Go back to 2002, the first year for Xbox and the second year for PS2. Look at the release list and tell me what you see: an abundance of racing games. There were more than any one person had the time to play, and though many were above average in quality, only a handful were remembered past their year of release.

This year – the second for Xbox 360 and first for PS3 – has not been met with nearly as many racing games. The big sequels are either released or coming, but where are all the new franchises? Where are the dozens of racers hoping to steal Need For Speed, Project Gotham and Gran Turismo’s thunder?

There may not be any. But there is one new racer that belongs in the same class as the aforementioned greats, a game that could easily compete with Microsoft’s RalliSport Challenge – DiRT. Built by Codemasters, maker of the famed Colin McRae rally racing games, DiRT is an arcade-style racer with tight controls, excellent course designs, highly detailed graphics, and the best in-the-car-view since the first Gran Turismo.

Old Gen. Next-Gen.

RalliSport Challenge’s success was not an accident. The developers made it fun by sacrificing realism for adrenaline-pumped, on-the-edge-of-your-seat racing. DiRT does the same, but even more so thanks to Codemasters’ years of experience and the increased power of new hardware. The behind-the-car views look great, but oh man – the inside views are incredible. You’ll feel the speed in a way you never thought possible while looking at a TV screen. It’s extremely intense.

In almost every respect, DiRT is a great racing game that probably could have been developed for PlayStation 2, albeit with lower quality graphics. But when you’re inside the car, when you see the gorgeous visuals and begin to feel the road and all its glory – you’ll know for certain this game is next-gen. These sensations were not possible five years ago. Honestly, I’m not even sure they were possible two years ago when Xbox 360 (which DiRT is also available for) was first released.

Bumper Cars

DiRT’s vehicles range from the sporty rally cars, buggies and SUVs to small trucks and enormous trucks. There are some distinct handling differences between the vehicle types and models, but the biggest difference comes from player performance. At its onset, DiRT controls remarkably well. The handling has been tuned for arcade play, so you won’t feel like the game is Gran Turismo on a dirt track. You might, however, think you’re playing RalliSport Challenge 3.

But should you crash – and you will crash, sometimes as often as you do in the crash-heavy Burnout series – your vehicle might start to control like a garbage truck on wheels. No wait – scratch that. It might start to control like garbage. On wheels. And I mean that in a good way.

Damage is visually breathtaking and physically efficient. If you slam the left side of your vehicle into a thick tree or railing, there’s a good chance that your left side will be physically damaged. Its appearance will definitely be damaged. But if the crash goes beyond that, your vehicle may drive slower and/or have altered handling. In the worst-case scenarios, it might veer to one side. Ironically, this was helpful in one situation. I managed to navigate a few tricky right turns because my vehicle kept veering right. All other times, however, the damage was not an improvement. Typically it meant I had to struggle to win or give up and restart the race.

Tiers of Joy

DiRT’s career mode is massive. It begins with a string of 11 races, each of which leads upward to another string (10 races, then 9, then 8, etc.) for a literal pyramid of challenges. Most of the races are based on a time trial, leaving you to cruise each course solo. That could be horribly boring, but like RalliSport Challenge, DiRT’s track designs are impeccable. The layout is pretty much perfect. There are enough interesting turns for it to be challenging, and the game plays fast enough to provide continuous entertainment.

When you finally get to race against a few AI opponents, DiRT is high-speed madness. Since this is an arcade racer, you can use opponents’ vehicles to your advantage. Slam into and push off of them when heading into a tight corner. If done correctly, you’ll brush off the vehicle and move on, leaving your opponent in the dust. Should you fail, your opponent could still end up in more trouble than he had before the crash – and that’s always helpful.

Jaw Surgery

What’s that? You say you can’t get your jaw up off the floor? That’s the effect DiRT’s visuals are bound to have. But don’t worry, the effects are reversible – I hear that oral surgeons have made tremendous progress with gamers suffering from this problem.

If you’d like a case of jaw drop, simply play a few courses. Going in, I wasn’t overly impressed. The game looked amazing but my expectations were too high. As the courses became more varied and organic, the graphics began to meet those expectations. There are a few glitches (at one point my car drove through another while using the first-person view). But they’re so few and far between, and the rest of the game looks so beautiful that you may not notice or care if you do.

For the past several years we’ve seen improvements in lighting, shadows, and vehicular damage. DiRT blows all other games – past or present – out of the water. The interior designs are just as impressive as the exterior, and the body damage is incredibly real. Each vehicle crumples and falls apart differently.

Taking it one step further, the vehicles crumple differently based on the severity of the crash. And to take it even further than that, the developers threw in several environmental elements – trees, logs, railings, course signs, and many other obstacles, natural or otherwise, can be struck and damaged.

These elements add up to a wonderful single-player racing experience. You’ll be disappointed by the multiplayer options (or lack thereof – see below), but that shouldn’t keep anyone from knowing the joy that is DiRT.

Gameplay: 8.5
DiRT is an uninhibited blast with excellent arcade-style steering, great courses, vehicles, and tons of interactive elements.

Graphics: 9.0
One hour with this game and you’ll finally be able to say, “Next-gen racing is here!”

Sound: 5.9
“Left 4, right 5, left 1, right 6.” Allow me to pause for a second and say, “Huh?” I assume those directions, announced by in-game teammate, are reiterated words of real rally passengers. But as someone who only plays rally games and has never followed the sport, it doesn’t mean much. I don’t understand the numbers and I don’t care to. With the voice track turned off, all that’s left is the sound of your vehicle’s engine (and the rubbing of tires against various surfaces). Not exciting by any stretch.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium/Hard
By allowing players to select the difficulty before the start of each race, Dirt can be as difficult as each player desires.

Concept: 7.9
DiRT is very much in line with Microsoft’s RalliSport Challenge series. But this doesn’t feel like a clone game. It’s too good to be a clone game. That’d be like saying Forza is a clone of Gran Turismo. When a game improves on what another has created, it’s no longer a clone.

Multiplayer: 3.0
There is nothing “multiplayer” about this game’s multiplayer mode. The box reads, “100 Player Online Mode.” In the manual it says, “Take part in online races with up to 100 people at the same time on a Rally or Hill Climb stage.” But guess what: Rally and Hill Climb are single-car races. You compete for the best time (like we did 10+ years ago before the proper online infrastructure had been implemented), not head-to-head. To the uninformed gamer, this is misleading and will be a huge disappointment once they start the game and begin to play.

Overall: 8.0
DiRT is a highly entertaining racing game for solo play. It’s packed with replay value, solid objectives, a stellar vehicle lineup, and dozens of individual races. The faux multiplayer mode brings the game down a half-point, but overall, you won’t find a better next-gen rally racer.