[costel]

So this is my first time hopping onto this specific thread. Don't know why I have waited so long to discuss my rampant love and enthusiasm for all things Motorsports related (Except Nascar and Indy Car), perhaps I have spent so much time cultivating and establishing my snobishness about firearms in digital medium that I forgot about the absolute purity that racing can evoke.

I'll start with my revisiting of the DiRT series, which I'm just now finishing up my first Career run through of the first title for the second time, and the game has aged miraculously well. Particularly one experience that I would like to talk about is Pikes Peak Full course with the Mitsubishi FTO. This was just...sublime. I don't even have the proper terminology to equate the experience, asides from the frequent evocations of zen that players discuss encountering during Shmups/STG games. I literally felt myself blanking out, because I was so dedicated to mastering every apex, I could feel through the wheel the telemetry of the vehicle, every time I shifted and could actively gauge a differential, it was phenomenal. And DiRT, maybe captures that better then it's fellow entries. It's purity and dedication to Rally and Hilly Climb events is second to none, and every course is so lovingly rendered and painfully, exquisitely built that it just exudes class and professionalism and asks the same of the player. That FTO run was something else, probably a tremendous downside was an inability to actually save the replay itself, which would've only bolstered my confidence in endorsing the game fully and wholly. At the 9th peak of the hill, when you hit the 8th checkpoint, the course flattens out. Which in a 500 HP hill climb car with no noise canceler in the cockpit view, going flat out on that beautiful desert hill is just awe inspiring.

There's a lot that I don't care for of course in the game. Mostly it's Rally Raid mode and the Buggies, which just feel empty and uninspired, probably due to a course shortage.


So, starting into the second entry in the series, I think it's safe to say that the transition from Colin McRae's DiRT to Ken Block's DiRT happens both stylistically and mechanically between the transition between the second and third entry. It's not necessarily a bad thing entirely, Codemaster's burning devotion to maintaining the pedigree of the series I believe was upheld dutifully and the handling and tracks only got better and better. But of course, I have to speak with some hesitance for DiRT 3's obnoxious advertising and energy drink fueled madness.


Picking up F1 2012 today. Can't wait to use my new wheel.

There's also two huge releases coming out soon, Need For Speed Most Wanted by Criterion and Forza Horizon, which if anyone plans on picking up, I'll be getting both.
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[costel]

Forza Horizon's Demo is phenomenal. Fused with such energy and emotion. It's incredible.
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[costel]

But senpais, Grid 2's Yas Marina at night is ethereal and beautiful! I agree with the deep conflict seeded within the core game's structure, and it's lack of a cockpit mode is really bothersome, but mechanically it's solid as all hell. I really hope Codemasters shows some restraint with the DLC for this game.
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