The Playstation 3 version of Dirt has now arrived and thankfully this means that racing fans who like their cars off road at last have something to be happy about, especially since this game looks absolutely stunning, but there is the age old question of how does it play, well as ever we will try to answer this question.

Rally racing has always been a hectic affair and Dirt captures this feeling perfectly, during most of the game you will find yourself power sliding around narrow corners while gripping onto your controller so tight that you cut off the circulation in your hands, but that’s just down to how realistic the game feels as you lose yourself in trying to be the best.

The main bulk of the game is played in the single player career mode, this offers a pyramid of racing challenges, in which you start at the bottom and make your way to the top, as you complete races you will unlock new ones which in turn will enable you to make money to buy new cars. There are six different rally events in the career mode so as to keep things fresh and challenging, these are Rally, Crossover, Rallycross, Rally Raid, Corr and Hill Climb, having a variety of races such as these certainly keeps things interesting on your way to the top of the pyramid.

If like some people (me) it takes you a while to get to grips with racing games, then you will be pleased to know that Dirt offers five different difficulty levels which should give everyone the type of challenge they are looking for, these range from Rookie all the way up to Pro, the good thing about this is that whatever level you choose, you opponents will always be of the same standard, so if you choose Rookie because you always crash every time you try to turn around a corner, then don’t worry because you won’t be the only one in the race doing this.

One of the most fun aspects of the game is the car damage and if you aren’t the perfect driver then chances are a tree or two will get in your way and let you experience this. There are nine parts of your car which can be damaged in Dirt and each of these effect how you car handles, if you partially damage these you are usually able to continue the race albeit with limitations, however wreck them completely and the race will be over.

Codemasters have also taken time during development to think about the purists amongst you by including the option to tweak the cars, there is plenty you can do here to improve performance as the game allows you to alter the Wheels, Suspensions Springs, Suspension Damping, Transmission, Brakes, Differentials, Downforce and Anti Roll Bar settings, so this should keep the more serious racers from blaming the car when they smack into a tree at high speeds.

As briefly mentioned at the start of this review, the graphics in Dirt are stunning, from the 3D menus to the stunning environments you can’t fail to be impressed, you are also able to interact with most of the backgrounds, by smashing into trees or fences, the cars are also perfectly modeled and will have you looking twice to see if it really is a computer game that you are playing.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the game is the online multiplayer games, although up to 100 players can race against each other at the same time, you don’t actually see anyone, only their times, therefore you are really only racing against the clock rather than an opponent, or that’s what it feels like anyway. You are also only limited to two modes of play in the multiplayer modes, these are Rally Race or Hill Climb, perhaps it would have been better to include some of the head to head modes to make things feel a bit more competitive but maybe that’s me just being picky.

Overall Colin McRae: Dirt on the Playstation 3 is a very good racing game indeed, it looks superb, the cars handle well and it feels great to play, Dirt also offers something for both beginners and hardcore racers alike and as things stand this is definitely the best racer on the PS3 at the moment. Highly recommend, enough said.

Rating: 9.1/10