Colin McRae: DiRT 2 (Wii) - Review by Chris

Introduction

The Colin McRae series of rally games has been around for a considerable period of time, since the Playstation 1. But since then, the series did very little to change or keep up to date with other competing racing titles and soon quickly fell into a state of mediocrity. So in 2007, Codemasters rebranded the series and brought with it huge improvements to make it one of the most realistic rally racing games ever, but unfortunately this first DiRT title didn't make its way onto the Nintendo Wii. It's two years later though and Codemasters haven't forgotten about the Wii this time as DiRT 2 and the Colin McRae series finally gets a chance to grace the console, courtesy of developers Sumo Digital.

Gameplay

The Colin McRae DiRT games have been used to showcase a slight move away from the rally racing that they originally housed but that doesn't mean that rally races have been forgotten. The game opens itself up, offering a slightly broader spectrum of race types but this, in the case of the Wii game, leads to little continuity and muddle progression. The game is set up into single player and multiplayer options, with those options being very lean on both accounts. The main constituent for single player is the World Tour mode, which is unfortunately leagues away from the similar mode you would get in the HD console versions. The World Tour consists of 4 small championships, moving up from the beginner ranks to the professional ones but you don't have to complete all the races in each rank to progress to the next. After you complete a set number or races in the ranks, the next one will open up and so you can move on if you think you are progressing too quickly or if you are finding it too easy to win the races. However, difficulty doesn't increase much in the higher ranks. You'll pick your way through the offerings in the beginner ranks with ease, with little fight being put up by the AI to prevent you from getting that prized first place but even when you progress into the supposed more difficult ranks, it's still as easy as it was to win. It means that you'll breeze through the 40 races on offer here in little or no time at all leaving you feeling underwhelmed when you consider that the HD console versions have a World Tour mode that far outlasts this one.

Outside of the World Tour mode, you would hope that the offerings would be substantial enough so as to provide some longevity to the game but they don't. You have your run-of-the-mill single race and time trial options as well as a championship one where you'll select a rank and play through a series of races to see who can come out on top but again, it suffers from the same lack of difficulty as the World Tour and as a result, isn't as fun as it should be. The Challenge mode offers some change to the otherwise staleness of the other single player modes, challenging you in tasks to get a set amount of air time or to manage a certain amount of skid time or to survive an elimination race. It provides a small change to the gameplay and does at least attempt something different but it ultimately follows that which has come before it and does feel rather lacklustre. Multiplayer options fall to split screen races for up to 4 players, so no online support, and again, the options are rather bare falling to either single races or a selection of multiplayer challenges. But at least in the Multiplayer you'll get a decent challenge from friends unlike when you have to race against the AI.

The lacklustre offerings in terms of modes are only the start of the issues for the game though. As has been mentioned, the AI presents very little challenge even in the professional mode and so you'll never have trouble getting first in any and all races. It's also not very smart either, taking obscure lines for corners only to plough into the scenery. And trying to bump the AI offline will do more harm to your race than to theirs as they seem completely oblivious to any bumps or hits and keep their speed while you don't. But the most criminal aspect of the game is the poor driving mechanics. There's no sense of speed at all and cars handle like shopping carts, sliding all over the places no matter what terrain they're on. Whether or not these issues could have been overcome if Codemasters hadn't outsourced the game we won't know, but this certainly isn't anywhere near what you'd expect from a game carrying the Colin McRae name.

Controls

There are plenty of control options available to those that pick up the game but ultimately, the use of either the Wii-mote/Nunchuk combination or the Classic Controller are your best options. The developers have attempted to offer motion controls with a Wii-mote only setup, which can be used with the Wii Wheel if wanted, but they are so sensitive that trying to turn a corner virtually sends your car into a spin making it unplayable. The other control options work well but when the basic driving mechanics of the game have you sliding all over the place no matter how you turn, it's not an overly enjoyable experience.

Graphics

Clearly, the game wasn't going to be on level terms with the other console versions. That's fine but the end result here is one that clearly has many, if not all, assets shared with the PSP version. The overall presentation is decent enough but everything lacks polish to make it look as though it was developed for the Wii. Tracks, while varied in their locations from the likes of China to Ethiopia, are unimaginative and just generally poorly designed. There are a good number on offer but throughout the game, you will constantly revisit many of the earlier tracks which does get boring quickly. Worst of all, the frame rate for the game takes many significant hits throughout. The cars are the best of the lot graphically, showing a good amount of detail but there are only 13 base cars on offer, with the game giving the illusion that there are more by having body kits that change some of the design of the car. It's shocking really that there are so few cars when you consider how little else is on the disc.

Sound

In the menus, you'll hear a couple of licensed tracks for the games, coming from bands such as Eagles of Death Metal, but when it comes to the actually racing, all you'll have to listen to are the constant moans of your car's engine and the nonstop screeching of the wheels, regardless of the terrain and even these sounds feel lacklustre and unlike the real thing.

Final comments

To say DiRT 2 on the Wii feels rushed and lacklustre would be an understatement. It's a travesty that Codemasters let the game out to release in such a bad state but when you outsource a game to an out of house developer with little time to get the job done, this is what you get: sub-par graphics, lacklustre offerings in all areas, and just a general lack of any fun whatsoever. If you're desperate for a good racing game on the Wii (aren't we all), then I would suggest the likes of Excite Truck over this any day. If you have a DS though, I'd recommend that version over this as at least it was created specifically for that console and goes some way to being close to the other versions.

Pro: Decent, if rushed, presentation, split screen multiplayer (which is something the other versions don't have)
Con: Feel incredibly lacklustre, far too easy, little in the way of replayability, poor in game graphics and sound
Final score: 5.2

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