Fortunately, Codemasters seem to have taken on board the criticisms aimed at DiRT 2 and during the run up to this Battersea event had been reassuring us that DiRT 3 features shed loads of rallying action. So it was time to find out if they are telling the truth by testing out a couple of stages from the game – one from the rally of Kenya and the in-game version of the Battersea gymkhana course.

First-off the Kenyan rally stage. Once I’d selected Miko Hirvonen’s Ford Fiesta RS WRC, I hared off down what was to become a treacherous, sun-baked, undulating stage and flanked by some terrifying cliff edges. It was made even more challenging given the tail-happy nature of the Fiesta under hard braking. After a fairly tragic first couple of corners I soon got to grips with the handling, flicking the backend around between trees and bushes like a driving ninja. This game makes you feel so good when you really nail a corner or ace a particularly difficult stage. This is exactly the kind of excitement I want from a driving game.

Graphically, the game is an improvement over the already stunning looking DiRT 2, with its beautifully rendered scenery. Sound-wise, it’s the usual collection of turbo-crackles and pops which are music to my ears. You also get some lovely crunching sounds from your car when you smack a bit of scenery. It’s a gut-wrenching sound too, as you know the seconds are ticking away with every little bump.

Moving onto the Battersea gymkhana stage; seriously, how hard can it be? Ken Block made the course look frighteningly simple with his car dancing under his deft touch, pirouetting around cones and snaking between all the shipping containers. It was poetry in motion. Unfortunately, my first attempts at gymkhana weren’t quite so elegant.

Initially, I may have had a few minor issues navigating my way around the course ;-) My car was shedding bodywork all over the place. However, this did a fantastic job of showing off the cool damage system. You can really bash the crap out of your car to leave it looking like one of the mangled cop cars from Smokey and the Bandit. However, after a while I finally mastered the controls. My eureka moment was performing a beautiful doughnut burnout around a handily placed JCB digger, with my car’s tyres squealing in pain as they tried to grip the gravel while the car slithered sideways.

In gymkhana, points are awarded for spinning around the various obstacles with pin-point precision whilst (hopefully) demonstrating delightful throttle control. Fortunately for us mere mortals, Ken Block has recorded a series of in-game tutorials to help you master the challenges of the gymkhana stages.

Codemasters also showed off DiRT 3′s “party modes” – Transporter, Invasion and Outbreak – with each mode pitting up to 8 players against each other. Transporter is a capture-the-flag type game but in cars. Invasion has you driving into cardboard cut-outs of aliens whilst avoiding the skyscrapers. In Outbreak, one random player becomes “infected” 5 seconds after starting the game and then has to infect all the others by driving into them. Once a player’s infected they can then infect other players, again by driving into them. The game ends when everyone’s infected.

Summary:

DiRT 3 feels like a proper rally game. Codemasters are to be commended for taking a long, hard look at DiRT 2 and making DiRT 3 the game it should have been. One to check it out when it gets released this week.

DiRT 3 is released on the 24th May 2011 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

The event also starred another WRC driver – Kris Meeke – who had a playful fight with Ken Block (armed with a can of Monster energy drink) before the press Q & A session. Even after driving VIP guests around the gymkhana track all morning Ken was still up for a fight. The guy has incredible amounts of energy.

If you ever get than chance to see Ken drive in real life, I urge you to do it. You won’t regret it. You can also follow Ken Block via his Facebook page and Twitter account.

I managed to get a video of one of Ken’s drives around the gymkhana track. It really is quite breathtaking to watch close-up. The raw performance of his Ford Focus RS WRC car is just amazing.

Look out for my DiRT 3 first impressions post later on next week where I get to grips with one of the gymkhana tracks in-game. Finally, here’s some more shots of Ken driving the wheels off his car. Look at that tire smoke!

DiRT 3 is out on the 24th May 2011 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

The FIA ended Group B rallying in 1986 due to a series of accidents, some of which were fatal. The Group B cars were proving too dangerous to drive.

Featuring cars such as the Lancia Delta S4 and Audio Sport quattro Rallye, these Group B races are going to be a lot of fun.

DiRT 3 is out on the 24th May 2011 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

What is it?

Arcade style rally racing.

Is it fun?

Yes.

Is it worth the money? £39.99

Yes.

Why?

I almost need to review Sega Rally twice. Once with the standard 360 controller and once with the set-up that Sega provided us when we visited them in August. Why? Well, playing Sega Rally whilst sitting in a Sparco racing seat, with force-feedback steering wheel (and pedals) I was in driving heaven. It’s perfect. You can feel every bump as your car drives over all the track deformations and as it power slides around another lovely corner.

Unsurprisingly, without the steering wheel you do feel a little bit more disconnected from your car. The 360 controller is never going to recreate force-feed back, so its really a minor gripe in the scheme of things. But now I’ve tasted Sega Rally force-feedback style I want more. Lots more. Now if only I could persuade Sega to lend me all the kit….

Anyway Sega Rally is really fun to play. All the cars handle well and look beautiful. Mmm, car pr0n. There are plenty of tracks spread over a variety of different environments to test all your driving skills. There are 5 other AI cars in each race to fight with, and Gran Turismo style driving (i.e. dive down the inside at each corner) proves surprisingly effective. So they aren’t too hard to beat, but will put up challenge if you don’t drive well. In particular there are a couple of Alpine tracks that look absolutely stunning whilst your driving, something I never really experienced with DIRT (Sega Rally’s closest competitor).

Whilst on the subject of DIRT they are quite different games. Yes, they are both “rally” games, but Sega Rally is all about the arcade experience with its quick pick-up and play ideology. Where as DIRT is a more nuts and blots rally game, with damage, accurate stages and 1 car vs the track gameplay.

As far as multiplayer is concerned, I thoroughly enjoyed racing against other people via Xbox Live. The arcade style game play works really well for those quick 3 lap races with up 5 other people at once. It’s also very easy to find available races, something that I found much harder to do in DIRT. As all the cars are nicely balanced in terms of power and handling it really is a test of driver skill and not machinery.

In summary:

It’s a fun, pick up and play arcade racer. What more could you want?

Screenshots:

Sega Rally is out now on PS3, Xbox 360, PC and PSP.

Age rating: 12+ (PEGI)

What is it?

It’s a rally game. Think Forza Motorsport or Gran Turismo but with lots of mud (and car damage).

Is it fun?

Yes.

Is it worth the money? £39.99 from play.com

Yep.

Why?

Car damage and speed, the 2 essential elements in any decent rally game. Fortunately Colin McRae’s DiRT has tons and tons of speed and shed loads of car damage. When I was belting down the 3rd stage of the Rally of Wales in my Lancia Delta S4 at some hideous speed, it really felt like seat of the pants stuff. Then I screwed my entry to one of the corners and whoops-a-daisy, the car performs a perfect barrel role in mid air. Back on all 4 wheels, minus 1 door – which I wasn’t using anyway – I managed to finish the stage.

I love the way this game looks. All the tracks ooze fantastic levels of detail. Mud, snow and dust laden environments are all nicely rendered. Each area littered with so many pesky road side obstacles with which to destroy your car. You also get this real feeling of being on the just on the edge as you are hurtling down each stage, with the scenery crowding round your car. The Australian stages feel especially claustrophobic with lots of trees and bush lying in wait for you to meander slightly off line. Your car’s really buggered when you do, I can tell you. I’ve lots of experience buggering up my car, me.

However, there are some rubbish bits. Firstly, the menu music is crap. I turned off it off pretty darn quickly as the same track was repeated again and again. Eventually it just got to me as it will you. Secondly, what’s with the stupid American commentator and co-driver (no Nicky Grist, rubbish)? For the first few races you don’t mind and just try to ignore him (your co-drive unfortunately you have to listen to). But then you begin to realise that he has about 5 recorded banal statements to chirp at you after finishing a race. Annoying. And the truck/Big rig races. Why? They are slow and boring. Total waste of time and effort and they just don’t feel like they should part of this game.

One question I’d like answered is what happened to Colin McRae then? Why are his dulcet Scottish tones missing from this game? It’s named after him, but he’s nowhere to be seen unlike the previous 4 releases. Did Codemasters just shove a wodge of cash Colin’s way for the use of his name in his absence? The only reference to Colin I could find was in the endgame credits under the “special thanks to” section.

In summary:

The best rally game on any of the next-gen consoles, for the moment anyway.

Screenshots:

Update 16th Sep 07: Tragically Colin McRae was killed last night in a helicopter crash near his home in Scotland. His son and 2 family friends were also killed in the crash. Our thoughts are with the families affected by this great loss.