DiRT 2 was developed by Codemasters, the makers of DiRT and, more recently, GRiD, which was released in June, 2008. The game carries on the McRae legacy despite both his, and his son's, untimely death in September of 2007.

Development

One of the first games to use DX11 on the PC

The game is built on the third-generation EGO engine, which improves on the lighting, damage-modeling, and textures found in GRiD. The game also features an improved system to handle environmental hazards such as dust kicked up by other drivers, pools of water, and more. The game also improves on the series standard driver's-seat view, and incorporates the rewind feature found in GRiD, which allows people a limited amount of attempts to re-do missed turns, spin outs, et cetera. Also improved is the online-multiplayer experience, which includes both tour and quick races, leader-boards, frequent tournaments (which also allow players to win prizes), and an improved matchmaking system, by which players gain "fame" (the game's version of experience) as they drive in online-races.

Release

DiRT 2 was released on September 8th in North America and September 11th in the United Kingdom. This was only for consoles and portable game devices. The PC version of Dirt 2 was released in North America on December 8th. 2009 and was one of the first games to take advantage of new DirectX 11 features found in only the newest graphics cards.

Career Mode

Player's Garage and Tour Bus

The main game-play mode in DiRT 2 is the DiRT World Tour. This mode takes players from their first race, in London, to tracks all across the world as they gain fame and level up. Players will be able to form friendships with other drivers, which in turn allows them to qualify for team-events. Any event the player races in, gains them both: fame - the game's form of experience; and money, which can be used to buy new cars, as well as upgrade existing ones. World Tour Mode takes players all across th e world, from Baja California and London, to Malaysia, China, Japan, and more. Players are also able to take part in X-Games, which give them a chance to own bonus money and fame, as well as exclusive cars.

As players gain more fame and level up, they can compete in more events, in more locations. As players move up the tree from Rookie to All-Star, they take on harder opponents in faster cars. More fame and money can be earned on higher career skill-levels, but the difficulty of the A.I. increases and the number of "rewinds" given decreases from five on the easiest to none of the most difficult setting.

Game Modes & Track List

"My Rides"

DiRT 2 comes with eight standard game modes, each with their own custom track layouts and default vehicle restrictions. These vehicle restrictions (or vehicle sets are they are called in game) are based on the size and nature of the tracks and the corresponding game mode. It's to make sure players pick the right car for the circuit and also to maintain parity across the field. Once a vehicle set is picked, players can only pick cars from that particular set so it avoids situations where someone might end up racing the nimble Mitsubishi Evo against the bulkier Hummer. The Career mode has all these modes sprinkled in equal quantity throughout the campaign.

In addition to the following list, players can also create their own custom tracks and mix-n-match game modes with different vehicle sets in multiplayer. However, the game gives you a fair warning against mixing extreme cases like racing a Bowler on a RallyCross track.

RALLY

The classic Rally mode, where drivers make a point to point run with the option of a co-driver for instructions. Driver with the quickest time is the winner. The vehicles are the limited to the Rally specification only. Here are the standard tracks available for Rally mode:

RALLYCROSS

The closest thing to a standard race format, RallyCross puts 8 drivers on a half-asphalt, half-off-road circuit. The first driver to complete a set number of laps wins. The vehicles are limited to RallyCross specifications only. The standard tracks for this mode are:

TRAILBLAZER

Similar to the standard Rally format, players have to set their quickest time on a point to point track. The twist here is that players don't get the help of any co-driver and nearly everyone is on the track at the same time, split by a few seconds through staggered starts. As a result, it's possible to overtake others (or be overtaken) in this mode. Only cars under the Trailblazer vehicle set are allowed. The standard tracks for this are:

LANDRUSH

Set across off-road tracks, Landrush pits eight drivers in an all out race to the finish. The terrain features massive jumps, drops and water traps. The vehicles are limited to Trophy Trucks, Stock Baja, Raid T1 and Class 1 Buggies. Here is the standard track list for this mode:

RAID

A point to point race on an off-road track with all-terrain vehicles. These tracks are wider than normal and feature multiple splits (or shortcuts). Like Landrush, it's limited to Trophy Trucks, Stock Baja, Raid T1 and Class 1 Buggies. The standard tracks for this are:

LAST MAN STANDING

The closest thing to an elimination mode in DiRT 2. Players drive around a closed circuit, as the last man is eliminated after every 30 secs. Terminal damage to the car also knocks you out and resets the timer. This mode allows almost all the vehicle sets. Here is the standard track list for this mode:

GATECRASHER

A twist on the standard Rally mode, drivers race across a track smashing through as many gates as possible. Each gate gives the driver 2 extra seconds and the driver with the most time wins. This mode is restricted to Rally cars only.

DOMINATION

In Domination, a circuit is split into multiple sectors. Drivers get points based on their sector times. At the end of their alloted laps, the driver with the most points wins. This mode is open to nearly all the vehicle sets.

Car List

DiRT 2 features a large selection of licensed vehicles, from rally cars to buggies, and sees the return of the trucks from the original DiRT, albeit downsized to a large degree. There are a total of seven separate classes of vehicles that the player gets to drive on the game's large variety of tracks, which take place all over the world; in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the United States.

The cars are segregated into the following vehicle sets:

Rally, Rallycross and Trailblazer Subaru WRX STI Note: Cars have different statistics under each sub-set. BMW Z4 Coupe Motorsport Colin McRae R4 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Nissan 350z Pontiac Solice GXP Subaru Impreza WRX STI Subaru Impreza STI Group N

Stock Baja Honda Ridgeline Dodge Power Wagon Honda Ridgeline Hummer HX Toyota FJ Cruiser

Raid T1 Mitsubishi Racing Lancer Bowler Nemesis Hummer H3 Mitsubishi Racing Lancer Volkswagen (VW) Race Touareg 2

Trophy Trucks

Chevy Silverado

• Chevrolet Silverado CK-1500
• Dodge Ram Trophy Truck
• Kincaid Ford F-150 Trophy Truck
• West Coast Choppers Stuka TT

Class 1 Buggies Porter PRC-1 Brian Ickler Buggy DeJong MXR Herbst Smithbuilt Buggy PRC-1 Buggy

Soundtrack

• Biffy Clyro - Mountains
• Black Stone Cherry - Blind Man
• Black Tide - Shout
• Blakfish - Jeremy Kyle Is A Marked Man
• Bloc Party - Helicopter
• Bloc Party - Talons
• Deichkind - Ich Betaeube Mich
• Die! Die! Die! - Sideways Here We Come
• Dinosaur Pileup - All Around The World
• Eagles Of Death Metal - Wannabe In LA
• Elbow - Ground For Divorce
• Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses
• Friendly Fires - In The Hospital
• Friendly Fires - Lovesick
• Glamour Of The Kill - A Hope In Hell
• Hollow Earth Theory - Transmission
• Iglue & Hartly - Violent & Young
• Kram - Good Love
• Ladyhawke - My Delirium
• Madina Lake - Never Take Us Alive
• MSTRKRFT - Work On You
• Proceed - Treading Water
• Prodigy - Warriors Dance
• Qemists - Lost Weekend
• Queens Of The Stone Age - Little Sister
• Rise Against - Injection
• Santogold - Say Aha
• Scars On Broadway - They Say
• Silversun Pickups - There'e No Secrets This Year
• Steadlur - Bumpin'
• Templeton Pek - Red Lights Flash
• The Automatic - Steve McQueen
• The Cribs - Men's Needs
• The Futureheads - Radio Heart
• The Hot Melts - Edith
• The Rakes - 1989
• The Stone Roses - This Is The One
• The Subways - I Won't Let You Down
• The Temper Trap - Science Of Fear
• The Walkmen - The Rat
• Tommy Sparks - I'm A Rope
• Unkle ft Josh Homme - Restless
• White Denim - Let's Talk About it
• White Lies - To Lose My Life
• You Me At Six - Save It For The Bedroom
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Y Control

Supported controllers and steering wheels (PC)

Keyboard

• Keyboard Controls

Control Pads

DiRT 2 can be configured to use almost any PC controller, however it is recommended to use one the following controllers for the best experience:

• Official Xbox 360 Controller
• Logitech Cordless RumblePad 2 USB
• Thrustmaster T-Wireless 3 in 1 Rumble Force
• Thrustmaster Run’N’Drive Wireless
• Thrustmaster Run'N'Drive Wired Rumble Force
• Thrustmaster Dual Trigger Rumble Force
• Thrustmaster Dual Analog 3

Steering wheels

DiRT 2 provides default configurations for all of the below, meaning that you should be able to plug-and-play, without tweaking.

For some wheels (e.g. Logitech MOMO, Fanatec Porche) it is important that the pedals are on separate axes, rather than combined. From the Windows Control Panel, choose 'Controllers' and click 'Properties' for the wheel you will be using. Click 'Settings' and ensure that the 'Combined' or 'Single Axis' setting is unticked.

• Logitech G25 Racing Wheel
• Logitech G27 Racing Wheel
• Logitech Driving Force Pro
• Official Microsoft Xbox 360 Wheel
• Thrustmaster Ferrari 430 Force Feedback Racing Wheel
• Thrustmaster RGT F/F Pro (with and without Clutch models)
• Logitech MOMO Wheel
• Logitech MOMO Force
• Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel (PWT)
• Thrustmaster Ferrari GT Wheel

PC System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

• OS: Microsoft Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
• Processor: - Intel Pentium D 3.0Ghz or AMD Athlon 64 X2
• Memory: 1GB (2GB for Windows Vista)
• Graphics: ATI Radeon X1500 or NVIDIA GeForce 6800
• DirectX®: 9 and 11
• Hard Drive: 10GB
• Controller Support: XBox 360 controller support
• Other Requirements: Online play requires log-in to Games For Windows - Live.