QOTW: Which is the best DiRT game?

[JackKey 23]

I think Dirt 2 ist the best, even though it has its flaws.

Dirt 1 is a pretty nice game, but the blurry yellow HDR was annoying. Thank god you could turn it off on PC. Slow cars were not that awesome, but the fast cars were really neat. I didn't like the Offroad-Cars. They were so extremly jumpy and more difficult than rally - and Dirt 1 had the worst performace from all CM-Games so far, especially with 8+ cars in the race.

Dirt 2 is so far the most awesome Dirt, even though the target-audience seemed to be 16 year old Americans. The visiual variety was great even though it had little to much desert.

Dirt 3 felt like a let down in the beginning - it felt so.... incomplete .... until the complete edition was released..... - as well I felt like being treated as a little kiddo: "Who has won the race? YEAAAH YOU WON THE RACE" - wow this was so lame. But wow, Monte Carlo was sooo awesome.

Dirt Showdown was okay. Driving had no depth, it was really simple. Crashing felt not as satisfying as in Grid 1 Crash Derby. But I really enjoyed it nonetheless. I hope there will be a secons installment with a little bit more depth, destruction and meat on it's bones.

Can't wait for Dirt 4 though. I hope it will blast all previous Dirt-Games away :).

[ilchiodi 2]

I really liked all 3 DiRT games (I haven't played Showdown).

DiRT - Pro: long and narrow stages, Pikes Peak, Italian rally (Sardinia), real RX circuits.

Cons: weird handling, especially on the asphalt.

DiRT 2 - Pro: awesome soundtrack and atmosphere, good looking menus, possibility to

run any car on any track, Croatia rally.

Cons: low amount of rally cars, and no real life hillclimb cars.

DiRT 3 - Pro: a lot of rally cars, cars' sound, Monte Carlo rally, snow for the first time!

Cons: many stages too wide, too much Gymkhana in the career, landrush with only two type of car.

[MastaVonBlasta 1]

pupazzo said:

I really liked all 3 DiRT games (I haven't played Showdown).

DiRT - Pro: long and narrow stages, Pikes Peak, Italian rally (Sardinia), real RX circuits.

Cons: weird handling, especially on the asphalt.

DiRT 2 - Pro: awesome soundtrack and atmosphere, good looking menus, possibility to

run any car on any track, Croatia rally.

Cons: low amount of rally cars, and no real life hillclimb cars.

DiRT 3 - Pro: a lot of rally cars, cars' sound, Monte Carlo rally, snow for the first time!

Cons: many stages too wide, too much Gymkhana in the career, landrush with only two type of car.

My thoughts exactly! 

(except that I haven't played Colin McRae DiRT...)

DiRT 2 was my first racing game when I've spend my hard earned money on PS3 and then on steering wheels. I've spend countless hours on it both offline and online. I think I have enjoyed the locations in the game and close online racing. 

With DiRT 3 I was just as happy and its release date coincided with amazing time in my life. While I wasn't able to play it just after release I've had a blast organising some league rallies.

[Mexicola 9]

Dirt 1 was the one I played the most so yeah.

[dirt3joe 0]

Haven't completed 2,1 or bought showdown. The experience I do have :

I think the handling in 1 was a bit strange. The courses (amount and variety) in 1 were good. The graphics in 1 I have no doubt were good in their day, but were nowhere near 2 or 3.

For 2 the best bits were trailblazer and the dallenbach. Much less difference in graphics between 2 and 3. I also like the fact that in 2 the rally courses were a bit more twisty and narrow like real rally courses. Bad points for 2 I would say was car variety and general amount of rally. Course variety was poor too much sand and no snow.

Three for me was best overall. Group B cars were great. Courses were good, but not enough, and we could have done with a few more hairpin dominant/tight courses. Monte carlo went some way to address that. The dc compound was good fun in 3, but I did not like the gymkhana being part of the main career. SHould move to a bonus round or something if in the next one.

Showdown, no purchase.

[hoonhead 0]

DiRT2 for sure. It was the only game ever that gave me a feeling like a kid in a candy store.

It was the first game from Codemasters that had perfect car handling. Also way better tracks and stages then DiRT3. Camera replays look awesome, tracks & stages are more challenging, mud and dirt looks better, tracks & stages are longer and have more rally feeling.

If Codemasters wants to create a new DiRT game  then start from DiRT2, put dynamic weather in, add in even extra long wrc stages and cars and i am that kid in that candy store again.

Oh and if the extra long stages don´t fit on a dvd disk then no worries i am happy to download them for free like they gonna do with the 4k textures download for GRID Autosport ;-)

here is a video to show the dirt in DiRT2, i miss those puddles...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8tcwjSxY9Y&list=UUeZWjiUJeu0Jl157Ye3q8Ig

[Speedball 0]

This was a hard choice for me.

Dirt (or Colin McRae: Dirt, if you're from Europe, I guess) had a good selection of rallies, actual short course truck racing and rally cross on real circuits, and the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Online was nearly non-existent though.

Dirt 2 had some good levels for Raid (including Baja with the option to use Trucks and Buggies point to point, and Morocco). I also appreciated the diversity of the vehicles in those classes.

Dirt 3 had more good rallies, and Group B became a dedicated class, which was a big step to me. Sadly, nearly all of the good content for the trucks and buggies went away, but that happens. Split screen and Online are still excellent for both 3 and 2.

Showdown is just weird. Good for what it is, but not what I'd have expected from a Dirt game. I know if I was going to split the franchise, I'd have put a large amount of content for Rallycross and Truck/Buggie racing in one game (with real tracks - Lydden Hill is a must) and Rally in another.

Or you know, rallycross can be part of the Rally game, and throw some Baja/Paris Dakar levels in the Truck game.

[Quattro7 0]

DiRT2. I loved the way the cars felt heavy, controlling the weight tranfer through the corners and getting it right, very rewarding. Same goes for F1 2011.

[TURBODEVIN19 19]

I was at Rock Werchter (Belgium) this weekend, Biffy Clyro performed there a couple of days ago. They played Mountains which gave me goosebumps because I immediately thought about the memorial video in DiRT 2...

Also saw the White Lies and Franz Ferdinand who performed on the amazing soundtrack of DiRT 2 at Rock Werchter. 

[JGod24 0]

I chose DiRT 2 over DiRT 3 (by far the best 2 games in my mind) for 4 main reasons: 1. The variety of cars and tracks. I loved the menu map as a way to see all the different distinct racing locations, and despite there being so many options, I can't think of one place where I dreaded racing in the career (Novigrad Raid, Battersea Rallycross, and Utah Trailblazer were my favs). I also loved all the different truck and buggy options. I never understood why DiRT 3 got rid of all the different types and just had one stock "truck" and "buggy". The variety made the races feel more strategic and unique. It was also sooooo much fun beating people using the Toyota stadium trucks with a Stukka TT! Even in the DiRT 3 RX discipline there was really only one good car that everyone used (Subaru WRX). In DiRT 2, I almost never saw all 8 people use the same car (besides Ickler buggy). 2. Amazing soundtrack. I know I know, the soundtrack shouldn't be that big of a deal in a racing game, but honest to God DiRT 2s soundtrack is my absolute favorite video game soundtrack of all time. Living in America, I hadn't heard almost any of the songs before, but now I've got close to the entire thing on my iPod (I'm now a huge The Automatic, Steadlur, and Elbow fan thanks to this game). DiRT 3s wasn't necessarily bad, but it didn't play the songs during the loading screens like DiRT 2 did, and there weren't quite as many songs either. Just wasn't the same level of greatness. 3. No gymkhana. Don't get me wrong, I actually liked gymkhana (and love the YouTube videos) when I played DiRT 3, but it does get very repetitive, especially in career mode when you're forced to play it. If it had been just a party mode game like transporter and outbreak that would've been awesome, but I hated when it would pop up in the Competitive playlist online. Because of this there was really no way to play all the different pure racing disciplines while staying in a single lobby (it was WAY too frequent for me to like the competitive playlist). Had it been a smaller part of the game, it would have been a fun addition, but the huge focus on it definitely hindered the career. I did love the freerides at Battersea, but I wish there had been more places to choose from 4. DiRT 2 is harder! DiRT 2s handling required absolute precision in order not to spin or crash, which made it very rewarding once you mastered it! It was by no means unfair, but it was definitely a challenge. In DiRT 3 on the other hand, I can have no assists on and the AI at the max difficulty setting and not only win, but dominate easily! Also, in DiRT 3, whenever I race my non-racing game playing friends, I'll beat them by a handy margin, but even they still manage to keep up with the computer cars and usually stay out of last. However, if I have them play DiRT 2, they're literally wrecking almost every corner, and I'll consistently lap them when we play Rallycross. It takes way way waaaay more skill to be good at DiRT 2 than it takes to be good at DiRT 3, which makes it really fun to be good at DiRT 2.

[Chicken42 0]

Dirt 2 and it wasn't even close.

[Maseratti 0]

I love all DiRT games except Showdown with all my heart, all games had its pros and cons but to judge absolutely objectively - DiRT3 wins in this contest hands down. Sure there are more counties in DiRT2, and there are some longer rally tracks in DiRT1 with a bit more rally focus but in the end DiRT3 is better because of weather conditions - rain/snow/wet/sunny, it affects driving very much, good car choices (IMO) and the most importantly - balance, which was a bit off in DiRT1 and 2. In DiRT3 there are no cars which are the best and only choice in its class, all depends on your style and through tuning you can adapt it very well for yourself. Also many will disagree but Gymkhana is gameplay variety, I had some real fun in Battersea, though this mode shouldn't be in Rally tour, having it as separate challenge is best choice, though we can easily live without Gymkhana. Still DiRT3 is the best.

Hope DiRT4 will continue this marvelous tradition and won't fall to Showdown or GRID2 level.

[DarkRedslayer 43]

Before I got my CSR, I would have said Dirt 2 without a doubt. But since I got my CSR, Dirt 3 is the best.

Career could use a better layout though.

[Ollie24 0]

The original was awesome.

[Snaky115 18]

Its DiRT 2 for me... For various weird and not so weird reasons DiRT 3 barely competes with DiRT 2, while barely fending off DiRT 1 to stay in second.

[sjsharp2010 225]

I tend to play 2 the most so got to go with that I guess.

[scarl3td3vil 0]

Dirt 2 had less boring track layouts, therefore it is better than 3.

I would've voted Dirt 1 but I didn't find any fun in its driving, and the yellow bloom sunset drama filter is so badly overblown that it's aged really badly.

[supravoxall 0]

DiRT 2

Liked all the tracks (unlike in its sequels). Especially "Ensenada Sprint" from Baja California (favorite track from any racing game). And most importantly, no Gymkhana taking up valuable disc space from landrush, rallycross, and rally maps.

Still so beautiful. Outstanding audio mixing. And great taste in music. good job!

[doyley101 0]

Don't questions of the week usually entail 1 question per week? :)

[justbiglee 0]

doyley101 said:

Don't questions of the week usually entail 1 question per week? :)

haha yeah - feel free to start up a new poll with a new question :)

[Hyland 0]

pupazzo said:

I really liked all 3 DiRT games (I haven't played Showdown).

DiRT - Pro: long and narrow stages, Pikes Peak, Italian rally (Sardinia), real RX circuits.

Cons: weird handling, especially on the asphalt.

DiRT 2 - Pro: awesome soundtrack and atmosphere, good looking menus, possibility to

run any car on any track, Croatia rally.

Cons: low amount of rally cars, and no real life hillclimb cars.

DiRT 3 - Pro: a lot of rally cars, cars' sound, Monte Carlo rally, snow for the first time!

Cons: many stages too wide, too much Gymkhana in the career, landrush with only two type of car.

My sentiments exactly, although I did enjoy gymkhana a lot (please, don't put a rope around my neck o:) )

[MLT24 0]

Dirt 2, TRACKS!!!!!!!! MUDDDD!!!!!!! 

For whatever reason they took the Mud out of Dirt3 that was in Dirt2. Tracks were more gnarly, interesting in Dirt2. Dirt3 got to wide open.

[supravoxall 0]

justbiglee said:

haha yeah - feel free to start up a new poll with a new question :)

Is it a conflict of interest or can you say which is your favorite DiRT game?

[eyeball002 0]

Had hard time deciding between DiRT 2 and DiRT 3. Flipped the coin and decided to vote for D2.

[Pelerin2014 0]

I prefer the original DiRT because it took itself more seriously, had the clean menus I recognized from Codemasters and concentrated on the Motorsports at hand, without silly mini-games and "attitude".