Feral Interactive’s Dirt 3 Complete Edition, the third entry in the popular racing series, has returned to the Mac, and you’ll find this lap around the track is better than ever.
Overview
DiRT 3 Complete Edition features six racing styles including Rally, Rallycross and Gymkhana, a freestyle event where you perform jumps and stunts on obstacle courses. A number of rides are available, including the Audi Quattro, 1960s Mini Cooper S, a Ford Fiesta WRC, and a number of other cars and trucks.
The events take place on a number of surfaces and weather conditions, and you’ll find yourself racing on dirt, gravel, and asphalt, pushing your luck in torrential rain or snow.
Dirt 3 allows you to either jump right onto a car and start racing, or you can spend time tuning your vehicles to match the conditions and your driving style. I’m more the type to just jump into a standard car and start driving, as I know next to nothing about setting up race cars.
Codemasters, the makers of racing games like F1 2013 and Grid 2, developed Grid 3 Complete Edition for Feral, so you know this game is going to appeal to racing fans.
Multiple game modes are available, including single-player, multiplayer and career mode. You can spend a few quick minutes racing in a single race or time trial, or spend hours chasing the dream in a full career mode. Sadly, multiplayer consists of split screen or local network, no Internet multiplayer looks to be available.
Also a bit of a disappointment is the lack of an upload feature to share your race replays via YouTube. (Even though one of the voiceover artists yells about sharing on YouTube, SIGH!)
In career mode, you attempt to draw better sponsors by performing well in races. Events are unlocked as you earn points, and different cars earn you varying amount of experience points. You need to collect points to unlock new events.
Loading times can take awhile, but there’s plenty of eye candy, and some rocking music to listen to while the next event loads.
I have an early 2011 McBook Pro, so as you can imagine, it’s a bit underpowered compared to today’s Macs. This didn’t pose a problem however, as I was able to run the game at just a few notches below maximum resolution, full-screen, with most of the details turned on, and still get a playable frame rate. Your mileage may vary. (I had to put that one in here somewhere…)
I was unable to capture video of my gameplay due to some technical difficulties, however I did grab the screenshots accompanying this review. The video below is furnished by the publisher.
Verdict
If you dig rally type racing games, I highly recommend you put on your racing suit and hit the Mac App Store to grab Dirt 3. The game looks to satisfy any racer, whether you’re a jump in and go type, or someone that likes to tinker.
Dirt 3 offers a great value for the money, and is a well done and enjoyable racing option for the Mac. Before buying, make sure you check the system requirements, they’re available on the Mac App Store details page.
Rating: [rating:4.0/5.0]
Price: $29.99 – Available in the Mac App Store – Price includes all the available add-on content, including 18 additional cars and 12 new routes at two locations set at the iconic Monte Carlo region and an X-Games Asia event featuring multi-car Rallycross racing in downtown Tokyo.
Pros:
- Great graphics, and smooth performance.
- Large variety of cars and tracks to challenge you.
- You can jump right in, or take time to tinker
Cons:
- No Internet Multiplayer.
- Long loading times.
For more information, or to purchase Grid 3, visit the Mac App Store.
