DiRT 3 is the continuation of the Colin McRae's series, which has always been developed by Codemasters. Did the third installment of the famous racing franchise manage to maintain its leading position in terms of graphics and gameplay? Read about it in our review!
First Impression
SHOCK — that's the first thing that comes to mind when you start the game. "Only idiots lay out pages like this" — this famous internet phrase perfectly describes the menu design of DiRT 3. Eye-searing turquoise and gold fonts on a miserable gray background, an incomprehensible concept of larger and smaller tetrahedrons, odd categorization of races and grouping of cars... in short, they've clearly never heard of usability here. Right after the shock comes confusion: "AAA what have you done to the beloved racer's van?!!! Why did you have to throw out something that was already working so well?"
However, the dull menu is not the only thing that disappoints in DiRT 3. Compared to the "sweet pie" of numerous and varied races we experienced in DiRT 2, the third installment offers us literally a dozen new tracks. And the races are simply organized by combining the same track in different lengths. Most of them are so short that finishing the entire game in just a few days is no problem. The artificial intelligence, which used to at least put up some resistance, now barely manages to drive the car.
Even if you crash into every other pole, you can still finish in second or third place... The only thing that adds some spice are the new effects, such as snow and rain, which the developers were so proud of. Graphically and physically, they are indeed well implemented. The quality of the locations overall is also pleasing—they are well-designed and filled with various details, and both near and distant objects are impressively detailed.
Gameplay
Gymkhana and a number of other additional modes, which were introduced for the first time in DiRT 3, can initially be quite challenging and require players to hone their skills. And while they do add a certain flair to the game, there are simply too many of these events compared to the classic DiRT races. To diversify the gameplay with new modes, there should be enough of the old ones, but unfortunately DiRT 3 does not meet this requirement. What made the developers abandon the long rally stages and races? Why did they have to remove the tracks we already knew from the second game?
The car selection has also changed. Previously, we could collect several dozen different cars and store them in a "garage," but now we don't have any of that. We race for various teams, which provide us with ready-made cars. The developers added 6 new vehicles, and you can buy about the same number in paid DLC, while also removing roughly as many. Fans of smashing cars to pieces can look elsewhere—you can no longer wreck a vehicle as epically as you could in DiRT 2. In DiRT 3, car crashes are boring. We unlock new tracks and cars using the same experience points system, with a cap at level 30, and the races themselves give a reasonable amount of points, not the Zimbabwean millions from DiRT 2.
The location design is not bad, but you won't find memorable tracks like those in Nevada or China. Graphically, DiRT 2's successor isn't perfect either, due to minor visual bugs (especially on NVIDIA graphics cards). But, of course, DiRT 3 supports DirectX 11, using it to render tire treads, not just water effects. That's progress for you.
***
Speaking about the game as a whole, it seems the developers at Codemasters have completely lost their sense of proportion: their desperate attempt to inject novelty into the game ultimately ruined it. DiRT 3 feels more like an add-on for DiRT 2 with a couple of new tracks, modes, and effects, rather than a standalone, cohesive game.
P.S. And it would've been better if those tetrahedrons were eggs. Real men's eggs get bigger with every new level!
