Mac Game Review – Colin McRae: DiRT 2

A little while ago we reviewed Asphalt 6 from the Mac App Store and said that it would tide us over until we got a true high-definition racing game for Mac, and now we’re happy to say that it has been delivered. DiRT 2 has been converted from the home console versions to run on your home machine, unlike Asphalt, which was converted from the iPad to Mac. This means that the game not only features stellar graphics that will push your Mac but reap rewards, but it also has a much longer lifespan than shorter, ‘pick up and play’ iPad games.

At the heart of the game is the Career mode, which throws you in as a rookie driver. You’ve got an RV, a single car to start with, and the numbers of your competitors in your phone. Once you’ve inputted your name and nationality, you’ll receive a call from a famous driver and you can start your first race. From here you’ll jetset around the globe, entering competitions, earning winnings, buying new kit and ultimately competing in the X Games in Europe, Asia and America. There is a huge number of competitions to take part in, and it will be several hours before you get close to the end of the Career mode.

It’s quite a looker too – we played on the standard settings and everything was very smooth on a Core i5 2.3 GHz entry-level MacBook Pro. The tracks are detailed and as there are normally eight competitors on screen at once the mayhem is unbelievable. Cars flip and roll, dust and water flies at the camera and your car becomes more crumpled and damaged as you bump other drivers, hearing their angry radio complaints in your ear when you do, which is a nice touch.

The controls are also excellent, even if you only have a keyboard to work with. Sliding around corners soon becomes natural, for example. A gamepad is preferable, but if you don’t have one you can still really enjoy the game.

With so much on offer it’s only the price that may stand in your way – it’s not expensive when compared with ga

mes of a similar quality, but if you’re used to the cheap and cheerful games from the Mac App Store you may be unwilling to fork out for this. Our advice, though, would be to bite the bullet and give it a go, as in this case you really do get what you pay for: a high-quality game that you will keep coming back to.