Colin McRae might have been dead for two years, but his
influence
will live on in the entertainment world as long as cracking
video games
like these are made.
Colin McRae Dirt 2
Codemasters
Xbox 360
Hayden Meikle
Five Stars (out of 5)
This is a five-star driving game experience that more than does justice to the great Scottish rally driver, who died flying a helicopter near Lanark in September 2007.
(Wikipedia reveals the funeral service was conducted by the Rev Alison Meikle, by the way.)If Dirt was the first truly great off-road driving game, Dirt 2 is the best sequel in a racing series since . . . well, ever, I think.
Yes, it's that good.
Driving games have flooded the market since the glory days of Pole Position, and whether you like the arcade genre or street racing or V8 Supercars or Formula 1 or classic track simulations, there is plenty of choice.
This year alone features the release of outstanding additions to both the Need For Speed (NFS Shift) and Forza Motorsport (FM 3) franchises.
But in terms of off-road racing, Dirt and now Dirt 2 may be all you ever need.
I was sceptical of the sequel's ability to match or better the original, and I was ready to write it off through the introductory screens splashed with frenzied images and head-banging music.
Oh, me of little faith.
Once past the slightly annoying intro, an accessible, controller-friendly, intense, flat-out enjoyable driving game awaits.
Bliss on four wheels.
Base camp is an old caravan.
Inside the caravan is a map - full of destinations like Morocco and Baja that are in turn full of many and varied events.
Outside the caravan is a place to buy and upgrade vehicles.
There are classic rallies, rally-cross and modes like gate crasher, where the object is to smash dozens of breakable gates along a track.
There are hundreds of opportunities to boost your bank account and your XP, the levelling up of which helps unlock new events and gear.
Levelling up is now standard in every driving game but it's done particularly well in Dirt 2.
A nice touch is the addition of a name-specific voiceover, even if it was un-nerving the first few times to be greeted with "Hey Hayden" at the menu screen.
The cars handle beautifully, racing is fast and interesting, and a range of options allows you to ramp up or scale back the difficulty to suit.
Visually, Dirt 2 is so tasty it makes me weep that I don't own a 40-inch high-definition screen to really make the most of it.
But even on smaller boxes you can admire the graphics.