RipTen Videogame Blog » Codemasters

Codemasters Unveils DiRT Showdown, Coming May 2012

Dave Oshry — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:08 +0000

If there’s anything we here at RipTen always want more of, it’s DiRT.

Codemasters seminal rally racing series is the best there is and Showdown aims to keep that trend alive:

Here’s the rundown from Codies:

There are three broad categories to DiRT Showdown’s action-sport racing. Players will use nitrous to blast past rivals and negotiate courses filled with ramps, multiple routes and obstacles in full-contact Racing events. Gaming’s most advanced damage engine is unleashed in Demolition Derby themed events where players smash and crash their way to victory in bone-jarring style. Finally, in Hoonigan events, gamers will send fans wild in huge stunt parks where accessible new controls offer every player the chance to become a freestyle driving hero.

From San Francisco to Miami and London to Tokyo, players will dominate their rivals and wow the crowds. Pyrotechnics, lasers and thousands of fans give each venue a sports entertainment atmosphere, becoming the perfect stage for players to perform. Over 50 different events across four championships will challenge gamers in a variety of conditions – sun, snow and rain – through the day and under the floodlights at night.

DiRT Showdown will feature an exciting new line up of off-road machines. Ken Block’s all new Gymkhana FOUR H.F.H.V. Ford Fiesta debuts alongside an eclectic mix of vehicles across a range of classes. From saloons and muscle cars to pick-up-trucks, hearses and vans, players have a wide selection of custom cars to trick, race and destroy.

DiRT Showdown will be Codemasters’ most connected game ever – split-screen multiplayer, eight-player online racing, on and off-line quick-fire party games and YouTube integration all come as standard. Players will also be able to issue “Showdown” Challenges’ to compete with friends whether they are online or not.

Powered by the award-winning EGO Game Technology Platform, DiRT Showdown will be uncaged May 2012 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PC.

DiRT Destruction Derby? I’m game.

RipTen Review: F1 2011 (Xbox 360, PC)

Murray Hibble — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 19:00:21 +0000

Codemasters have turned their 2010 racing hit into a franchise and you’re forgiven for thinking that F1 2011 is just part of the normal annual patching process that certain other sports titles go through. Yes, the core gameplay is exactly the same as its predecessor, but you know that already; there’s no way to approach an F1 simulation and not know what you’ve spent your money on. Get this title up on jacks, however, and underneath the same shell as last year you’ll find dramatic handling changes, the layering of a new strategy element through the DRS and KERS systems, a brand new circuit in India’s Buddh International, all 12 teams and 24 drivers and… finally… the goddamned safety car.

Codies’ Birmingham studio has done a brilliant job this year of conveying the sheer power of these groundbound rocket ships. In last year’s title, the cars were too slot-machine like and a curb-bounce or hard corner rarely ever caused the vehicle to spin out. In 2011, I learned very early on to respect the power offered. In the first corner of season-opening Melbourne, I gave it a little too much juice and spun the car backwards. A few restarts, later I started to realize that careful feathering of the throttle was required to set competitive speeds. That sensation of pushing the car to the very limits of its grip is exactly how F1 should feel like and in every race of the season, my best laps came down to a single-minded focus on my racing line, hitting the ripple strips on every exit and nursing the throttle to maintain all-wheel contact with the road. Backed by the screaming sounds of the engine, this millimeter tolerance when turning will have you throwing your body behind your wheel and controller at every turn.

Delivering a deep strategic experience on top of a solid racing model is a challenge that F1 2011 meets with style. DRS, Drag Reduction System is a flap on the car’s tail that can be opened at specific points on each circuit if the right conditions are met and is used as for overtaking. DRS’s use in game is not explained, so players will need outside resources to understand it and it will only really be effective on harder difficulties (as on easier settings the player is always first and will never be able to use it). KERS, Kinetic Energy Recovery System, captures the kinetic energy from braking and sends it to a battery. This then allows the driver to add an extra 80BHP in small doses (best used coming out of slow corners) or all in one 6 second burst. For an experts perspective, listen to Sebastian Vettel explain both elements. Tyre wear, fuel mix, pit strategy, brake-temps and the new Safety Car all are there to be discovered for those who tweak their settings past the simple 3-lap race career offered from the starting menus. Anyone who tells you that the F1 series isn’t a sim either hasn’t tried it on harder settings or hasn’t ever raced a real F1 car.

Visually, F1 2011 is noticeably different than last year’s affair in that it seems a lot cleaner. On both the Xbox and PC version a thin sheen of grime has been wiped from the windscreen leaving a cleaner and simpler presentation and this comes across as more natural, although the game is generally quite immersive regardless. The cars have a beautiful polished sheen to them that reflects the colourful world around it. The areas bordering the race track are busy with structures or crowds and at 200MPH it all blends in quite believably. On PC in particular the rain effects and track surfaces are photo-realistic and the Ego engine delivers a stunning gamespace. Off-track there are some lairy gaps, typified by real life ’5 Live’ F1 reporter David Croft. His in-game avatar wouldn’t look out of place in Minecraft and on both versions some textures (particularly the driver’s helmets) are quite granulated up close.

3 Million Copies of Dirt 3 Stolen From Codemasters

Chris Carlson — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 14:00:14 +0000

Codemasters have recently teamed up with AMD to provide a free copy of Dirt 3 with purchase of their graphics card. However, it appears those download tokens were stored on web server and leaked online.

With the download tokens being Steam codes, Codemasters can easily put an end to the hackers enjoyment and that’s exactly what they’re doing according to Kotaku. The company says they’re currently blocking hackers access to the game.

We’ll update you as this story unfolds. Damn hackers.

In the meantime, check out the RipTen review of DiRT 3

RipTen Review: Bodycount (Xbox 360)

Dan Landis — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 00:00:55 +0000

On paper, Bodycount seems like it could be a pretty nice ride. You play the part of the world-famous Guy Unnamed, a member of an elite military network called ‘The Network.’ That’s the Crysis part of the game. You crash land in some African town and proceed to lay waste to everyone for some reason — maybe for the simple fact that they are shooting at you. I really don’t know. Honestly, the storyline in Bodycount is so forgettable that I literally forget what the game is about.

What I do know is that pulling the left trigger zooms in your view while simultaneously planting your feet so that you can’t move. Yes, the left trigger acts as both a cover mechanic and an aiming device. It’s pretty sweet. Oh, there’s a dude way over there shooting at me! I’ll take cover behind this nothingness in the middle of the road and shoot back at him! That’s the only way I’ll be able to get my crosshairs to cover his face enough to blow a hole through it, so I guess trying to avoid standing still just isn’t in the cards. No circle-strafing for me, dagnabbit.

To be honest, though, it does make some kind of sense. It almost forces you to get behind something, which you would probably do if you were in this situation in real life. It’s kind of like how Gears of War was originally talked about, that you’ll die if you try to run and gun. The difference is that Gears of War doesn’t really work that way, instead rewarding players for practicing roadie-running shotgun dives and giggling like a little girl.

If you do decide to hide behind something, moving the left stick now makes you lean instead of move. You can lean left or right, and you can also pop up or down. The benefit of this system is that there are no “sticky” surfaces to take cover on like pretty much every other game that offers a cover mechanic. If you want to take cover on the corner of a wall, you just stare at it and hold left trigger. You can take cover behind a blade of grass if you want. You can even take cover behind a person and shoot around them instead of through them, though I don’t know why anyone would do that. Teamkilling FTW.

Oh, and this cover that you, uh, cover behind is going to get blown up, so don’t stay there too long. That’s right, walls get shredded, concrete barriers get shredded — even the glass breaks. Whoa! There are times when I decided not to walk around to the other side of a building to find the entrance, so I just blew a large enough hole in the closest wall to walk my unnamed ass through.

So I kill some peoples and they drop colored exclamation points. Sweet! What is that and what do I do with it? Well, this is apparently what intel looks like, and it is the arbitrary word that describes the resource used to power my abilities. Why intel? Why not? Energy, mana, donuts — it’s really all the same. So I use my intel to do things like make myself invincible, call in an air strike, shoot out a pulse… thingy, or turn my bullets into super special explodey bullets. I understand intel used for air strikes, but I don’t get how intel makes me temporarily immortal. Again, though, ‘intel’ is just a word, so it doesn’t really matter.

The amount of intel that enemies drop is dependent on the enemy type as well as a multiplier. The multiplier is determined by chaining skillkills — this is the Bulletstorm part. While there’s nothing too extravagant, skillkills consist of backstabbing, headshots, explosives, killing with the last bullet in a gun, or killing while near death. I think there’s also one for banging a bunch of natives, but I didn’t get it. There might be more, but it’s nowhere near the level of Bulletstorm. At the end of the level, the intel I gathered plus the kill count multiplied by my skillkill chain gave me a ‘bodycount’ score for the level and a letter grade — I don’t know what these are for other than comparing with your friends as there aren’t any achievements associated with getting an ‘A.’

As I progressed through the game, the “bigger picture” was revealed, and I didn’t have to fight highly outmatched Africans for the whole game. That would have been downright racist, so they made me kill Asians, too. All better. There were some people in masks, but I have a sneaking suspicion that underneath they were still probably Asians or Africans. Man, this whole world is just terrible.

Speaking of terrible, the graphics and voice work are really sub-par for this generation. I mean, the Africans and Asians practically look the same! Well, not really, but they are all ugly. The menus and HUD look like they’re straight out of Perfect Dark on the Nintendo 64, and that thing came out like 40 years ago. The Network voice lady also seems like a robot and then not like a robot, but maybe that was supposed to be two different people. I can’t tell. Either way, she/they were totally unenthused with all the hard work I was doing to ~~ethnically cleanse~~ save Africa and Asia.

Bodycount also features some now-standard multiplayer fare: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and a cooperative Horde-like mode. None of these were particularly exciting, but they do what they’re supposed to. Deathmatch games offer the ability to buy new weapons mid game by spending the intel picked up from the dudes you kill, intel that you drop when you die. Buy a different gun, however, and it’s still yours when you respawn. Once you have the guns you want, there’s really no reason to save up intel any more, so you can use it to become invincible, call in air strikes, etc. The Horde mode, on the other hand, only opens up new weapon choices every five waves and only allows respawns if your partner is still alive.

Overall, I was not too impressed with Bodycount. It sounded like a good idea, but the execution just wasn’t that great. It’s a budget title, and it shows. It’s kinda fun, I’ll give it that, but there are way too many first-person shooters out there to compare this to, and Bodycount doesn’t stand up well against most of them. If you absolutely can’t get enough FPS action, then by all means give it a try. For everyone else, it’s probably not even worth a rental unless you want some easy achievements.

Here’s The Rundown:

+ Better than Thor
+ Hey, dem dair walls explodey
+ Not overhyped like Bulletstorm or Crysis 2
– Not very pretty
– Kinda ugly
– Looked not good
– Made me feel like a racist
– Not enough nudity

Learn more about the RipTen scoring system and what this score means. Visit our review scoring page

Bodycount was developed by Guildford Studio and published by Codemasters. It was released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on August 30, 2011. This copy was provided to us by the publisher because even $40 is too much for a new game. We’s very po’. The game was played until my dreams were haunted by the deaths of so many nameless Africans and Asians.

Bodycount “Behind the Bullets – Part Four” Dev Diary Features Explosive Gameplay

Chris Carlson — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:22:50 +0000

Codemasters has released the fourth and final developer diary video for Bodycount. “Behind the Bullets Part Four: Online,” the new developer diary features explosive gameplay with the development team discussing the online multiplayer components.

With a two player online co-operative play and deathmatch and team deathmatch modes for up to 12 players, the online multiplayer will let gamers literally tear the game world apart.

Bodycount is expected to release on August 30th for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Freddie Wong Makes an Awesome Video for Codemaster’s Bodycount

Chris Carlson — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 23:30:14 +0000

What happens when Youtube sensation Freddie Wong teams up with Codemasters to create a trailer for Bodycount? Well, after Freddie demoed the game during E3, Codemasters proposed creating a video around the game. Lets just say it’s actually more entertaining to watch than the official trailers for the game.

If that got you pumped up, be sure to download the demo for the game which is available now.

Bodycount Demo Now Available On Xbox Live

Catherine Cai — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:00:15 +0000

Codemasters has released the demo for Bodycount on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Sony fanboys are going to have to wait for the demo to be released on the PlayStation Network, not to incite a console war or anything.

With the release of the demo, Codemasters has also released another trailer for the game. If you’re too lazy to watch the video, I can sum it up as an amalgamation of live action, developer chit-chat, and shooty-shooty gameplay footage. Here it is below:

So go forth and download a free demo! I can’t guarantee that the game “puts fun back in the guns” according to the press release since, according to Dave Oshry, the game “plays like Bulletstorm without the fun or the bullets.”

Bodycount Gets New Dev Diary “Behind the Bullets Part 2″

Chris Carlson — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 01:00:00 +0000

Codemasters has released the second video in a new series of developer diaries for Bodycount. “Behind the Bullets Part 2: The World”, explores how Bodycount‘s art direction, class-based enemies and setting come together to deliver the perfect platform for chaotic firefights.

As the developers discuss their determination to step into “different territory”, gameplay footage shows some of Bodycount‘s highlights, including shredding tech, its cover-lean mechanic and AI that work together to deliver aggressive, distinct and exaggerated arcade gun-play.

Bodycount will be released on August 30th for Xbox 360 and PS3.

DiRT 3 – Mud and Guts Trailer Shows More Off-Road Awesome

Garrett Hartman — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:04:45 +0000

Codemasters have released a new trailer to hype their Mud and Guts Car Pack DLC for DiRT 3. The pack enables gamers to gain access to 5 new cars available for singleplayer, splitscreen and online multiplayer events. Race the Lancia Stratos, Peugeot 205 T16 Evo 2, Citroën C4 Rallycross, Saturn Sky and Ford Mustang GT, each with a range of liveries.

The Mud and Guts car pack will cost you 480 MS Points on Xbox Live and Windows Live Marketplace, $5.99 on the PSN.

Watch the new cars in action below.

RipTen DLC Review: DiRT 3 Monte Carlo Track Pack

Sam Naylor — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 17:10:58 +0000

DiRT 3 was a seriously good rally game. Monte Carlo is a seriously good rally. What happens when the two of them meet?

Sadly, life isn’t that simple- this downloadable content pack just doesn’t spark the kind of experience one might expect of it.

The tracks, set of course in the mountains of Monte Carlo, look fantastic. There’s so much detail in the road surfaces and backgrounds- it really is a fantastic place to drive. In fact, it’s by far the best environment in the entire game to drive in. The weather effects here are similarly brilliant, and genuinely affect the way you play. Snow on the track forces you to change driving style dramatically on the fly as you go in and out of mountain towns along the route.

The track layouts are similarly superb, and it gives a real sense of speed to shoot through the mountain courses’ tight and twisty routes. Rally fans will revel in the heritage of rallying here in classic Mini Coopers and Renault 5s- which incidentally appear to offer the best handling here, too. Again, I would be tempted to say that using the Mini Cooper on the Monte Carlo tracks from this DLC was the most fun drive I’ve had in DiRT 3.

The tracks are all available to play in online time trial modes, meaning there’s always a ghost set by a human player to fight against when setting stage times. Of course, they are far too good for any normal player to beat, but it can be fun to push yourself to beat these ghosts. Unfortunately most of the top times are set in cars that are part of another DLC pack. Some of these cars seem like they are just plain faster (Lancia Delta S4 comes to mind) and it can be frustrating if you don’t have the cash to spend on these cars. Still, that’s more of a gripe with the game than the DLC specifically.

At this point one might think it odd that this review began on such a negative note. All should come clear when I note the pure details of the DLC pack: Your $10 buys you just eight tracks, and no other content whatsoever.

It’s a complete joke. These tracks might be good, but they are just not worth $10. It boggles the mind. Just look at Steam this week- you can buy games that are way better than the whole of DiRT 3, let alone the DLC, for less than $10. Eight tracks? It’s like buying a book with ten words in it. They’re good words, of course, probably stuff like “Effervescent” and “Schadenfreude”, but would you spend $10 on that?

Such is life, I suppose- a good spot of fun spoiled by a price tag bigger than the content it provides.

+ Excellent track design
+ Great visuals
+ Great fun for classic rally fans

- How much?

DiRT 3′s Monte Carlo DLC was Published and Developed by Codemasters for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC and was released on Jun 29th 2011. The PC version (reviewed) was played for about an hour because that’s all there is. For ten dollars.

Is Codemasters Already Working On a New Racing IP?

Chris Carlson — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 13:00:58 +0000

A job listing over at Codemasters facebook page has revealed that the studio’s working on a new racing IP.

However, no specific details were revealed to clues on what the project might be. Codemasters most recently launched their anticipated rally racer Dirt 3 which we gave a resectable 8.5, and already stated Grid 2 is in the works and dated for next year. So what could their next project be? Dirt bikes? Street racing? Kart racing? What ever it is, you should be excited.

Codemasters’ next racing title F1 2011, is due out in September for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. 3DS and PSVita versions are in the works.

First F1 2011 Developer Diary Peels Rubber Across Your Face

Murray Hibble — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 19:25:13 +0000

Fans of last year’s F1 2010 might well ask what could be different just a year later. It’s understandable to be concerned given the patching process that drives certain sports games. But how does online championships with 16 people sound? Maybe split-screen is more your thing? With more cinematics, more vehicle-options and smarter AI, you’ll be able to “Be the Driver, Live the Life, Go Compete”.

With the future of Bahrain still somewhat in doubt, I really hope that we’re given the option to try classic F1 tracks. It might be too soon for the F1 Roadshow to return to Imola, but I’d love to check that track out… and maybe even in a 1300 BHP tank like the days of yore. Advertising and the ruthless death-grip of Ecclestone pretty much killed off hopes of classic match-ups but as the popularity of the series grows, fan pressure might get these past qualifying in future titles. Regardless, I look forward to another 7 seasons (on Xbox and PC, god bless gamerscore) from the cockpit view, no assists, no HUD. You’re all lucky I haven’t made the game as the new motto would be “Go Hard, Or Bugger Off”.

F1 2011 is set for release on PC, Xbox and PS3 in September, like every other goddamn game on the calendar.

Codemasters Website Hacked, Data Compromised

Murray Hibble — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:12:31 +0000

Earlier today, Codemasters’ Community Relations Director Satine made an announcement on their forum to report the following breaches.

Codemasters.com website
Access to the Codemasters corporate website and sub-domains.

DiRT 3 VIP code redemption page
Access to the DiRT 3 VIP code redemption page.

The Codemasters EStore
We believe the following have been compromised: Customer names and addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, encrypted passwords and order history. Please note that no personal payment information was stored with Codemasters as we use external payment providers, meaning your payment details were not at risk from this intrusion.

Codemasters CodeM database
Members’ names, usernames, screen names, email addresses, date of birth, encrypted passwords, newsletter preferences, any biographies entered by users, details of last site activity, IP addresses and Xbox Live Gamertags are all believed to have been compromised.

Whilst we do not have confirmation that any of this data was actually downloaded onto an external device, we have to assume that, as access was gained, all of these details were compromised and/or stolen.

The Codemasters.com website will remain offline for the foreseeable future with all Codemasters.com traffic re-directed to the Codemasters Facebook page instead. A new website will launch later in the year.

As Satine states, it’s not clear whether the data was just accessed or if it was in-fact an entry to gain private data. For the millions of people who use one or two global passwords, attacks like this should cause real concern. With Gawker hit last year, Deus Ex in early May, Sony losing hundreds of millions and now this, it could be a good time to check out some clever solutions to your online security needs.

Dropbox and 1Password are my preferred methods of internet security, tell me yours in the comments below or hack me on Twitter.

F1 2011 Screens Look Fast and Sexy

Murray Hibble — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 10:30:28 +0000

Coming in mid-September is the eagerly anticipated sequel to one of last year’s greatest racing titles, F1 2010. Inventively titled F1 2011, we’ll see all 12 teams, 24 drivers and 20 tracks (including the new Buddh International in India). If you’re wondering who’s eagerly anticipating this latest installment, it’s me. I’m 7 seasons in on F1 2010 on PC and 5 seasons in on Xbox and as much as I love DiRT 3 I’d kick it out of my bed if F1 2011 so much as looked in my direction.

Check out these newest screenshots and stay tuned to RipTen for your F1 updates.

Codemasters will release F1 2011 in mid-September, worldwide, on PC, Xbox, PS3, Nintendo 3DS and the Sony PSVita (NGP).

RipTen Review: DiRT 3 (PC)

Sam Naylor — Tue, 31 May 2011 16:02:00 +0000

Codemasters have been making great rally games since the superb Colin McRae Rally. Even with a severe lack of proper rallying DiRT 2 was a brilliant off-road racer, so its sequel DiRT 3 certainly has a high standard- and brand pedigree- to live up to.

Thankfully, DiRT 3 completely surpasses everything I was expecting when I went in. Coming off of DiRT 2, a game which left me more disappointed than anything else thanks to a severe lack of actual rallies or rally cars, DiRT 3 is a shining beacon of driving goodness. DiRT 2 looked great and played even better, but DiRT 3 has surpassed it on both of those fronts as well as including much more content in keeping with Codemasters’ Colin McRae Rally pedigree.

The game looks stunning, and although the spectators still look like cardboard cutouts with wobbly limbs there are no corners cut on the environments. Some off-road racers are plagued with flat-looking ground textures and nasty trees but DiRT 3 is a joy to look at whether you’re going 1 or 100 miles an hour. There are even full cockpit camera angles for all the cars (thanks to a certain PS3-only racer, that’s worth mentioning now).

There isn’t a gigantic number of different areas to drive in but each is different enough for it to not be a problem. From the snow in Aspen to the sun of Monaco, passing through the dirt tracks of Finland, there are enough road surfaces for all but the most querulous rally fans. Unfortunately a few of the areas are much more enjoyable than others- for example, the Aspen tracks tend to be visually bland and some circuits seem to be reused in the main mode over and over again.

The use of the word “circuits” is of note as DiRT 3, like the game before it, is not just a rally game. There are off-road races, Rally-Cross, which see you racing around short circuits in cars, buggies or trucks. These make up a big part of the DiRT Tour, the main single-player mode of the game. These events very wildly in difficulty, with the car-based ones being incredibly easy (just bump the others off the track) to the buggy-based events being particularly difficult as it seems all the other buggies are faster than yours.

There are also the new “Gymkhana” events to get through, which are the bane of DiRT 3. Gymkhana is introduced and explained by Ken “shit voice actor” Block, which is annoying enough, but the actual events themselves are like playing a round of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater with a skateboard the size of a cow. You’ve got a short time limit to get as many points as you can by doing tricks and combos with spins, drifts, jumps and doughnuts around a small arena. Of course, because you’re doing this with something the size of a car (a car), Gymkhana is unfathomably hard.

Gymkhana just isn’t very good. Perhaps people who like watching real cars drifting about will enjoy these events, and they certainly have their place when playing with friends but as part of the single-player portion of the game Gymkhana events are an absolute nightmare. Thankfully one does not have to complete most of them in order to progress- cheers for realising how irritating they are, Codemasters.

The real joy of DiRT 3 is the proper rallies and trail blazer modes. These are your classic point-to-point time trials and thanks to the brilliant selection of cars they make DiRT 3 into one of the all-time best rally games. The co-driver can be set to simple or complex depending on preference, and there are a handful of driver assists like ABS and braking lines which can be turned on or off, too. Before every event you can adjust five car settings like ride height and gear ratios on a slider, all of which affect the way the car controls- from a drifting monster to a grippy and precise driving machine. These are much better than nothing but after the wealth of options that were provided in even something as old as Colin McRae Rally 2.0 they do feel a little simplistic.

The stars of the show, the cars, are another area where DiRT 3 really shines (look Ma, I did a pun). From this year’s World Rally Championship competitor cars to the classic Mini coopers and Lancia Fulvias from the ’60s, there is a genuinely excellent choice of transport on offer here. For rally fans I don’t think higher praise can be awarded than “You can drive Group B rally cars.”

The single-player tour is definitely substantial enough to keep you occupied (and despite there being three people constantly patronising you it is actually rather good), but there are time trial and race modes as well to hold your attention. The best part about the time trial modes is that the world record times are displayed from players globally, as well as a ghost from the fastest time while you’re playing.

There are a handful of multiplayer modes as well, with races being put into two categories: the ranked “Pro Tour” mode, which contributes to your rank, and the unranked “Jam” mode. It’s all standard fare for an online racer, although the ‘party’ events like capture the flag and an infection mode where you have to bump other cars to spread the disease add a little spice to the mixture.

The most important part of the whole game, however, is the driving itself. It feels similar to DiRT 2 in that it combines the speed and ease of use from arcade racers with the precision and satisfaction of a simulation. It sounds like an odd mix but it really does add up to an engaging and above all fun drive. There are even 5 flashbacks (a rewind feature which lets you retry section of the track without penalty) per race to prevent you from getting too frustrated, and a built-in YouTube clip uploader to show off those times you manage to land a barrel-roll and carry on racing.

DiRT 3 combines the fantastic handling and presentation of DiRT 2 with the classic rallying and cars of the old Colin McRae Rally games, making it one of the best games of its type. If you’re a fan of rally games, or even driving games in general, there’s only one reason stopping you from looking into DiRT 3- the utterly awful Gymkhana events. Still, you can always skip them.

Here’s the rundown:

+ Looks great
+ Driving is fun
+ Plenty to do
+ Rallying back to high standard

– Ken “when will he shut up” Block
– Gymkhana events are shit
– Car adjustments dumbed down

Learn more about the RipTen scoring system and what this score means. Visit our review scoring page.

DiRT 3 was Published and Developed by Codemasters for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The PC version (reviewed) was played to completion in single player and a few hours in multiplayer. the game was released on 24 May 2011 in North America and Europe and 26 May in Australia (Bryce’s back garden).

Three New DiRT 3 Gameplay Videos – Gymkhana, Rally and Head-2-Head

Bryce Wilson — Wed, 25 May 2011 13:30:24 +0000

Looking for some cool gameplay videos of the amazing DiRT 3? Well look no further and sit back and enjoy some high level racing action.

DiRT 3 is the latest entry into the critically acclaimed and well recieved DiRT series, and the third installment is seriously the best yet. Featuring a heavily refined handling experience, a fresh new gameplay direction restructuring and so many new features, it makes the head spin.

Check out the new gameplay below and stay tuned to RipTen in the coming days for some exclusive 3D footage plus our review of the game.

DiRT 3 Already Has Four DLC Packs Planned for Post-Launch Support

Bryce Wilson — Mon, 23 May 2011 12:56:35 +0000

Ahead of its fast approaching release date, DiRT 3 has been confirmed to already have four packs of post launch content, with each offering new cars and locales for avid racing enthusiasts to hoon around.

New vehicles come in the form of the Mud and Guts car pack, and the Power and Glory car pack, whilst new circuits will be offered in the Monte Carlo and X Games Asia packs, respectively.

Additional trophies and achievements will also be made available, as outlined by PS3 Trophies.

No word on the release date for the content but we will keep you posted.

New DiRT 3 Trailer Revealed

Stephanie Gutowski — Thu, 19 May 2011 22:11:35 +0000

Codemasters, Monster Energy, DC Shoes and Ford have come together to bring fans over three minutes of Ken Block’s driving prowess. The trailer features Block driving a specially-equipped Ford Focus, exhibiting his skills inside London’s Battersea Power Station, a formidable-looking venue if there ever was one. The station was overhauled to look exactly like a gymkhana level from DiRT 3 itself, giving players a glimpse of their game come to life.

If power slides and donuts are your thing, click play now. Just don’t go attempting any of this in your local Wal-Mart parking lot. Unless you’re Ken Block- then you can do whatever the heck you want. Just remember to get it all on camera.

DiRT 3 releases worldwide on Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on May 24, 2011.

DiRT 3 Gymkhana Battle Trailer Brings the Slow-Mo

Sam Naylor — Wed, 11 May 2011 21:47:52 +0000

Codemasters have released a new trailer for DiRT 3, showing off Ken Block and Tanner Foust’s Gymkhana driving (it’s not as impressive when it’s done in a game, however).

The trailer is certainly an odd one. There’s no music, for one thing, which gives it a bit of an eerie feel- and this effect is doubled by the copious amounts of slow-mo in the “exciting” bits. There’s also the fact that we’re seeing Ken Block driving around without his stupid whiny voice telling us over the in-game radio about how cool and rad things are. At least it’s an improvement over DiRT 2…

An interesting thing to note as well is that the trailer has a sponsor. Is this something we’re going to see a lot of in future? Products being sold to us during other adverts? Imagine seeing an ad come on TV that was sponsored by McDonalds.

New DiRT 3 Trailer Shows Off Game Modes, Weather, and Assorted Soil Types

Sam Naylor — Tue, 03 May 2011 18:46:02 +0000

Codemasters have released a new trailer for DiRT 3, which they say shows off game modes and weather types (despite being only 45 seconds long). They’ve also announced a pre-order only car pack.

The “Superteams Pack” will be a pre-order incentive at “selected retailers” for DiRT 3, and includes four exclusive teams and unlocks 14 cars for the player to take to the track immediately.

The pack includes the Texaco Racing Team, Brembo Racing Team, Team Yokohama and Mobil 1 Performance Team, as well as instant access (implying that you don’t need the pack to unlock them) to the Ford RS200 Rallycross, Fiat 131 Abarth, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X Jun and Lancia Delta HF Integrale.

DiRT 3 comes out for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on May 24th.