I have been getting increasingly more impressed with Dirt 3 on the Xbox. I did mention it in a post the other week however it has got better still.
On the the really great features of it was the 2 player split screen gymkhana. (Well the whole gymkhana thing all together). Whilst the rallying and racing sections are brilliantly done, great edge of the seat, edge of traction experiences the new X Games Ken Block inspired sections that revolve around stunts and style are a brilliant addition to the genre.
You get to donut, jump, drift, spin and smash your way around a freestyle track in a way that we only usually get to do on Skate games. It is a brilliant freeform mad stuntfest.It also has a new driver assist called tricksteer. This applies in these events and makes it a little more easy to pull off those donuts, still needing some balance and poise but it feels very flattering.
So you get to do things like this and then share them on youtube direct from the game
It also does not take itself too seriously and @asanyfuleno and I spent quite a while the other day playing 2 player split screen “hooning”. It lets you freeform stunt drive around the Battersea power station. It was pure sandbox, no points, just discovering jumps and stunts. We ended up focussing on a jam session on this brilliant little ramp.
So whats all this got to do with anything? Well each of these little clips is from a live performance in the game. The film editing in world is not great, well non existent. It gives you replay which chops from camera to camera as it sees fit. Which sometimes works. The old Skate 2 game introduced some proper camera placement and editing tools to make great skate videos, it would be nice to see that in Dirt 3 too.
As it is you do get some really nice pieces like this Hummer in Kenya in the sunset.
The ease of creation, and sharing as a side effect of playing a very good driving game makes me wonder if we could do a full CGI version of Top Gear. It would be as Clarkson says “The best driving show in thurrr wuuurlld”.
I hope Forza 4 has such good sharing facilities. Then of course we can share our driving videos on out google+ driving circles and not hassle everyone with the gaming equivalent of holiday videos.
Great article and a great site. Thanks Friend !!!