Name: DiRT
Genre: Racing
Systems: Xbox360, PS3, PC (Reviewed on Xbox 360)

Several weeks ago Joe reviewed Forza 2 for the Xbox360 and fell deeply in love with the beautiful racer, but found my love to be fleeting. I played it, but didn’t review the title for the simple fact that I am terrible at realistic racing games. I prefer banana peels or large explosions to realism in my racing titles.

As soon as you put DiRT into your system you will notice the polish the developers (Codemasters, if anyone cares) put into the game. Even the menus of the game are wonderful and do bring a “next-gen” feeling to the game.

I was somewhat skeptical playing DiRT for the same reason I never really got in to Forza 2. Those worries were pushed away before too much time. Sure, it is realistic, but it also has large crashes that push the badass meter to 11. The graphics are wonderful on just about everything from the 40+ cars to the dozens of tracks. The controls are also slick and easy.

The game does boast several flavors of multiplayer, allowing for a disgustingly large amount of players to compete in different matches. One hundred players can race in time trials against each other. Sadly none of those matches actually allow you to do anything other than compare scores as you each play on your own track. I understand the reasoning – games with 12 people lag like hell, let alone nearly ten times that – but for a game that promoted the feature as much as it did I would have like to have seen them try.

As with any game, DiRT has its problems. The camera is disappointing in a non-game-breaking way. In most racing games the right analog stick allows you to view the area around your car; a push back sees behind and the sides show the car at those angles. DiRT completely leaves these views out.

Overall DiRT is a fun game. If you are a racing fan and are getting tired of Forza 2 already…you might not be a racing fan. But if you want to try something different and fun, I recommend giving DiRT a try.