DiRT 3

 PC
User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 547 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 281 out of 547
  2. Mixed: 194 out of 547
  3. Negative: 72 out of 547

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  1. Goden
    Jun 2, 2011
    5
    I got into Dirt 2 and 3 beacuse I really liked the rally in Dirt 1 and was hoping these would improve on that. What turned me off from Dirt 2 was the testosterone-fuled X-games garbage which had swallowed the game and rally-racing was given a backseat. I heard Dirt 3 was more rally oriented and had less X-game involvement. For the most part, these predictions were correct. There is moreI got into Dirt 2 and 3 beacuse I really liked the rally in Dirt 1 and was hoping these would improve on that. What turned me off from Dirt 2 was the testosterone-fuled X-games garbage which had swallowed the game and rally-racing was given a backseat. I heard Dirt 3 was more rally oriented and had less X-game involvement. For the most part, these predictions were correct. There is more rally stages now and the X-games stuff has been toned down. Unfortunately, these pros come with some cons. For starters, the majority of the rally stages barely last longer than a minute and a half and the tracks themselves are very wide and the only challenge comes from annoyingly placed obstacles such as logs or tractors. Secondly, the X-games malarkey has been replaced by by Ken Block's Gymkhana stunt-driving rubbish. To be perfectly honest, this is actually worse than the X-games. Not only does it have nothing to do with rally or off-road racing, it's absolutely tedious and frustrating. I also wish they would bring back the car-tuning options of Dirt 1 as the options in Dirt 3 have little affect on how the car handles and drives. For a joke, I set all the tuning options to the silliest settings I could think of and the car was still perfectly drivable. Overall, the impression I get from this game is that they made it more rally oriented while cutting back on rally content, which makes it fall on its face a little bit. Most of the rally stages are just variations of the same stage and the tracks can get very easy in places. They also need to start focusing on real racing instead of smearing Ken Block and testosterone everywhere. Rally is a European dominated race, it's sad seeing it so Americanized.… Expand
  2. pzeudo
    Sep 19, 2011
    6
    Who the hell decided that it ought to be impossible to make the tutors stfu inbetween races.., I came here for driving, not wasting my time on worthless hints and bad jokes.

    Besides that, it seems fair enough. But come on, ABS brakes and speed control on by default? Makes as much sense as playing CoD with a paintball gun. (You can turn it off obviously though).
  3. i_am_the_raven
    Jul 19, 2013
    6
    Dirt 3 is an excellent example, for how you can piss players off completely, even if your core gameplay is quite good.
    Bad Programming, Overwhelmingly bad designed menus, blatant DLC marketing and the inclusion of the Infamous 'Games for Windows Live' service make this title litteraly unplayable in my opinion.

    Can I have my money back?
  4. sinadoom
    Oct 25, 2012
    9
    Graphically, this game is extremely inefficient. DiRT 2 on Ultra is equivalent to this on High without Ambient Occlusion. The Medium preset in DiRT 3 is what the Xbox 360 version looks like. My PC crashed within 2 minutes of track time on Ultra, which doesn't happen after 2 hours on BF3 on High! Anyway, the only graphical difference between the 360 version and PC is the more consistentGraphically, this game is extremely inefficient. DiRT 2 on Ultra is equivalent to this on High without Ambient Occlusion. The Medium preset in DiRT 3 is what the Xbox 360 version looks like. My PC crashed within 2 minutes of track time on Ultra, which doesn't happen after 2 hours on BF3 on High! Anyway, the only graphical difference between the 360 version and PC is the more consistent environmental textures. Cars look no different really, apart from more reflections. The green tint can be annoying as well. However, that's the only downside to this game. Achievements are good, career is of perfect length and variety and multiplayer is even more rewarding than DiRT 2, and more balanced and polished. This really is an ultimate package. I'm glad that there is now full controller support for PC. You can navigate menus easily and most controllers will work with the game. This is a racing game for everyone. There is rally, rallycross, gymkhana, hillclimb, one-on-one crossovers and landrush. You really can't go wrong. There are now assists so you can cater the experience to suit you. Vehicle set-ups are simplified like in DiRT 2 but now the game will automatically choose the optimal even if you don't change anything. Only gear ratios are constant, but they're more personal preference. Anyway, apart from the inefficient and taxing EGO 2.0 game engine, which quite evidently isn't very good given how demanding games like this, F1 2011 and F1 2012 are for very little eye candy gain, it's still just as good on PC as it is on 360. The lack of improved graphics is dissapointing, but that shouldn't be enough to stop you buying this amazing game. You can read my 360 review of why this is the case if you want to know more. In short, it's the variety of game modes, variety of cars, complete and near-perfect multiplayer and a well-paced DiRT tour along with polished time trial leaderboards. What more could you want?!… Expand
  5. hansen1981
    Sep 1, 2013
    6
    Nice graphics. Very easy gameplay at easy difficulty and very hard gameplay at other difficulties. Racing tracks similar to each other. Game is very intrusive with additional content (for real money certainly). Car models don't enough. Other cars need buy for real money. After 50% i bored. Overall DiRt 3 unlucky clone DiRT 2.
  6. JakubCech
    Aug 8, 2013
    4
    Fancy an entertaining rally game with good driving model that you can turn on every now and then for a few rides? This probably isn't the game for you.

    I wouldn't mind that rally itself makes 20% of the game content, because the driving model in this game is actually pretty well executed. There are, however, other annoying things that I do mind in a game I paid for. A game that, on the    Fancy an entertaining rally game with good driving model that you can turn on every now and then for a few rides? This probably isn't the game for you.

    I wouldn't mind that rally itself makes 20% of the game content, because the driving model in this game is actually pretty well executed. There are, however, other annoying things that I do mind in a game I paid for. A game that, on the outside, makes it look like you're getting a complete package. Don't fool yourself, you're not.

    The game shoves it to your face pretty much everywhere you go, that you can buy additional content. The purchasable content doesn't actually extend the game as you may be used in other titles. It completes it. This game makes you feel like you're playing a demo version of an actual game, not a full AAA title. In pretty much every race series, there's a race to be bought. In every car class, there are cars to be bought—great many of them, unfortunately.

    Add to it the content reuse that you're gonna see in pretty much every game. Oh, you're driving in Finland again? Nothing bad with that, or is there? There is. You're gonna go through the same turns that you've seen in previous races, they're just put together in a different order than before.

    Fancy some freestyle driving with Ken Block at your back? Don't worry, he's not gonna give you any proper advice on how to drive. His role there is just to add a little diversity to the annoying voices you're going to be hearing every time you want to race, every time you finish a race and every time you're trying to click your way through the annoyingly put together menu. Transitions in the menu take so long that you're gonna spend 20 seconds clicking through, loading excluded, before you even get to get a go at a 90 second race.

    The game has a hotkey for uploading your races to YouTube. No idea who came up with that feature, but you're gonna be reminded of it every second race: 'That was great, Amigo! You should put it on YouTube'. Time developing this 'feature' would have been much better spent building real rally courses.    … Expand
  7. tgsenough
    Feb 18, 2014
    6
    Colin McRae Rally was a good franchise until it ruined by the gymkhana thing. it has a really good in game environment and scenery, But its UI and game experience isn't good enough compare to their own racing game like GRID.
    DiRT 2 is better. Much better. apart from Americans narrator, since rallying is so 'European'.
  8. SchroederRock
    Feb 28, 2012
    5
    Great graphics, abysmal handling and control scheme on a keyboard. DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME WITH KEYBOARD ONLY. You'll be super frustrated and won't beat a single rally. With a special controller or on a console, I can see this being a great game to invest in. But I grade it based off of what I played with, and I don't want to have to purchase special controllers just to play the gameGreat graphics, abysmal handling and control scheme on a keyboard. DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME WITH KEYBOARD ONLY. You'll be super frustrated and won't beat a single rally. With a special controller or on a console, I can see this being a great game to invest in. But I grade it based off of what I played with, and I don't want to have to purchase special controllers just to play the game with more efficiency. I'll buy it for Xbox if I want to play with a controller. Fortunately, I got this game with my AMD graphics card for free, otherwise I would have been a bit more dissapointed.… Expand
  9. keefbaker
    Oct 31, 2013
    7
    Enjoyable racer which looks great and has a wonderful reaction to the different driving surfaces, it's a bit patronizing and also keeps thorowing "BUY OUR DLC" at you from minute one. But all the same... enjoyable,
  10. safambare
    Jun 13, 2012
    5
    The Gymkhana is ridiculous. And the game-play is so poor comparing to Dirt 2. We expected a game better than Dirt 2, and what we see is very far from this. Dirt 2 is so much better in all matters. Very disappointing!!
  11. nitai007
    Jul 26, 2013
    0
    this is the best rally game you can get. the handling of the cars are reasllystic, and you customize and tweek every little option about the cars. the game is also pretty exesible to new players. the graphics are great, and almost all of the locations are great only one i think is really bland) the ui is also really stylistic and good. the replay videos are also really good and cool. onethis is the best rally game you can get. the handling of the cars are reasllystic, and you customize and tweek every little option about the cars. the game is also pretty exesible to new players. the graphics are great, and almost all of the locations are great only one i think is really bland) the ui is also really stylistic and good. the replay videos are also really good and cool. one bad part about it is theres a lot of stuff you can buy with more money and it shows it to you all the time, and its bad just because you need to pay even more. also something i didnt like is the use of games for windows live. i now the developers didnt make it, but they chose to use, and its a crappy system that deleted some of my saves in other games.
    overall a great rally game if you like racing games buy it!!!!!!!    … Expand
  12. Avidean
    Aug 30, 2011
    5
    Once again Codemasters makes a great Driving game and then totally destroys it by adding something that is absolutely ridiculous! Yes I am referring to the Gymkhana or however you spell it stunt driving crap! Where it not for this crap I would have rated Dirt 3 above Dirt 2 But it has totally ruined my enjoyment of the game because it has stopped my progress dead in Dirt Tour. I have a simOnce again Codemasters makes a great Driving game and then totally destroys it by adding something that is absolutely ridiculous! Yes I am referring to the Gymkhana or however you spell it stunt driving crap! Where it not for this crap I would have rated Dirt 3 above Dirt 2 But it has totally ruined my enjoyment of the game because it has stopped my progress dead in Dirt Tour. I have a sim driving **** with a Logitech g25 wheel and have the hand break mapped to the clutch peddle and Dirt3 setting on hardest and I can tell you even with these highly sensitive analog controls this gymkhana nonsense is impossible to control! I don't mind coming 4th of 5th in a rally at top difficulty setting but this Gymkhana stuff is crap. Codemasters please remove it form the game. Here's how you make dirt 4. 1. Improve graphics for realism.
    2. Improve physics like rFactor. Stick to Rally Cross world championship! There! you have a winner. The only thing that is improving about Codemasters driving games is the graphics. Everything else is going backwards. If you haven't already bought this game take the advise of a long time sim racing enthusiast and get rFactor 2 instead. Alternatively if you are a console user drop dead!    … Expand
  13. charlie412
    Nov 14, 2011
    8
    This is a very good game but if you have played dirt 2 it just doent feel as "high octane", there is a lot a new and different cars, the tracks are dirrerent and varied the game looks a lot better than dirt 2 but theres no more fireworks exploding when you jump or music in the menus which made the game feel a little more exiting, that being said i would say this game is much better forThis is a very good game but if you have played dirt 2 it just doent feel as "high octane", there is a lot a new and different cars, the tracks are dirrerent and varied the game looks a lot better than dirt 2 but theres no more fireworks exploding when you jump or music in the menus which made the game feel a little more exiting, that being said i would say this game is much better for racing than dirt 2, most of the recing styles are present from dirt 2 such as rally cross, truch races and land rush but the rallying seems a lot better, i also like the new assistance, eventhough at first it looks a bit annoying it helps a lot, its a line in the track which shows the suggested line and also glows orange or red when you need to brake, if you have played forza 3 or f1 2011 its the same as those assistance methods, the only annoyance i have is that in multiplayyer people tend to bash you out of the way in corners to get in front but i suppose thats the whole point of the game,crashing and bashing each other, an xbox controller is a necessety aswell as youl find this difficult with keys on the keyboard… Expand
  14. vortical
    May 27, 2011
    6
    Verdict: Beautiful but shallow. I really struggled with rating this game. If I had never played another codemasters racer it would have easily rated a 7 or 8. Unfortunately, I've seen what a spectacular job they did with Dirt2 and this game just doesn't measure up. It's not so much a single massive problem as it is lots of little things that add up to spoil what would otherwise be a greatVerdict: Beautiful but shallow. I really struggled with rating this game. If I had never played another codemasters racer it would have easily rated a 7 or 8. Unfortunately, I've seen what a spectacular job they did with Dirt2 and this game just doesn't measure up. It's not so much a single massive problem as it is lots of little things that add up to spoil what would otherwise be a great game. For starters, The interface has been completely overhauled. Rather than placing the various menus in a track side 'Trailer', Dirt3 uses a plain old text menu laced with strange triangle motiffs.More staright-forward certainly, nut it completely kills the sense of immersion the previous UI generated.
    Which brings me to perhaps my next major gripe, removal of the in race voices for the AIs. It sounds like such a minor thing, but having the AI drivers actually talking back and forth and reacting to what was happening in the race gave Dirt2 a completely different feel in single player. It felt more like racing with a bunch of friends rather than just grinding against some oblivious robot. It even had an affect on how I drove. In Dirt3 I can run another driver off a cliff with absolutely no consequences. In Dirt2, cut off an opponent or pull some other dangerous maneuver and the other drivers would tell you about it in no uncertain terms. Nothing like having Tanner Foust or Ken Block call you an a--hole (sort of) to make you think twice about being hyper-aggressive.

    Another major issue for me is the heavy emphasis on Rally. Don't get me wrong I love rally, be it a traditional point-to-point or scraping paint in Rally-X. There is however such a thing as to much of a good thing. Dirt2 did a great job of balancing out the formality of rally with plenty of truck/buggy based events that allowed you to let loose a little bit without having to worry about hitting a perfect apex to shave 0.002 seconds off your time. The trucks are still there, but they've been relegated to a single event type (landrush) with just a single available vehicle ( the 'landrush event truck'). You can choose your livery (sort off) by choosing a team but other than that no real choice. It's as if they grudgingly let you race them, but there's a nagging feeling that the game is telling you "Trucks? yeah we have those but wouldn't you much rather be over here perfecting your rally skills? See, look shiny classic rally cars from the 70's. That's right, forget about those dirty, smelly buggies and come over this way....".

    The final gripe I have is the way you progress through the single player career. You still get experience, but rather than the leveling system that gradually opens up more and more opportunities as you progress, this is pretty much a straight point-A to point-B. Also rather than earning cash as a reward for completeing a race has been removed. Instead, you simply get handed cars and liveries at certain set points. There's no real feeling of having accomplished anything; the car isn't really yours, some random corporate just lets you use it and expects to get it back in one piece when you're done. Even worse though is the way rep (the equivanent to exp in this game) is tied to the car you drive. You get more rep from completing the 'bonus' missions in a car that just unlocked than in your vehicle you've been racing from the beginning. Sometimes it can be a gap of several hundred points. In essence they are constantly trying to force you to drive a different vehicle rather that spending the time to master a single car you really like.

    To sum up. If you are a rally nut and the mountian dew fueled, Americanized X-sport theme of Dirt 2 set your teeth on edge, then Dirt 3 is probably a must buy. If you are like me however, and enjoyed Dirt2s blend crazy antics and challenging events then Dirt3 is going to feel somewhat unfullfilling.    … Expand
  15. Geovas77
    Jun 16, 2011
    5
    Really disappointing followup to a great game, unfortunately Dirt 3 lost its magic and feels simple and rushed. The graphics are great but why the hell did they have to change the way the menu worked in Dirt 2 and the race variety is quite boring with preselected cars for each race and the aweful Gymkhana mode which is where I left the game on the third season and came here for my review.Really disappointing followup to a great game, unfortunately Dirt 3 lost its magic and feels simple and rushed. The graphics are great but why the hell did they have to change the way the menu worked in Dirt 2 and the race variety is quite boring with preselected cars for each race and the aweful Gymkhana mode which is where I left the game on the third season and came here for my review. The only improvement from Dirt 2 is the graphics everything else is a step backwards and as of now I am shelving the game.… Expand
  16. orion89
    Jun 4, 2011
    8
    This really is a great game but I just can't say I enjoy it as much as Dirt 2. The poorly kept RV that traveled around the world with you in Dirt 2 was such a charming idea for what was essentially the menu screen, which was always set in the middle of a huge crowd with music blaring and the scenery of the location you decided to race in looming in the background. Dirt 3 ditched that forThis really is a great game but I just can't say I enjoy it as much as Dirt 2. The poorly kept RV that traveled around the world with you in Dirt 2 was such a charming idea for what was essentially the menu screen, which was always set in the middle of a huge crowd with music blaring and the scenery of the location you decided to race in looming in the background. Dirt 3 ditched that for a much more simple menu that, while streamlined and stylish, is just kinda boring, unless rotating golden pyramids are your thing. The gameplay is fantastic of course, the cars handle wonderfully and the sense of speed is spot on. However, I didn't get the same sense of excitement, the rush I got when I played D2. Watching a replay of my speedy little Ford Cosworth zipping through the Finnish wilderness in its beautifully rendered glory was cool and all but the techno-pop track that played in the background simply didn't fit. At all. It didn't hold a candle to watching the replay of my Mitsubishi Evo X tearing ass through canyons in Utah while My Delirium blasted from my speakers in D2. The music list in general adds to D3's somewhat sterile presentation. I've heard mostly techno oriented tracks so far and it's just so quiet, so subdued and when you mix that with the games (overly) simplified, calm presentation, it kinda comes off as just another race sim. Compare this to D2 which was constantly noisy and flamboyant with its presentation, which was good because it's rally racing. It's supposed to be noisy and dirty and fast paced, not quiet and clean with a bunch of friggin triangles. Graphically the game is better than its predecessor but not by leaps and bounds. This isn't a bad thing though, far from it in fact. The Dirt series is known for being beautiful and Dirt 3 doesn't disappoint. There's too much to mention in a little review like this, you really just have to play it, but the one thing I want to stress is the performance. I run these games on a 2007 iMac.... ya. Despite the fact that it's very underpowered by todays gaming standards, I run Dirt 3 perfectly fine on high settings. The Ego engine is just so well made, you get marvelous detail and performance even on lower end tech. One area they skimped on a bit was the driver detail. They sit as rigid as crash test dummies, hardly ever moving and the overall detail put into the models is lacking compared to D2. In D2 replays the game never shied away from showing your driver struggling with the vehicle, all the animations reasonably smooth and realistic. Hell even your co-driver would turn their head to look at you once or twice, a small insignificant detail but that's what made me surprised and happy to see it. There was a person next to you not a dummy. The only other downside other than the presentation is one.... single... race type.... Gymkhana. Some people may like it and that's fine. I don't hate it, it's fun to watch, but God almighty it can be a pain in the ass. Despite the games wonderful controls Gymkhana is just flat out hard and, at times, confusing. I zoom out into the arena and my first thought is "What the f*ck do I do?" I decide "Ok, I'll spin around this pole and maybe smash those blocks. Perhaps then I'll drift under that thing and make a futile effort to connect it to the donut I'll do over there." Unless you're pretty good and I wouldn't be surprised if there were those who are, it just ends up being kind of a mess and a bit frustrating. I've never once felt like I was doing one of those events for any reason other than getting it out of the way. It doesn't help that I'm a bit of a purist I guess, I absolutely love the rally events and trailblazing and thank God Codemasters really emphasized them this time around. There's also your little "HR Rep" I guess you would call him, he is annoying as all hell. He's always calling you ridiculously cheesy nicknames like "amigo" and "muchacho", it's flat out painful to hear him talk. I even found myself unconsciously hitting the mute button on my keyboard when he started to speak, it's that bad. Speaking of voice work. What happened to driver chatter? Where are the big name racers? Why aren't Katie Justice or Ken Block congratulating me on a good race? Where is Foust to be a douche when I come in second and he's first? It kills the immersion! Overall, I strongly recommend this game to racing fans. It's a strong racer. Just be prepared to be put off by the achingly sterile presentation if you were a big fan of Dirt 2 like I am, it damn near ruined the game for me. That sense of occasion, of pure excitement, is simply lost. I know I keep referring to it but it really does make a huge impact on the game.… Expand
  17. novinar4
    Jan 6, 2012
    0
    This is not Colin Mcrae anymore. I know in the game must be new something, but in this Dirt 3 is like 10% rally. And more funny stuff is, that the maps is all the same. I am disappointed. I want true rally with lots of maps and rally. If you have more then 50% rally in the game, and more maps, that it is a true rally.
  18. DeiCide
    Jan 10, 2012
    3
    They butchered this game in my opinion. DiRt 2 was awesome, it felt like its own game. Then they bring out DiRt 3 with GRID's menu system which killed the nice interactive menus. The main thing that kept me playing DiRt 2 non-stop was the excitement, the pure enjoyment I got from it. DiRt 3 failed to keep me interested for longer than a few hours. It feels cold, and dull in comparison toThey butchered this game in my opinion. DiRt 2 was awesome, it felt like its own game. Then they bring out DiRt 3 with GRID's menu system which killed the nice interactive menus. The main thing that kept me playing DiRt 2 non-stop was the excitement, the pure enjoyment I got from it. DiRt 3 failed to keep me interested for longer than a few hours. It feels cold, and dull in comparison to Dirt 2. Very disappointed, I was really looking forward to a new DiRt game but this just reminded me that you can't trust a game just because of its title. Bring back the old DiRt 2 style! 3/10.… Expand
  19. wardialer
    Jun 19, 2011
    6
    having played Dirt 2 to 100% completion on hardest settings (except for the long croatia track), i was very excited about this game's release. it feels a lot like Dragon Age 2 compared to DAO... rushed, boring, and trying too hard to appeal to a broader demographic w/ a limited attention span. the obnoxious "awesome driving amigo! post that footage for your compadres amigo" x-gameshaving played Dirt 2 to 100% completion on hardest settings (except for the long croatia track), i was very excited about this game's release. it feels a lot like Dragon Age 2 compared to DAO... rushed, boring, and trying too hard to appeal to a broader demographic w/ a limited attention span. the obnoxious "awesome driving amigo! post that footage for your compadres amigo" x-games dude-banter is back in spades and totally destroys the experience. there is little variety in the environments and the almost immediate offering of DLC reaks of cashgrab. plenty of cars and the graphics engine looks and runs pretty good on my aging xeon E3110 and GTS 450... but the game lacks soul. its almost as if the publisher was telling codemasters how to "improve" their game as EA was telling bioware how to "improve on" dragon age.

    don't get me wrong, its still a good game... but VERY shallow. too ken block, DC product placement... less colin mcrae, and much less rally. still its better than GT5's rally in many ways which felt more like an afterthought for marketing purposes.

    anyways, im halfway done the dirt tour (on advanced, which is ridiculously easy btw) and don't think i'll bother going back to finish it. i expected more out of the genius that is/was codemasters.    … Expand
  20. Xblade_Power
    Dec 2, 2011
    2
    I started playing this game, and I was not really enjoying it, it has a nasty arcade style to it, the cars handle like something you would expect from a need for speed game, the tracks are very artificial and straightforward, no hidden surprises and very plain scenery and are incredibly short about 1:30 to finish a race(compaired to dirt 1 the rally s lasted around 5-6 mins.) , played theI started playing this game, and I was not really enjoying it, it has a nasty arcade style to it, the cars handle like something you would expect from a need for speed game, the tracks are very artificial and straightforward, no hidden surprises and very plain scenery and are incredibly short about 1:30 to finish a race(compaired to dirt 1 the rally s lasted around 5-6 mins.) , played the game for about 2 hours and was getting very bored of it, I then came across the drifting discipline which annoyed me because it is utterly pointless, after that I discovered the car gymnasium thing, that was the final straw, I un-installed the game after that. I thought this game was about rallying? instead I find some crappy american sport.
    I never played dirt 2 because I knew it was everything I didn't want in a racing game, but I did play dirt 1 and it is the best motor sport game I have ever played, that's why I bought dirt 3 because they said that they bought rallying back, but all I can see is something in between.
    Ever since Collin Mcrae passed away Codemasters rallying games have gone downhill.
    So if your looking for a good rallying game/sim Collin Mcrae Dirt is the way to go.    … Expand
  21. Vercinger
    Jan 1, 2013
    0
    Obligatory 0 for using Games for Windows Live AND SecuROM! Twice the DRM for twice the fail. GfWL is Microsoft's attempt to kill PC gaming in favor of the Xbox. And SecuROM limits the number of times the game can be installed. Clearly, this publisher is incompetent. I'm not letting this malware bomb near my PC. There might be something worth playing under the DRM, but I'd have to pirate itObligatory 0 for using Games for Windows Live AND SecuROM! Twice the DRM for twice the fail. GfWL is Microsoft's attempt to kill PC gaming in favor of the Xbox. And SecuROM limits the number of times the game can be installed. Clearly, this publisher is incompetent. I'm not letting this malware bomb near my PC. There might be something worth playing under the DRM, but I'd have to pirate it to find out.… Expand
  22. buzer
    Mar 31, 2013
    7
    the way they shove dlc down my throat in this game is total I don't mind dlc but if I knew they would be advertising dlc everywhere in game i don't think i would buy it. You start the game there's dlc advert. When picking car available for race, there're dlc cars you have to scroll threw Same thing with tracks... and who the hell would pay 7£ for monte carlo also gfwl is really annoyingthe way they shove dlc down my throat in this game is total I don't mind dlc but if I knew they would be advertising dlc everywhere in game i don't think i would buy it. You start the game there's dlc advert. When picking car available for race, there're dlc cars you have to scroll threw Same thing with tracks... and who the hell would pay 7£ for monte carlo also gfwl is really annoying and unneeded drm specially since i already bought game on steam.… Expand
  23. DoTheSexyTimmy
    Dec 23, 2011
    7
    Ah, Dirt. What better way to pay homage to the now-deceased legend known as Colin McRae than to continue with a stellar line of games in his homage? Such was my reaction upon first playing Dirt. Then once more, but with a little less fervor with Dirt 2. And now the third installment comes along...

    Right from the get go, when I am treated to the visage of a (shamefully, on my part)    Ah, Dirt. What better way to pay homage to the now-deceased legend known as Colin McRae than to continue with a stellar line of games in his homage? Such was my reaction upon first playing Dirt. Then once more, but with a little less fervor with Dirt 2. And now the third installment comes along...

    Right from the get go, when I am treated to the visage of a (shamefully, on my part) unidentifiable vehicle powersliding across the screen, kicking up basic geometry shapes as the menu fades into life, I am brought to an understanding: this is going to be a unique experience. And that it was. For better or for worse, though, we'll find out now.

    On a visual basis, even on my junker of a PC, this game is extraordinary. Droplets of rain cover my car as the pre-race cam gives me a splendid view of snow covered hills and trees. Powersliding leaves a trail of dust in my wake that resembled the one I kicked up at a dirt track near Worcester, and smashing through foam blocks in gymkhana sends a spray of green shards, shreds and pieces cascading across the car. Truly, there is truth in saying that the Dirt series has some of the best visuals in the racing genre today.

    The sounds are also something to drool at. Ken Block's gymkhana-tuned Ford Fiesta is something that nearly rivals that of my dream vessel, the M3, even more so seeing as South Africa once held a twin-engine Golf that sounded strikingly similar. The trucks and buggies are on an almost identical note to those that rip up the local dirt track, and the iconic CMR poster car, the Subaru, is probably the best - and most real-sounding - rendition I have heard so far. Gameplay-wise it also has its golden moments. Even now, I am fighting myself not to go spend another three hours fooling about in the Gymkhana "Tracks" or piloting the RS2000 across kilometers of ready-to-be-shredded dirt and snow. There's also something very satisfying about scoring a Platinum medal on your third try of a Gymkhana race - something easily done, in this game.

    But sadly, it's not all sunshine and roses. The aforementioned Gymkhana, while fun, defies every point of the CMR series, every point of a rally game, really. I see Gymkhana races, I see Gymkhana Showdowns, I see drifting (Drifting??!), all in all I see a lot of Japan and America in a game that focuses on a sport largely Europe-based. Novice drivers are in for a rough ride - of all the Dirt games, this one takes to dirt and snow the most realistically. That means loads of sliding, handfuls of grip, and (for a novice) lots and lots of crashing and restarting. For those playing without assists, this counts doubly - for some reason a car's tires get coated in butter if the player has little experience of rally in general.

    The tracks are also very poorly set up. Most are about as wide as my mother-in-law, and others are just ridiculously set up - there are even stray logs and tractors laying about in some; undoubtedly the only challenge this game poses to you.

    That is my main irritation with this game. Even with the unfriendliness of the driving toward new players, this game is almost shamefully forgiving - even going as far as to allow me a 7 second margin ahead of the 2nd place driver... On the highest difficulty. Even the gymkhana becomes tediously repetitive later - once you've thrown about 2 hours into it you're dead set for a straight Gold (or even Platinum) run right till the end. Even beasts like the RS2000 become as tame as an A-Class Mercedes after a few half-hours of play.

    All in all, DiRT 3 boasts a rather enjoyable experience. It won't leave you with the same satisfaction and hunger and excitement you'd find with Forza, and it certainly hasn't done anything to surpass Codemasters' other race (Race Driver: Grid), but overall it is a solid experience offering a good few hours' worth in enjoyment.    … Expand
  24. goldenaxe
    Jan 14, 2012
    3
    This game is actually semi-fun WHEN IT WORKS. The Live Login system is completely hindering this game from being enjoyed. Much of the content in the game is MISSING because they expect you to pay for it after BUYING the game. THIS GAME IS A PAIN TO TRY TO PLAY AND OFTEN WILL NOT LET YOU PLAY YOUR SAVED GAMES. VERY LIMITED GAMEPLAY LEAVES YOU WANTING MORE WHEN YOU CAN PLAY IT.
  25. Vladaimmortal
    Jun 25, 2012
    0
    Quite fun game but i personaly got dissapointed by rather small number of cars (especially in 60s-2000s ) class gamepaly is fun,multiplayer is fun but i also have to agree that dirt 2 seems better
  26. PinkPanther
    May 25, 2011
    10
    Great Game! Finally the controls behave almost realistic and are very responsive. I almost feel like I'm in a real car. This is a major improvement over DiRT2 and makes DiRT3 the best rally game at this time for my taste!
    Also I like the streamlined menus which make navigation and continuing races much quicker than in DiRT2.
    And the music is pretty good too and together with the voice    Great Game! Finally the controls behave almost realistic and are very responsive. I almost feel like I'm in a real car. This is a major improvement over DiRT2 and makes DiRT3 the best rally game at this time for my taste!
    Also I like the streamlined menus which make navigation and continuing races much quicker than in DiRT2.
    And the music is pretty good too and together with the voice acting makes for a relaxed atmosphere, much different from the macho touch in DiRT2.    … Expand
  27. Gryffes
    Sep 2, 2011
    3
    Good Graphics, but that's about it. Poor handling ( even with a driving force GT wheel ).
    Unfortunately even the pure rally stages are just that, single stages not a complete rally.
    Lots of gimmicky races ( trucks on ice ) no real depth to the game.
  28. evanrm
    Jun 19, 2011
    4
    Having been a fan of Dirt 1, I hoped this was as good. Alas, no. Yet another crappy port from console to PC. The manifests itself primarily in very average graphics. Dirt 1 was fantastic. The graphics were great, and therefore this should have had excellent graphics. Instead, they're quite weak by comparison. I'm sure the kiddies will think it looks great on a PS3, but for real PC basedHaving been a fan of Dirt 1, I hoped this was as good. Alas, no. Yet another crappy port from console to PC. The manifests itself primarily in very average graphics. Dirt 1 was fantastic. The graphics were great, and therefore this should have had excellent graphics. Instead, they're quite weak by comparison. I'm sure the kiddies will think it looks great on a PS3, but for real PC based graphics, it's average. Much like Crysis 2 was.

    The next thing that sucks is the terrible "ello guv'nor" British voices that waste my time and interrupt the game. They're boring and useless. They ramble on and bloody on and I can't skip them. I don't want to hear from some faceless boring voice actor trying to create excitement about rallying and telling me how "sick" it is. All I want to do is race the cars. It's a huge black mark against the game, in my opinion, and the one thing that routinely pisses me off when playing it.

    The racing itself is okay. Nothing particularly special. They've claimed it's got more rallying than other games in the series, but I wouldn't know after playing it. Actual rallying is in short supply here. There's not much of it, and the stages are incredibly short as well.

    The next thing that sucks are the Smelter levels. Well, they're okay, but *every* final is at the Smelter. It gets very dull. The track changes about, but it's the same location. Very poor.

    However, there is a reasonable variety in the races on offer. There's dune buggys, trucks, hill climbs, gymkhana and so on. If only they hadn't made a crap looking console game and ported it to the PC.

    Overall, it's a very shallow game. Not much rallying, average graphics, short races, annoying voice talking at you and wasting your time. You can further tell how crap it is because they've spent an inordinate amount of time making little documentaries about how good it is. It's not worth $50. A $30 game at best, Poor form Codemasters.    … Expand
  29. twelvebass
    May 25, 2011
    10
    I caught myself laughing joyfully while racing an old Toyota down a sandy road into a kenyan sunset. Not many games can do that. This one let's me know again why I play games. Yes, it is a bit sad they abandoned the festival style menus and neutralized the atmosphere from Dirt 2 , but it's not all bad because the menus are now much quicker to navigate through. All the trolls are cryingI caught myself laughing joyfully while racing an old Toyota down a sandy road into a kenyan sunset. Not many games can do that. This one let's me know again why I play games. Yes, it is a bit sad they abandoned the festival style menus and neutralized the atmosphere from Dirt 2 , but it's not all bad because the menus are now much quicker to navigate through. All the trolls are crying about it... and the graphics... and the controls but honestly, it's still the same engine as in grit and dirt 2! it handles exactly as you're used to from codemasters race games, which is formidable. if you can't handle it, try another car or turn on some of the various help functions. And it looks brilliant: the raceway with tessellation textures, the spectacular lighting, the water looks better and the new weather effects fit in perfectly. This is the Crysis of Race Games: untouchable. On the downside are the usual too easy and monotonous career mode and the high rate of course recycling (night/day, weather, backwards).
    But all in all: the best race game since Dirt 2. If you're a NfS Driver or GT5 and annoyed, stick to the engine you know and don't come here flaming. It's in the end always a matter of taste and preference. But Codemasters made my summer for sure :)    … Expand
  30. elmouseyo
    May 25, 2011
    6
    A little disappointing so far. I was hoping for an 'all bells and whistles' graphical upgrade from the stunning Dirt2 but it almost seems like this one is using lower resolution textures on the environments and vehicles. Certainly doesn't feel like a DX11 PC game - More like a DX9 console port (Smells of Crysis2) The new menu system has been overdone - seems to take a hundred steps to getA little disappointing so far. I was hoping for an 'all bells and whistles' graphical upgrade from the stunning Dirt2 but it almost seems like this one is using lower resolution textures on the environments and vehicles. Certainly doesn't feel like a DX11 PC game - More like a DX9 console port (Smells of Crysis2) The new menu system has been overdone - seems to take a hundred steps to get into the actual race (Bring back the Dirt2 trailer!) - The new voices are a little annoying too. Fingers crossed for a high res texture pack DLC!… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

16
#16 Best PC Game of 2011
50
#50 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
44
#44 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Absolute Games
    Jul 26, 2011
    67
    Looks like Codemasters really struggled with DiRT 3, piece by piece cutting everything that could have saved this game from going off the cliff.
    Read full review
  2. PC Gamer
    Jul 14, 2011
    85
    Tremendously fun and mostly pothole free, this gorgeous and flexible off-roader has something for every driving fan. [Sept 2011, p.70]
  3. PC Format
    Jul 12, 2011
    86
    Not quite the inspired sequel we had all hoped for, but there's still enough in DiRT 3 to bring the fans back. [Aug 2011, p.96]
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