Are the dog days of summer getting you down? Itching to try something new? Well, thank your maker for demos. Here we bring you impressions of the upcoming rally racing game Dirt 2, available now on Xbox Live and soon on PlayStation Network. This isn’t quite off the heels of its predecessor; the original Dirt came out over two years ago. To make up for the length of time, Codemasters tuned up their product and have added a whole lot of flash and more personality.

Dirt was a solid racer and held up nicely against its competition. But it was a very secluded experience. There just wasn’t enough to connect you with the computer racers or the rally racing experience. So Dirt 2 builds around the frame with more racers and color, plopping you directly into the event itself instead of a mere menu. Whether this turns into just a gimmick has yet to be seen.

Regardless, it is a good move for the game. You can’t exactly walk around the lot you’re in, but you swipe your analog stick to move around from your trailer to your car. Travis Pastrana was around last time to guide you on your way. Now you will have multiple racers explaining game aspects to you. But since it is just a demo, they won’t be around too much.

Dirt 2 offers just enough to satisfy and entice. You have two races to choose from: a truck race alongside 7 other racers and the Trailblazer, where you race more against the others’ times than the bots themselves. You only get one track and car per type but you are able to rank up. Ranking works in a similar manner as the first: you gain experience from all your races (so long as you don’t completely thrash your car and end up in last place) and will unlock free races and time trials.

Additionally, you will be able to unlock dashboard/windshield toys and liveries for your car. It doesn’t seem like it’s an aspect demanded for the game, but it’s something that adds to the whole experience and gets you closer to the rally racer feel. And it shows you hints of what it will be like to customize your car in the full product.

Dirt 2 still feels the same as the original did. The cars are lighter than in other types of racers, which in turn makes them a bit harder to control. But the learning curve isn’t any different than the first and you will be able to pick it up fairly quick. One huge difference in terms of difficulty is the selection. You can choose from easy, casual, serious, savage, extreme and hardcore. The harder the difficulty, the less room you have to make mistakes. You can only wipe out so many times. But on hardcore, you get one shot. It is a bit unforgiving, but chances are if you’re up there, you are tough enough to handle yourself.

Speaking of handling yourself, the demo also features limited online play to dabble with. The ranking system here is similar to the main game. And Dirt 2 offers more playability than before. You can bring in parties and groups of up to four. You will also be traveling around the world just as much as you would in the main part of the game.

Community is a new aspect for the Dirt series. Going along with the rally racing experience, you will have access to EXPN Magazine (guess what it’s based off of…) so you can check up on in-game news as well as leaderboards and what is going on with the Dirt 2 community. And, of course, the dreaded Facebook connection.

So despite the limited access, the Dirt 2 demo offers a good amount to have fun with. It’s a somewhat big file, clocking in just under 1 gig. But hey, you will get a quality demo to hold you over until Dirt 2 releases September 8 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP and PC.

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About This Author: Alex Quevedo

I have been writing about games since 2007. Graduated St. John's University in 2009 with a bachelor's in journalism. I also like me some sports.

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