There are only a few driving simulation games worth talking about, and if you’re looking for something a little more cerebral and challenging than the arcade-ridden monstrosity of the Need For Speed series, DiRT 2 might be the one you're looking for.

Fans of the original Colin McRae: DiRT will remember it as being one of the most exciting and beautiful racers available, blowing rivals out of the water for its driving authenticity and varied use of off-road terrains and tracks. In the two years that it took for DiRT 2 to be released, much has changed, and the racer gaming landscape has predominantly catered to a growing appetite for arcade racers, served by the Need for Speed franchise.

Codemasters, the team behind DiRT, served up a realistic racer in the form of GRID, which mostly found its niche among the hardcore racing enthusiasts.

DiRT 2 then, is an exercise in compromise, as it tries to straddle between perceived realism and arcade accessibility. Right from the onset, DiRT is a vast improvement in visual candy over its predecessor – everything just looks crisp. While it's still nowhere near photo-realistic as visual incumbent Gran Turismo, DiRT 2 is staggeringly beautiful in rendering lush flora and fauna; a race through its jungle rally tracks is enough to convert any critic.

Not wanting for fans to bemoan the lack of track variety, DiRT 2 throws up nine contrasting locations spread out across the globe.

The variety in its choice of tracks is one of the key selling points of the game, where depending on your fancy, you can choose between claustrophobic street racing to wide-open dirt environments. You'll probably also delight in the fact that Malaysia is now on the list of locations, giving you the chance to race through Rawang's punishing (and fictional) jungle tracks. Each location serves up different race styles, so if you don't feel like doing a little Baja today, you can swing on over to LA for a little urban drifting.

You'll also notice that DiRT 2 changes the way it presents its races, where simple tiered menus are replaced with three-dimensional walkthroughs of your motorhome.

Codemasters have gone out of their way to make you feel as if you’re actually on location, as evident with the carnival atmosphere presented at each location the moment you step out of your motorhome.

The upgraded visuals have also benefitted the array of vehicles available for purchase, which ranges from rally favourites such as the Mitsubishi Evo X and Subaru Impreza to the more interesting rallycross variety. There are a total of 26 cars to be unlocked in the game, which may serve to disappoint those who are coming from
Grand Turismo's whopping 10,000 car inventory. Cars and tracks are unlocked via the accumulation of points and cash, and as you continue to level up, more tracks and cars are available to you. As always, this almost certainly results in the mundane 'race to acquire exp points' in order to finish the game.

However, DiRT 2 attempts to break the monotony with the use of reallife drivers who can become your pals. This doesn’t offer any real weight to your gaming experience, as you can just as easily get by without knowing if Dave Mirra thinks you're a legend or not.

Deformable car damage also returns in DiRT 2, with satisfying car damage incurred when you plow into the game's invulnerable trees. There is no way to turn visual damage off, but you at least have the option of leaving it as visual-only, thus negating any worry of actual component damage. This brings us conveniently to the game's signature Flashback feature, enabling you to reverse time in avoiding a fatal crash. Should you wish to re-enact a particular move or encounter a fatal crash which renders your car incapacitated, you are able to rewind the sequence of events leading up to it by a few seconds, giving you the chance to correct your mistake and moving on your merry way.

Regardless, controls are tight and predictable, and the simple driving dynamics has made DiRT 2 an easier beast to manage compared to its predecessor. The game is best experienced on a console or with driving accessories on the PC, as the game features pressure-sensitive controls – the harder you press on the button, the more input it delivers back to the drive.

Networking is also radically overhauled in DiRT 2, and it is kept simple with the ability to quickly join games of a certain vehicle class and track type. Depending on your broadband speed, you might still be subject to lag issues, which will see you or other drivers inexplicably teleport as your connection tries to keep up. Most importantly, experience and cash generated from online races will be attributed back to your account, so you can easily pick up your single-player game from where you left off with your newly acquired online points.

DiRT 2 makes no pretentions as to what it is – a beautifully polished racer which doesn't take itself too seriously. A little authenticity has been lost in the process, and fans of the original will bemoan that DiRT is now pandering to the massmarket, arcade types. Regardless, DiRT 2 still stands as one of the best examples of how racers ought to be done. It is relatively peerless in offering up the best off-road entertainment on any platform.

There is a little bit of everything for everyone here, just make sure you don't take yourself too seriously while you're at it.

The Good:

• Stellar graphics
• Interesting and varied choice of tracks
• Tight and fluid controls
• Great manual customisation of vehicle dynamics

The Bad:
• Not as challenging as its predecessor
• Low amount of cars

Publisher: Codemasters
Developer: Codemasters
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Price: RM219.90
Website: http://www.dirt2game.com