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IGN Review of Dirt 2
When it comes to the full-on "bang for your buck" racing games, there are few franchises out there I care about as much as Codemaster's Dirt/GRID series. The original Dirt owned my soul for a few months, GRID had me hooked even longer, and when I manage to squeeze time in between reviewing games I was following – and now enjoying – Dirt 2 on PS3 and 360. Anytime a game with as much dedication (and cash) gets a Wii release though I'm not too optimistic. It'd take an ambitious developer with (usually) less time and cash to pull off something special for Nintendo's crowd, and while we've seen it happen time and time again on the Big N's system that's unfortunately not the case with Dirt 2. You're going to want to skip this one, as it's Dirt by box art alone.
For Dirt 2, Codemasters enlisted the help of developer Sumo Digital, known for games like Outrun Arcade on XBLA, New International Track & Field on DS, and SEGA Superstars Tennis. While the developer obviously knows its stuff, Dirt 2 just feels like a rushed, borderline incomplete package, and it unfortunately doesn't resemble any of the magic or intensity that comes with the other versions of the game.
What it does resemble, however, is the Dirt 2 PSP game. Yup, Dirt 2 for Wii is basically a bigger brother to the PSP version with motion control tacked on.
Career mode is entirely linear, often allowing only one (or a couple) cars to choose from based on the race, in-game visuals are pretty ugly – bested by most high end PS2 racers, and even Gran Turismo on PSP – and the game's overall feel is just too unpolished. Tires sound like radio static, rival AI isn't too aggressive, but it works, and the tracks – while varied – aren't too compelling to race on. Even things like a cockpit mode or the ability to have music while driving isn't supported, though I'll had it to the team for locking a decent framerate and an ok sense of speed despite other issues.
The biggest issue though is that Dirt 2 just isn't fun to play. Drifting isn't as fluid as it could be, the heavier cars just feel too slow overall, and there's this lack of intensity when racing that just can't be ignored. You'll still get a nice cross-section of cars from the other versions, and the whole "trailer hub" is there to see, but it's all completely linear. Even the DS's career mode – which had you moving from location to location in an open-ended fashion – has more depth than what is offered on Wii.
The final major issue I've got with the game comes with control. If you use the analog stick setup it's actually not bad at all, and if you get into the groove with it there's some decent track racing to be had, minus its overall repetitive feel. Tilt control just doesn't feel right though, and then team would have done well to include a sensitivity calibration that games like GT Pro Series (a Wii budget launch game) had. Instead, driving with tilt just doesn't feel tight enough, so those hopping into the game hoping for any sort of virtual wheel setup are going to be disappointed.
©2009-09-16, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
For Dirt 2, Codemasters enlisted the help of developer Sumo Digital, known for games like Outrun Arcade on XBLA, New International Track & Field on DS, and SEGA Superstars Tennis. While the developer obviously knows its stuff, Dirt 2 just feels like a rushed, borderline incomplete package, and it unfortunately doesn't resemble any of the magic or intensity that comes with the other versions of the game.
What it does resemble, however, is the Dirt 2 PSP game. Yup, Dirt 2 for Wii is basically a bigger brother to the PSP version with motion control tacked on.
Career mode is entirely linear, often allowing only one (or a couple) cars to choose from based on the race, in-game visuals are pretty ugly – bested by most high end PS2 racers, and even Gran Turismo on PSP – and the game's overall feel is just too unpolished. Tires sound like radio static, rival AI isn't too aggressive, but it works, and the tracks – while varied – aren't too compelling to race on. Even things like a cockpit mode or the ability to have music while driving isn't supported, though I'll had it to the team for locking a decent framerate and an ok sense of speed despite other issues.
The biggest issue though is that Dirt 2 just isn't fun to play. Drifting isn't as fluid as it could be, the heavier cars just feel too slow overall, and there's this lack of intensity when racing that just can't be ignored. You'll still get a nice cross-section of cars from the other versions, and the whole "trailer hub" is there to see, but it's all completely linear. Even the DS's career mode – which had you moving from location to location in an open-ended fashion – has more depth than what is offered on Wii.
The final major issue I've got with the game comes with control. If you use the analog stick setup it's actually not bad at all, and if you get into the groove with it there's some decent track racing to be had, minus its overall repetitive feel. Tilt control just doesn't feel right though, and then team would have done well to include a sensitivity calibration that games like GT Pro Series (a Wii budget launch game) had. Instead, driving with tilt just doesn't feel tight enough, so those hopping into the game hoping for any sort of virtual wheel setup are going to be disappointed.
©2009-09-16, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved