I can't sleep, so...

You know it has been a successful New Year when you have to look outside on the ground to locate your phone. That being said, I am actually feeling good this morning. Captain Morgan didn't let me down. I know I kind of just stopped with my whole 'games that didn't make the top 10 but I love still' on Christmas, but I thought I would start it up again with another racing game. Actually 2 of them.

Dirt / Dirt 2

When Dirt first released, I was immediately drawn to it just because it had my car on the cover. From there I glanced down and saw who made it though, Codemasters, and wondered if they had something to do with GameShark or what. I had never really played a game made by them, and passed it off as something that couldn't possibly compete with the Forza or Gran Turismo games, likening it more to Tokyo XTreme Racer or another niche title made by a smaller company.

When the game dropped to the $40 point, I went ahead and picked it up around Christmas 2007. Having played through Mass Effect twice and having major internet issues keeping me from CoD4 I was just looking for something to play and thought Dirt would be a good time waster if it was at least decent. I say all of this in buildup because I learned a lesson from all of this regarding smaller game publishers, and in this case Dirt turned out to be one of my favorite games I played that year and 2008.

The point to point races in Dirt are amazing. Of all the racing games, this is what has kept me on the edge of my seat while playing. It puts Forza's visual damage to shame, allowing your car to get seriously messed up. Even better, in the multiple stage races you only have a certain amount of time to fix your car, leading to prioritizing what parts are more essential to your racing and bringing a very real 'risk vs. reward' dynamic to your approach.

There are also a number of non-car races, some of which are fun and some that I would have preferred were not in the game. Overall though this was such a fresh experience for me that I was blown away. The game was not perfect though, the main fault coming in how the cars felt a little 'odd' when driving. The best I can explain is that it felt like there was a stick in the middle of the car around which it rotated, making this a little less simulation than I felt it should have been. The online is incredibly limited as well, and the single player is very straightforward and gets repetitive (this is an issue I believe that the racing game genre in general has a hard time avoiding actually - the only game that has avoided this was Trackmania and only then due to user-created levels).

For sheer fun though, this game probably tops both Forza and Gran Turismo, even though the overall package may not be as good a game as these two. It should be said that Dirt 2 is another amazing game, but it seems to have suffered slightly by 'MTV-izm' or having one too many energy drinks. It is very Americanized, and still a great game, but vastly different in feel from the first game. The events are much more focused around cars, but the tracks feel less open overall, with Rallycross (lap racing vs. point to point) being put much more in the forefront. The online is improved, but seeing as damage is disabled it becomes frustrating in anything but Rally/Traliblazer races where there are no car to car collisions. When there is no penalty for someone slamming into you around a corner, they will do it.

Overall the Dirt games are different enough that I felt the need to keep both of them, which I guess is a pretty strong plus when compared to other racing series. Even though I got into it late because of my incorrect thinking regarding Codemasters, these 2 games turned out to tie Forza in my personal experience for my 'best racing series' title. As a side note, Grid was also very fun with some cool ideas if you want to keep your racing on the track instead of the dirt.

Random Other Musings

I have been spending my gaming time all over the place, hopping between Torchlight, Killing Floor, Forza 3, Battlefield 1943 (yay for sale price), and Defense Grid: The Awakening. It has been a strange holiday season for gaming, and the two games I expected to still be taking up all my time aren't - Modern Warfare 2 and Left 4 Dead 2.

I'm not sure what it was, but neither of these games had any staying power with me. I know we discuss some of the reasons that Modern Warfare 2 falls far short of CoD4 on the podcast (which I won't repeat here - you can always still download and listen!), but Left 4 Dead 2 is harder to pinpoint. Maybe that one just comes down to how similar it is to the first game, or how much harder the game is overall. Or maybe it was due to my expectations for both of these games. Expectations can go a long way in shaping how you receive something or look back on it; part of the reason I absolutely loved Dirt was because I expected nothing out of it.

Either way the Steam holiday sale has made sure that I have plenty to compliment my Forza 3 binges. Can't complain too much about that.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year celebration, and be sure to check up late Saturday/early Sunday for part 2 of our 'best of the decade' podcast, featuring our top 5 games of the decade plus a look into 2010!