Colin McRae: DiRT Review

When Colin McRae passed on tragically last year his legacy was that of not only a frequently brilliant driver on the World Rally Championship circuit, but also a figurehead for a highly esteemed video game franchise. Indeed, as his own on-track fortunes dwindled the games he put his name to continued to delight motor sporting video game enthusiasts.

Now with Colin McRae: DiRT, it seems the focus is shifting gradually away from McRae as a brand (note the DiRT-only title screen). But has Glu still managed to create a mobile rally game worthy of the name?

First impressions are good, with a beautifully concise and stylish front-end coaxing you into the game proper. Aside from the expected Career mode (more of which in a bit) and the usual Settings and Help options, you're presented with the rather grandly named Rally World.

What this actually entails is a series of quick-fire racing options, including Quick Race, Exhibition and Challenge modes. If all you're looking for is a quick blast around a muddy track to occupy a five-minute bus journey, these are the modes for you.

For the complete rally challenge, however, you'll want the slightly more extensive Career option. There are no surprises here, as you make your way through one track at a time, taking on three opponents in a best-of-three-laps sprint to the finish. Finish first and you unlock the next track and car combination.

Continued success in Career mode also brings the benefits of unlocking additional cars for use in the Rally World section. With only one car available from the start, you'll want to fire up the Career option as soon as possible.

Onto the on-track action itself and, again, initial impressions are positive. Or very positive, in this case. The cars are rendered in a distinctive, colourful and faintly cartoon-like style that impressively sets DiRT apart from the competition. Elsewhere on the screen you'll find a useful mini map and a well considered progress bar showing how long you have left in both lap and race. Both sources of information can be taken in with a momentary glance, allowing your eyes to remain fixed on the racing itself for the most part.

Sadly, it's when we turn to this racing that cracks begin to affect the performance. The controls on our N73 test phone were sluggish to say the least (although we ought to note that they were fine on a Sony Ericsson K800i). We also found the drifting system to be fiddly and counterintuitive, our car seeming to have a mind of its own at times as we zigzagged through another simple bend.

Equally worrying is the fact the game also lacks any real sense of pace, as your car dawdles around each course as if on a Sunday tootle through the countryside. Reaching the end of some of the longer races will be a test of patience as much as of nerve or driver skill.

What we're left with is a graphically excellent but just-above average rally game that could have been so much more. We can't shake the feeling that if only as much attention had been paid to the controls and gameplay as the presentation evidently received, the result would have been a title more worthy of the McRae name.