Mortal Kombat — 7.5/10

Publisher: Berkley

Author: Jeff Rovin

Release Daet: 6/1/1995

Pages: 293

MSRP: $4.99 (Paperback)

Recommended Audience: Young Adult

The Good: Interesting diversion of the series’ story and characters, entertaining dialog

The Bad: Hardcore fans may not like the changes, not very deep or complex, awkward fights scenes, no fatalities

The first thing I have to say is that the novel is nothing like the game really. Character’s backgrounds and origins have changed, some don’t make an appearance, and the story is slightly altered. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing because Jeff Rovin uses real Chinese history and mythology to make the game’s story make a little more sense in a real world perspective. The story follows Kung Lao as an orphan boy in a village in 480 A.D. and winds up in the Mortal Kombat tournament. Shang Tsung needs souls to open the portal to Outworld to let Shao Kahn through and take over Mother Realm (not Earthrealm that we are all used to).

Hardcore fans will nit pick the changes in the game like Liu-Kang working with Sonya in the Special Forces and is a ninja, Scorpion not being a spectre of the Nether Realm. Without spoiling much, Sub-Zero is an evil ninja and has ice breath that freezes (not from his hands), and Baraka is a priest on Shang Tsung’s island. Before you scream blasphemy it is actually very interesting and Jeff does a good job depicting these characters in interesting ways. The story alone isn’t very deep or complex, but it is entertaining at the least and is a fun departure from the series.

There aren’t many fight scenes in the book and no fatalities. The fight scenes are also awkwardly written in a way that tries to be too much like the game. Overall you get a short story of your favorite characters in a new way that we wouldn’t see otherwise. The Chinese mythology mixed in is nice and adds a bit of depth, but this book isn’t for all fans. If you don’t like your Mortal Kombat changed in any way you won’t like this at all. Keep an open mind and you will enjoy the rare off shoot of a beloved franchise.

Games That Would Have Gotten A 10 — Part 2

Continuing the second and last part of Games That Would Have Gotten A 10. These games are in no particular order, and I highly suggest for anyone who hasn’t played them to do so because you are missing on pieces of gaming history.

Dead Space

The first time I saw a necromorph I nearly crapped my pants. I had never played such a scary or visceral and atmospheric game (horror wise) since the first Silent Hill. Just feeling the dread that something might pop out any minute or watching the few people who had survived kill themselves or listen to their mindless mumbling made you feel uneasy. The game was cinematic, had great controls, graphics, and the weapons were engineering tools which made the game play very differently. The de-limbing system was revolutionary and helped the game stay away from traditional shooting gallery problems. When I finished Dead Space it was one of the few that I played through more than once and still got a kick out of the entire experience.

Rock Band

I was used to Guitar Hero for years, but nothing prepared me for the show stopping gameplay that Rock Band brought to the table. It changed the rhythm genre with the addition of the drum set, and quickly became my favorite instrument. The game had deeper customization, more streamlined mulitplayer, and even featured a ton of great songs on the disc and had hundreds of DLC. I forgot about Guitar Hero for the longest time and was addicted to this bad boy. Even at the steep price range at the time it offered a unique experience that no other music rhythm game could offer.

Mass Effect

While the second game was great the first game introduced us to the beginning of choice based dialog that really made a difference. Mixing shooter elements with RPG was something that no one thought could be done right and BioWare nailed it. The memorable characters, amazing visuals, and the vast amount of lore and content put it at the top and helped pave the way for choice based games. I played through this game three times and found new things each time. The excellent voice acting and facial animations were out of this world and remains a classic in my library.

Okami

Okami was game that came out of left field with stunning visuals, and one of the most unusual game mechanics of all time: the Celestial Brush. It was so cool using the brush and making things reappear, using it in combat, and solving puzzles, plus the vast open world helped push the boundaries of the aging PS2. The memorable characters, charming story, and the devotion to ancient Japanese lore was mesmerizing as well as fun to watch. Okami was a one of a kind experience that you couldn’t get on any other console and should be played by any fan of games.

Renegade Ops: Coldstrike Campaign — 6/10

Publisher: Sega

Developer: Avalanche Studios

Release Date: 12/19/2011

Rating: Teen

MSRP: $4.99

Also Available On

 

 

The Good: New locations, end boss is challenging

The Bad: Only 3 levels, everything else is the same

Not much can be said about this DLC for Renegade Ops. This closes off the story with just 3 levels and a couple of new enemies, but everything is the same, and that’s not really good or bad. If you couldn’t take anymore after the end of the main game then 3 extra levels may or may not kill you. The biggest change is the ice cold scenery, but the overall design of the levels runs the same.

The helicopter makes a return

The final boss fight with Coldstrike is very challenging and even harder than Inferno was. The same problems consist with the repetitive nature of the game. The objectives are not any different from the main game, but if you really like the structure of this game then this DLC is a must buy for you.

The new terrain is probably the most changed thing

The new enemeis consist of a new huge bad boy called a Golem (replaces the Juggernauts) as well as turrets that fall from the sky, and just “re-texturing” of old enemies. There are a few scenes where you are running from missile drops that will break ice under you, but that’s as exciting as it gets.

The new golem tanks are extremely tough to kill

For the low price you get an hour’s worth of fun action, but you can go back through with friends to experience it all again. With just 3 levels and barely anything new it doesn’t add up to a “campaign” and more like well…DLC.

Renegade Ops — 8/10

Publisher: Sega

Developer: Avalanche Studios

Release Date: 10/26/2011

Rating: Teen

MSRP: $14.99

 

Also Available On

 

 

The Good: Excellent visuals, great controls with lots of action, nice variety of challenging enemies, fun four player co-op

The Bad: Gets repetitive quick, can be very hard, levels are too long, can only equip four upgrades, very short with only 7 levels

Twin stick shooters are running amok on mobile devices, but the best tend to be on consoles. Renegade Ops lets you choose from a variety of characters with a special weapon each. You can level up and unlock new upgrades while trying to mow down as many enemies to rack up a high score. The story is actually really cliché and stupid with a commando leader named Bryant trying to stop the evil Inferno from taking over the world. The cut scenes are drawn in nice comic book style stills, but the dialog is as cheesy as it can get. No matter how you try to kill Inferno he always seems to survive and it’s just one of those “You’ll never kill me Bryant! MWAHAHA!” type stories.

The game can be very hectic which makes it very hard

Besides the cheesy story the action is really fun with some great graphics and physics. You drive around your vehicle using the right stick to shoot with your machine gun. Along the way you can get pick-ups to make your machine gun stronger as well as secondary ammo pick-ups like rocket launchers, rail guns, and flamethrowers. There aren’t many pick-ups which is a real bummer, but this is just the start of what else there isn’t much of. The enemy variety is interesting with varying degrees of difficulty, but it leads to the game being very difficult most of the time. You start off with 5 lives per level and if you lose them all its game over. The levels are very long and you will be infuriated if you have to go through all that effort again.

The few off moments like this that depart from running around
levels are rare

My main concern about the game is that it gets very repetitive very quickly because all you do is drive around and shoot. The graphics are excellent so you could get some cinematic scripted scenes going, but instead you just follow an objective arrow around all over the place and kill everything in front of you. There are secondary objectives that lead to achievements, but they span the entire level and take way to long to complete. You are also timed on primary objective so if you don’t get it done fast enough a 3 minute timer ticks down and if you don’t complete it by then it’s game over. This means you have to abandon the secondary and makes things just more frustrating. When you die you lose your machine gun pick-ups so you start with the weakest form and can die easier that way because it takes longer to kill enemies.

This is by far the best twin stick shooter I have seen

There is a lot of fun to be had here with destructible environments, and four player co-op which makes the game easier and more fun. The upgrades are disappointing because you can only equip four at a time and this leaves a lot of useful upgrades unused. There are only 7 missions so you will beat the game in less than 5 hours, but most people probably won’t go through again due to the difficulty and repetitive nature of the whole game. Twin stick shooters should pick this up and rejoice, but don’t expect it to change the genre.

Gears of War: Coalition’s End — 8.5/10

Publisher: Gallery Books

Author: Karen Traviss

Release Date: 8/2/2011

Pages: 464

MSRP: $24.99 (Hardback), $9.99 (Paperback, Audio CD), $12.99 (Digital)

Recommended Audience: Young Adult

The Good: Sad and heartbreaking setting, perfectly paced, digs deep into the personalities and minds of the memorable characters, all questions up to the third game answered

The Bad: Locusts don’t make an appearance, a little on the light side in terms of action

There were a lot of questions throughout the Gears of War trilogy, and only the hardcore fans asked them. The books helped answer all of these and tie up the plot holes that the games couldn’t fill. The final book of the Gears series fills the holes between Gears 2 and 3 and leads right up to the beginning of 3. The book focuses on mainly Bernie Mataki, Colonel Hoffman, and Dizzy. The book explains the fall of the Coalition that you see at the beginning of the third game and why everyone was living on the ship Sovereign. Even little things like why Anya cut her hair short are answered in this book.

Like Jacinto’s Remnant (book 2) you get flashbacks during the Hammer of Dawn strike that wiped out most of Sera, and we get to find out how Baird and Cole met (which is the question about why they knew each other in Gears 1), but it focuses on Bernie, Cole, and Dizzy just before, during, and just after the Hammer strike. The book is riveting and sad and really heartbreaking during some moments. Just seeing humanity crumble and every last hope fall apart is heart wrenching. Traviss does a great job of keeping the characters personality in the book so they feel just like they did in the game. Of course this is mostly about the stalk and polyp infestation on the island Vectes that is humanity’s last refuge. Hell, you even find out why Prescott left the COG and where Hoffman wound up.

The book has perfect pacing and I don’t think the book series could have had a better ending. With such deep and lovable characters, a tragic setting, and a great lead up to the final game you can’t really go wrong here. There isn’t much action here because the book really digs deep into the minds of the characters and more the tragedy they are facing then actual battles. There are some battles here, but there aren’t any with Locusts because of the polyp crisis they face. This book is really only for hardcore fans, but if you want every single question answered up to this point then pick this book up.

DeathSpank — 8/10

Publisher: Hot Head Games

Developer: Hot Head Games

Release Date: 10/25/2010

Rating: Teen

MSRP: $14.99

 

Also Available On

 

 

 

The Good: Hilarious dialog, great voice acting, charming art style, tons of quests, enemies, weapons, and items, huge open world to explore

The Bad: Constant healing gets extremely annoying, killing enemies gives you very little XP, gets repetitive after a while, some quests are vague on where to go

Dispenser of Justice! Hero of the Downtrodden! Those are just a couple of DeathSpank’s other names in this hilarious action RPG from Hot Head Studios. You play as the silly hero DeathSpank in his quest to find The Artifact and kill the evil king Lord Von Prong. LVP wants DeathSpank’s magical Thong to become more evil, but in the mean time you need to do some saving of the downtrodden.

A lot of the time you will be overwhelmed and have to heal constantly

The overall story isn’t much, but the banter with NPCs is what really makes you crack up with the obvious stabs at RPGs and other games. It will take different shots at the genre without even saying anything some times like one quest has you pleasing an orphan in the Demon Mines to put in your orphan bag. You must run into town and get everything she needs, but the store just so happens to have everything you need when you get there like a cell phone and a pony! This is an obvious jab at RPGs whose stores always have what you need.

The game also has some more childish jokes like collecting unicorn poop, finding help letters in dragon poop, and helping villagers make their dirt and stone soup taste better using various animal parts. While this humor may not be funny to all, most will get a kick out of it and DeathSpank is chalk full of it. Of course the gameplay is important to and DeathSpank lets you assign four different weapons at a time to use and there are a ton of weapons, armor, and different types of potions to use. You can even eat various foods to heal up like pizza, fries, magic mushrooms, and root beer. When you whack enough enemies you get to unleash your Justice meter which are power-ups for certain weapons. The game consists of a huge map that you can wander around and travel via outhouses spread throughout the world. There are a ton of quests and you’re looking at about 10-15 hours of gameplay here that is very entertaining.

Evil demon knights can't stop Justice!

The game has two major flaws and this is the fact that no matter how high you level up or how good your armor is you will be guzzling potions and healing items every 5 seconds. Enemies re-spawn when you re-enter an area and you can’t move on to some until you are a higher level or those enemies will kill you quickly. This makes progression slow at first and forces you to complete quests because that’s the only way to really level up. You get very little XP killing enemies even if they are a higher level than you. I found this very frustrating and made the game less enjoyable because of all these weird quirks. I also found that some quests were vague on where to go and using fortune cookies spread around give you hints, but those are just mostly useless.

Unleash Justice among your foes for a super powerful attack

The visuals are nice, but technically the game is very simple, but there is a huge variety in enemy types and you really won’t get bored on that end. The best part about DeathSpank is the humor in the dialog and the funny voice actors who over exaggerate voices. Even as an action RPG the game is fun and challenging for anyone looking for something out of the ordinary to play, plus it has co-op play for anyone wanting to share the fun and jokes with a friend.

Nuclear Dawn — 8/10

Publisher: Viva Media, LLC

Developer: Interwave Studios

Release Date: 9/22/2011

Rating: Mature

MSRP: $19.99

 

Also Available On

 

 

 

The Good: Mixes RTS and FPS in a smart way, classes are fun to use, lots of people playing online, tug-of-war action during matches is addictive

The Bad: No campaign, no bots, looks pretty average, ugly menus, 99% of the time you won’t be playing the RTS part, a few balancing issues

Mixing RTS (Real Time Strategy; Shogun 2, StarCraft) with FPS (First Person Shooter; Call of Duty, Quake) sounds like trying to hammer a nail with a banana, but it works here despite not seeing the RTS part too often. Unlike other games that poorly implemented RTS (Brutal Legend) into another genre, Nuclear Dawn does it right. The person doing the RTSing is the Commander and only he can do it. This is an online only game (boo!) so the Commander must be voted in, but usually that’s the host and rarely will he ever get booted.

The Tank class can chew through everything with the minigun

The game uses standard RTS elements like building buildings that give your men on the ground more powerful ammo for their weapons (the FPS part is the men on the ground). You have to kill the Commander to win the game, but also capturing energy sources is also key for respawn points. Everyone knows an online FPS needs respawn points so that’s the Commander’s job by making sure there are plenty. The RTS elements are light and not very complicated, but you have the constant fear of pissing off the guys down below and voting you off if you don’t manage your resources right and build useful structures and give them frequent upgrades.

Must have borrowed those from Ezio

As the guys on the ground you are doing all the work capturing resource points and killing that freaking Commander. You get to choose four different classes that have unique powers such as a tank that uses a minigun and can plant it and act like a human turret, or you can use alternate classes for each class like the tank using an energy type grenade launcher to knock out structures. You have a stealth class that can turn invisible for a while and knife people from behind. Plus you get the typical sniper and foot soldier roles that have various sub-classes. The shooting mechanics are simple if a little dated and the whole game is rough around the edges.

Not that the isn’t any fun because fragging with other players is loads of fun because this game has a back and forth kind of like Team Fortress 2 and a game can go on for over an hour. Once a team starting knocking out your resources you can make a come back and it’s just like a tug-of-war. This can be loads of fun since you can switch classes after each death and use it to deal with a problem like people camping in a small room or snipers that no one can spot.

Watch the high ledges for snipers and grenade lobbers

Nuclear Dawn does not have a single player campaign or even offline bots so this is strictly online only. I really don’t like that and it could use a campaign to get you better at playing it. Mainly because 99% of the time you won’t be the Commander so you get almost no experience in the RTS part outside the tutorial. The menus are also pretty ugly and the whole game feels almost like a mod more than a full-fledged game, bu the unique mix of genres is worth a purchase for the low price anyways. The graphics aren’t anything to write home about because they are pretty average and will run on any average computer. This game is strictly for hardcore online players only, but pick it up if you want something new.

Games That Would Have Gotten A 10 — Part 1

There is no such thing as a perfect game. There never will be and that’s just the cruel hard truth. Very few games come close and that’s why I have only ever given one 10 (Gears of War). If I could go back and give games a 10 what would they be? Some almost felt perfect, but there was something there that didn’t quite make it that high. Games that get 9.5′s are usually amazing and probably the best games out, but some times games will sit as perfect to you whether they are technically or not. This is part 1 of 2 because there are just too many to list in one sitting. These are the game I have reviewed and sit as 10′s in my heart (in no particular order of course!)

BioShock

This game pretty much changed narratives from here on out because BioShock really blew me away. Not only was the pacing perfect, but the story was dark and terrible and something imagined in nightmares. It wasn’t monsters popping up out of the closet, zombies shambling towards you, but it took humanity’s imperfections and let them loose. The gameplay had an array of amazing weapons to use, the EVE powers were great to use, and who can forget seeing a Big Daddy and Little Sister for the first time? That demo really blew me away and it was one of the few games that I could play over and over and never get bored. At the time the graphics were fantastic and helped you feel claustrophobic in that underwater utopia. With BioShock Infinite coming along I hope it hits me the same way.

 

Mortal Kombat

Who can deny the fact that this was the true return of Mortal Kombat? The game was everything fans wanted with the best characters, excellent graphics, a simpler fight system, and the inclusion of great content for single player users. The X-Ray moves were shocking, plus the return of superb and original Fatalities that have been lacking since MK: Deception. The game was silky smooth in the controls department, plus the addition of four DLC characters and a slew of classic costumes. I truly felt like a kid again and was basking in the feeling that MK was back and felt just like it did 20 years ago.

 

Portal 2

A puzzle game usually doesn’t get as much recognition as Portal has gotten. It has become a household name thanks to one thing that the game is named after. Portal 2 completely turns the game into a full-fledged adventure through different areas complete with scripted cinematic events. What makes Portal 2  as great as it is the voice acting and characters. Never have characters been so memorable, and being game staples is hard to become. The pacing was perfect, there was just enough content not to overwhelm you, but to make you feel like it was new and fresh. The puzzles were laid out perfectly and gave you that “AHA!” moment when you finally solved it. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed playing through entire game and laughing through the entire thing. Portal 2 will always sit with me as one of the best games ever made.

 

Red Dead Redemption

Not only is Rockstar the best at making worlds you can totally get lost in, RDR made you believe it was real. When I played through RDR I felt like the game came to life with such accurate landscape, wonderfully played out characters, and some great missions that make you felt like they were different every time. The atmosphere was rich and bursting at the seams with depth. I never played a game where I felt like a real cowboy and felt like I was doing cowboy things that made a different. RDR will always sit as a game that many should be based off of especially open world games because this one was perfect to me.

 

God of War III

God of War is the father of a lot of things. Cinematic action/adventures, quick time events, and huge giant bosses in said action/adventures, but nothing could prepare me for GoW3. The graphics were way ahead of its time (even in this generation) and the pacing and story was just perfect. The combat was so smooth and just ran like butter across the screen. The powers you held, the weapons you got, and the puzzles were so fun that you actually savored each moment in the game. Sure, the first game made me think differently about how games should be made, but GoW3 set the standard and still is today. GoW was the first game series I could play over and over again and never get bored, and GoW3 is probably on top of all of them.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

If I had to pick my favorite game of all time this would be it. I had never spent so many hours on a game as I did in Oblivion. It set a whole new standard for RPGs. The interaction with characters, the looting, the lore, the dungeons were all just fascinating and mesmerizing. Over 100 of just minute detail that I had never seen in any game. All the books could be read, random quests from people who actually mattered because the effects would impact you later on. Being able to pick plants, the amount of swords, magic, spells, tomes, shields, armor, and riding horses? It was truly a fantasy book come to life and it had never been done before in that much detail. I actually would get lost for over a dozen hours without putting the controller down and no other game could make me do that. Oblivion sits in my heart as something more than just a game, but a world I could escape in and forget about all my problems.

Assassin’s Creed II

AC2 really hit home with me because of the grand scale of the characters, story, and the just sheer amount of content in the game. I really got sucked into this world that beautifully recreated, and for once I felt like I was playing a piece of history. No other game has been capable of that, but what got me more than anything was how free I felt. Running from rooftop to rooftop and seeing and hearing shingles shift under my feet, climbing grand buildings, unfolding a deep mysterious plot, and using awesome kill moves is something of most kids dreams (if you’re a psycho kid like I was). The graphics were unbeatable at the time, and it still holds up as the pinnacle for free world action/adventures to this day.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Arkham Asylum set the standard for super hero games and is declared as the best one ever made. Not only was the combat silky smooth, and the fact that you were Batman, you actually did everything you could in the comics! It was unbelievable using the detective mode, swinging around with your batclaw, and scaring the daylights out of enemies by tossing a batarang at them. How cool is that?! The excellent voice acting and all the characters from the comic helped make it the greatest super hero game ever made. EVER.

Fallout 3

When I found out Bethesda was making Fallout 3 I knew I would be sucked into another amazing world for over a hundred hours, and I was right. Fallout 3 sucked me in just like Oblivion with tons of memorable characters,  a great overarching story, but the setting and environment was the main character and drew me in. I actually felt lonely and scared walking The Capital Wasteland, and no other game made me feel that way before. I looted every corner with caution because the game felt so close to home, and you could wonder this giant apocalypse. I really felt a sigh of relief when I found a new town, and almost dreaded going back out in the wasteland alone. What kind of game can you think of that made you feel that way? Probably none.

Corpse Party — 8/10

Publisher: Xseed Games

Developer: Team GrisGris

Release Date: 11/22/2011

Rating: Mature

MSRP: $19.99

Also Available On: PSP Exclusive

The Good: Horrific story, excellent characters, terrifying atmosphere, excellent voice acting

The Bad: Almost no gameplay, extremely simple graphics, becomes a confusing maze towards the end, has to be played in an exact order, glitch prevents getting extra chapters

Based off of a popular manga in Japan, Corpse Party delivers a great and haunting story with memorable characters in a very haunting setting. Several school kids perform a cult type ritual called the Sachiko Charm as a gag. They don’t realize that the charm is part of a sadistic and horrific murder of four school children including the girl the charm is named after. They get thrown into a parallel dimension of Heavenly Host Elementary and must find a way to appease the ghosts or get stuck there for eternity. What the children go through is horrific and gut wrenching, but that is the beauty of Corpse Party.

The graphics are simple yet have a lot of atmosphere

Forget about gameplay and everything else because this game is all about the story and atmosphere. I have to give the developers props for bringing across such a scary game with such simple graphics as a 2D survival horror with low quality sprites and the occasional well drawn anime shot. The game is disturbing mainly in the well delivered Japanese voice acting and just the raw terror and gore in the game. There are buckets of blood, severed heads, and mutilated bodies everywhere, but mainly in textual descriptions more than anything. The game really doesn’t do much in terms of visuals so you solely rely on the great script to get the horrific images. Some scenes are just black with only voices and text to go by, but it still brings across the feeling of sheer terror.

Detailed cut-aways like this are few and far between,
but they are damn scary!

This is possible because you go through everything with these kids and the things that happen to them are just horrific and extremely sad because you really get attached to everybody. The game however is also lacking in gameplay because you only run around pressing X on everything trying to find items to unlock new areas. The school is the same through every chapter, but it just changes and blocks certain areas off or adds new areas. The game is pretty easy to navigate and understand until you get to chapter 3 and then it all falls apart and requires a guide. Everything has to be done in an exact order or you wind up with “Bad Endings” and it’s game over. While each bad ending is different you get frustrated when the game takes you through 20 minutes of gameplay only to realize it was all part of the bad ending. There even a glitch that won’t let you get all the school tags to unlock the extra chapters. I really hate how the game has to be played out an exact way and not to mention during certain scenes you can die by selecting the wrong choice, but there are saves throughout the game that help remedy this a bit.

You are required to run in rare sequences or you will die and get
 a bad ending

While the game is lacking any type of gameplay at all you will still be satisfied with the excellent story and characters. This is the only thing saving Corpse Party from being another terrible attempt on the PSP, but being so late in the systems cycle is a surprise. If the game had better graphics, or maybe just more anime cut-aways, the game would be one of the best on the PSP.

DiRT 3 — 9/10

Publisher: Codemasters

Developer: Codemasters

Release Date: 5/23/2011

Rating: Teen

MSRP: $49.99

Also Available On

 

 

The Good: Superb physics and visuals, wide variety of vehicles, a nice selection of tracks, new weather conditions are fun to drive in, Gymkhana is a great new event, dozens of hours of gameplay

The Bad: Not enough tracks, repetition sets in at the halfway point, DLC is outrageously expensive, Gymkhana takes a long time to master, online play hasn’t changed much

The DiRT series has come along way from the Colin McRae Rally series and has been around for over 15 years. Codemasters has always pushed the latest hardware for the best physics and graphics possible and DiRT 3 is no exception. Not much has changed from DiRT 2 besides a visual, physics, car roster, and track upgrade. The core gameplay is pretty much the same. This time around the visual aesthetics steer away from the street gang style of art and move onto a weird psychedelic thing about triangles…don’t ask me.

The main attraction here is the new Gymkhana events which are all about tricks. Doing donuts, spins, getting air, drifting, and all the fun stuff you can’t do on the track. Pull out into a third person view (it’s not really possible in first person) and tear around the area trying to rack up a certain amount of points, beat a speed run, or smash into a certain amount of objects. It’s all great fun but takes a lot of time to master. The cars can be squirrely because of how powerful they are and learning when to time each trick takes hours. You will get frustrated early on, but keep at it because once you unlock the Battersea Compound to complete 80 missions you will master it there.

Not much difference between DirectX 11 and 9

All the other event types are back such as Rally Cross, Rally, Land Rush, Trailblazer etc. My biggest gripe is that there aren’t any new event types besides Gymkhana. The repetitive nature sets in at about the halfway point in the tour because of the lack of events and tracks. All these events are loads of fun, but most people probably won’t finish the tour due to the fact that it’s the same as DiRT 2. What does help is the new weather system which gives us snow, blizzards, heavy rain, and more night races really help. It helps give some variety to the tracks, but you will spend a good $30 buying the new tracks and cars which is a major rip-off and not worth it.

Snow is a new weather condition to drive in

The physics have improved and feel a little less floaty or too heavy. Of course you can always tune your car if you don’t like the way it drives, but we still can’t customize them, and they even took away the little dash toys to show off the physics engine. I really want to customize my cars, but at least there is a bigger variety in them and you unlock them at a faster rate. The graphics are phenomenal and PC users get treated to some DirectX 11 features such as better lighting, shadows, and blur effects. It’s very light so don’t expect a huge different, but it lets us PC gamers know we get a little extra.

Donuts are easier to eat than pull off

I also wish those stupid announcers would shut up like they wouldn’t in DiRT 2. They are more annoying now than ever and I really hate the hip menus Codemasters is doing. What happened to the slick simple menu of DiRT 1? Besides this the online modes are fun and not much different from the past two games except the addition of Gymkhana. If you loved DiRT 2 pick this up, but newcomers will be amazed at all the greatness.