic nature and quick completion time. Transporter is a fun mode that involves collecting a flag and bringing it to a capture point before another car crashes into you. Players can wait at the capture point to head off the flag carrier or chase after them to steal it back. Although Invasion (smashing aliens) never reaches great heights it is consistently enjoyable and can require skilled car control.

Competitive online modes will certainly get the blood pumping. Head2Head creates even more tension when players are racing closely on opposite sides of an impassable barrier. The hardcore modifier removes the HUD and will not grant a car reset after a bad crash, raising the stakes even further. RallyX and Landrush modes put you at the mercy of other players who can decide if you deserve to be rammed into a barrier. Point to Point events against multiplayer ghosts are still very enjoyable due to the constant pressure. You never really know how many people are playing each mode but competitive races are usually well populated. Wait times between races can be long with some players taking a while to load into tracks. A veto vote, for discipline and track location, takes far too long when the actual action is short enough as it is.

Yes this game looks outstanding

Although DiRT 3 may not initially seem like a huge step forward for the franchise it comes off as a solid sequel. You can’t buy vehicles anymore and there is no team management like in GRID but these features don’t really feel lacking. Gymkhana has been well crafted and opens up a bunch of new modes to mess around with. Rally tracks toward the end of the tour are less repetitive thanks to the well designed locations. Visually the game is still spectacular with amazing tracks, nice weather and plenty of detail in the environments. The collection of small changes and the Gymkhana related events ensure DiRT 3 is a very worthy successor.