Review by: Danielle Riendeau

Dirt 2 is a super slick rally racing game, produced with solid physics, shiny graphics and all the licensed gear you could hope for. Wannabe speed demons of the more rough and tumble sort will be in dirt heaven, while newbies and gearheads of a different color can still have plenty of fun.

It’s a good thing, too, since while I love a good racing game, my experience with rally and off road activities was paltry going in. As someone with only the most tenuous grasp of how to pull off a solid drift on gravel, I had a very steep learning curve.

After all, rally racing is unpredictable and tough – much of the terrain is on slippery gravel and dirt, with crazy hairpin turns and occasional environmental hazards (see: the steep cliffs in the Croatia tracks). This ain’t no Sunday drive – and it certainly takes a bit of getting used to if you’re first jumping in from standard road racing. Total beginners should prepare to witness their gorgeous rides slam unceremoniously into the scenery a few times before the whole concept really clicks.

Thankfully, “Flashback” (a new feature that Grid also made use of) alleviates a great deal of the pain, allowing you to actually “rewind” particularly gnarly crashes and try again from a point a few seconds before your wipeout. It does a great deal to keep things challenging without being frustrating – and even the most hardened vets will appreciate the ability to use the feature.

Regardless of skill, all players begin the single player game a rookie, and as you win money and XP in races, you’ll move up in the world, unlocking new territory, events and vehicles. The game showers you with options and a wide variety of events across the globe, with a very satisfying progression from your first fledgling races in London and Baja to the more extreme modes (and insane tracks) in Asia and Africa. Plenty of the game is spent in modes like “domination” and “raid”, and there are “throwdown” challenge events where popular racers will issue you specific challenges.