Mature Gaming » rally

WRC 3 dated for October

gazzara — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:33:03 +0000

Leading Italian developer Milestone confirmed today that WRC 3, the official video game of the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), is set for release in October 2012.

Developed by Milestone, WRC 3 marks a radical departure from the previous titles and sees the team using a completely new graphics and game engine, developed in-house, in order to bring the 2012 WRC drivers and teams to players on all relevant gaming platforms.

WRC 3 features all the rallies in the 2012 WRC calendar, complete with all leading WRC teams and drivers in the revamped career mode. WRC 3 also features a brand new graphics engine, called Spikengine, allowing Milestone to accurately model lighting, particle effects and other real-world characteristics to create an in-game virtual reality, offering complete immersion in the WRC universe. The cars themselves showcase new modelling techniques – they have never looked as life-like, or handled as realistically, as in WRC 3. Milestone has streamlined every aspect of the game to allow new players instant gameplay satisfaction, while still allowing experienced rally gamers to explore the game’s full range of features and drive a WRC car from the comfort of their own home.

As well as all this, the game has improved crowd effects, rebuilt stages and new cinematic introductions to each stage. WRC 3 features more than 50 official WRC teams, alongside Class 2 and Class 3 series. WRC 3 also offers amazing Super Special Stages.

Developed by Milestone, a renowned and established Italian software developer specialized in racing games, and published by Black Bean Games,WRC 3 is scheduled for release in October 2012 for the Xbox 360, Windows PC, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.

Dirt 3 Competition Winners announced

gazzara — Sun, 29 May 2011 00:48:04 +0000

As many of you are aware, we had a little bit of a competition going on over the last couple of days and although some of you may have got your hands on a copy of Dirt 3 there were plenty of other little goodies to tease you into entering.

Unfortunately for us, but luckily for you we were a little bit slack on the question and was not really precise enough on the answer we wanted. We should have asked “How many manufacturers did Colin Mcrae drive for in the WRC?” but instead we were a little more generic with our question. We were looking for 4 (subaru, ford, citroen and skoda) but as we sort of screwed up we thought we needed to include everyone.

So without further ado our winners for the two grand prizes of copies of Dirt 3 games on the format of their choice plus signed dirt 3 posters from the dev team, t-shirt, badges and bottle openers goes to ……….

Sarah Buckley and Billy Withers.

We also have two runners up prizes of a Dirt 3 poster, t-shirt, badge set and a bottle opener. The winners for these are as follows ………

Marcus Webb and John Marr.

Congratulations to you all. We will be contacting you within the next couple of days for details which will be passed on to Codemasters directly.

If you didn’t win then fear not as I am sure we will have another competition coming to you all very soon.

Dirt 3 – Review (360, PS3)

gazzara — Tue, 24 May 2011 10:19:24 +0000

Codemasters’ racing department are fast becoming a renowned little crew producing some incredible titles that, with the might if the Ego Engine behind it, are providing gamers with a raw and gritty feel to partner some of the biggest licences around.

The licence that has been around for a long time though has been Colin McRae and Dirt, starting out with the outstanding Colin McRae rally series and evolving into todays’ version, Dirt 3, which has now dropped the Colin Mcrae endorsement altogether, although Colin’s memory is still present in the game. A lot of people have questioned this and it does feel like and end of an era but funnily enough, Dirt 3 actually feels more like a Colin McRae title than what the second one did.

Likes
- Improved handling
- Deep career mode
- Smooth online experience
- Perfect marriage of old and new school disciplines
- Global leaderboards – yay!
- More rally!
- What’s not to like!
Dislikes
- Dumbed down video editor
- Land rush mode feels out of place

Quite a few complaints were made about the lack of rallying in Dirt 2 which included a variety of off road disciplines instead and although a great game swallowed up what should have been a pure Colin McRae rally game to give the guy a send off he deserved . Codemasters, thankfully, have listened to you and included a beefed up rallying options which not only focus on point to point rally stages but also brought back the best from Dirt 2 including Rallycross and trailblazer disciples amongst others and all for the greater good. Unfortunately, Land Rush appears to stick out like a sore thumb and perhaps this is just a personal thing but where the game has now been refined into all things rally and rally x rather than off road racing as a general rule then the heavy machinery and bumpy tracks seem to look like the black sheep of the game. That’s not to say that the discipline is poor, because it isn’t, but for me it is nowhere near as much fun as the other disciplines that are present.

Dirt 3 offers up a variety of modes ranging from single player events that allow you to pick you favourite track, rally stage etc, pick your car class and rip the road up to place on the global leaderboards, putting your time up against everyone else around the world, to multiplayer events and the main campaign that is bulky in its content.

The main campaign takes advantage of a now tried and tested formula of having management loosely walk you through a Dirt Tour that spans through four seasons. Events stem from rally stages to rallycross, head to heads etc to win driver reputation points that in turn level you up and thus unlock various cars, paint jobs, events etc. There are bonus rep points for also completing mini challenges within an event, like hitting a certain speed or being first over the course of a few laps. The Dirt Tour is big with a good variety of events to delve into and to be honest, apart from Land Rush, nothing seems out of place.

Single player also offers single race experiences as well as time trials to place your times from various car groups and courses onto the global leaderboards for other drivers to beat. With so many racing gmes not concentrating on this aspect as much as they should it is nice to see that attention has been paid to the drivers that like nothing better to tweak different car settings and drive balls out to try and reach the pinnacle in each time group.

Last but not least is the true multiplayer features that include ranked, unranked private and casual events. So much attention to detail to customisation is paid here that it is very hard to pick any holes in it. From collision, non collision races, rally events and rallycross there is something there for everyone and even the people that can shy away from multiplayer will find something that will suit. As well as the regular events, party events have also been included to add a little light hearted fun and a change of pace. Using the new Gymkhana playgrounds as a background, gamers can now indulge in versions of tag and the like.

Dirt 3 is definitely a fusion between new and old school rally and with Dirt 3′s poster boy, Ken Block at the helm then you are obviously going to have some of his gymkhana antics embedded into the game. This discipline has been made famous by Ken on youtube gaining a rediculous amount of views to give this relatively new discipline a lot of credibility. Different compounds have been set up for you to play in and anyone thinking that this is a drifting chore to be ignored then think again. The cars handle a little lighter than what they would in real life that will allow you to get your tires loosened up properly and bring the fun back into videogame drifting that is not present in a certain Shift title.

The look and handling have also had a slight makeover with the graphical presentation being tightened up that shows no tearing or frame rate drops from what I have played that gives you a smooth and silky ride at breakneck speed. You really do get a sense of that speed to as you set your car up to tackle each corner, trying to shave 10ths off of your time. Each corner presenting its dangers, making you grip your controller even tighter trying not to loose control and crash. It is balls out, eyes bleeding racing and to be quite honest, Dirt 3 is the only game that I know that can deliver it to this intensity.

The social side has also had a look in too with your game being able to be linked to your youtube account so everybody can see how good or bad you are. It seems standard now that games can only render and upload 30 seconds of footage at a time and Dirt 3 is no different. What did strike me though was the lack of features within the editing suite for something that was being advertised as a big thing. No different camera angles, no slo mo (that worked anyway) no transitions etc. Af er playing various games that have these features in it is a shame that Dirt 3 falls short in this area, something that perhaps can be looked at post launch.

So there you have it, the Dirt franchise has come a long way and Dirt 3 seems to perfectly blend the old and new school together perfectly melding the classic rally events with the new breed of rally x that are getting people pumped on the internet. The handling is sublime, providing an immersive experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat with graphics and sound that wrap you up in its intensity. Although Dirt 3 does not push the genre forward in a mind blowing way, the refinement that the title has been given solidifies Dirt 3′s place amongst the top tier of racing titles available.

Colin McRae’s ethics maybe making way for Ken’s new style of car trickery but everyone will be happy with the outcome and Colin’s spirit still lives on strongly in Dirt 3 overseeing one of the definitive racing titles of this generation.

Gallery

See Ken Block mash it up at a Gymkhana playground in Battersea!

gazzara — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:27:14 +0000

Codemasters in conjunction with DC Shoes, Monster Energy and Ford today launched Ken Block’s new Gymkhana stunt driving video, the latest in a series which has earned over 105 million views.

The new video sees Ken Block break new ground by bringing his spectacular driving skills to London’s iconic Battersea Power Station, which was turned into a gymkhana level straight from DiRT 3 for one day only. DiRT 3 is the latest videogame in the critically acclaimed, multi-million selling series set to launch worldwide on May 24th and the new video can be seen below.

The video shows Ken Block in his specially prepared Ford Focus taking on a unique course based on DiRT 3’s DC Compound – a freestyle racing playground set in and around London’s Battersea Power Station. The exhilarating video shows Ken Block powersliding and donutting around a series of obstacles, including a moving mechanical digger, as he executes a masterclass in multi-surface car control in a succession of breathtaking stunts.

In DiRT 3 players will compete at bespoke Gymkhana courses set in and around Battersea Power Station and other global locations. Gamers will see their car control tested to the very limit as they drift, spin-dry and jump their way to stardom in Gymkhana events. Specially created arenas will be packed with props and players will be able to practice their skills, chain together moves, complete challenges or hang out online with friends in this spectacular videogame first. Players will also have the chance to emulate Ken Block and become internet stars themselves by publishing highlights of their best Gymkhana runs to YouTube.

DiRT 3, created by BAFTA Award-winning Codemasters Studios and coming May 24th, is the first video game to feature Gymkhana-style showpiece driving events alongside the series’ core racing experiences, such as Rally and Rallycross. Ken Block, who also drives for the Monster World Rally Team, is DiRT 3’s technical consultant.

Sega Rally Online available now

gazzara — Thu, 19 May 2011 09:03:51 +0000

SEGA have announced the launch of their highly anticipated racing game, SEGA Rally Online Arcade.

The game includes several modes of single and multi-player gameplay, all featuring the intense, fast-paced racing of SEGA Rally presented in High Definition. SEGA Rally Online Arcade is available on Xbox LIVE Arcade for the Xbox 360 for 800 Microsoft Points.

“SEGA Rally has always been a series that allows gamers to pick up and start playing immediately,” said Haruki Satomi, Vice President of Digital Business at SEGA. “Providing this newest version as a downloadable title is an extension of that ability, allowing players to purchase and receive the game rapidly. From there, they can join an online race right away, and compete at any time, day or night, against an entire world of opponents.”

Inspired by SEGA Rally Revo and SEGA Rally 3, SEGA Rally Online Arcade brings back all the features players could want from the popular arcade and console racers. From Championship Battle mode and Time Attack, to an exciting online racing mode that lets players race with up to five drivers around the world in intense rally action. Featuring a brand new achievement system, 13 rally cars to choose from, and online leaderboards, SEGA Rally Online Arcade delivers lap after lap of intense rally action on next-generation consoles.

Group B Rally reborn in Dirt 3

gazzara — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:00:36 +0000

Feel the power of Group B Rally in Codemasters’ latest DiRT 3 video

Group B is synonymous with a short-lived period in Rally where light regulation and few restrictions on car development led to manufacturers producing some of the most exciting cars that the sport has ever seen. Group B cars have since entered Rally folklore since cars with their astonishing power couldn’t have been developed during any other era of the sport. Sadly, these iconic cars were involved in an increasing number of accidents, which resulted in the banning of Group B Rally in 1986.

The gameplay video showcases these super-charged icons of Rally being put through their paces in wide ranging conditions, from tarmac to dirt and snow. In DiRT 3, the Group B discipline gives players the ultimate test as they jump behind the wheel of some of the most famous cars to compete in the sport including the Ford RS200, MG Metro 6R4 and Peugeot 205 T16 Evo 2.

DiRT 3 is now in development at Codemasters Studios for a May 24th 2011 release for the Xbox 36, PS3 and PC.

Dirt 3 dated

gazzara — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 13:38:39 +0000

Today Codemasters announced the global release date for DiRT 3, the biggest, content-rich racer ever to roar out of Codemasters Studios. The global release date for DiRT 3 on all formats is 24^th May 2011.

DiRT 3 will boast more cars, more locations, more routes and more events than any other game in the series. With more than double the track content of 2009’s hit, players will enjoy a career as an elite professional driver, competing in off-road racing events featuring jaw-dropping damage and race-changing weather. DiRT 3 will feature the most amount of Rally content to feature in the series to date, accounting for 60% of its extensive career mode. With rally stages set across three continents, including the addition of all-new locations Finland, Kenya, Norway and Michigan, players will learn to master the conditions on tarmac, gravel and snow in dry and wet conditions for the most authentic rally experience.

Set to raise the bar for authentic and accessible off-road racing again, DiRT 3 is now in development at Codemasters Studios for a 24th May 2011 release for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Dirt 3: developer diary – Rally makes up 60% of career

gazzara — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:13:58 +0000

Today Codemasters has released the first in a series of DiRT 3 Q&A developer diaries for the highly-anticipated, critically acclaimed sequel to 2009’s million-plus seller, Colin McRae: DiRT 2.

The developer diary features the first gameplay footage, taken from early pre-alpha code, and dishes all the dirt on the biggest, most content rich racer ever to roar out of Codemasters Studios.

Viewers are taken behind the scenes of DiRT 3, as key development talent introduce the game, answer questions from fans and hone their real-world driving skills by racing Escort Mk IIs around the forests of Wales at the Phil Price Rally School. The developer diary also reveals the first DiRT 3 gameplay footage, showing the iconic Audi Sport Quattro Rallye tearing through a forest stage at the new Finland rally location.

The video reveals the huge amount of rally content to feature in the game, with the discipline accounting for 60% of its extensive career mode. DiRT 3’s exhaustive car list includes the current 2010 WRC Cars, the Ford Focus RS WRC and Citroen C4 WRC, and, for the first time in a videogame, will introduce the 2011 Ford Fiesta RS WRC. In addition to the cars competing at the highest level of contemporary Rally, the extensive car list will star over 50 licensed off-road vehicles spanning 50 years of the sport, including classic racers like the Lancia Super Delta HF Integrale and the Mini Cooper S 1275. With rally stages set across three continents, including the addition of all-new locations Finland, Kenya and Michigan, players will learn to master the conditions on tarmac, gravel and snow in dry and wet conditions for the most authentic rally experience.

The Developer Q&A: Part 1 – Rally is the first in a planned series, each of which will focus on a different area of the game. Fans can submit questions for inclusion in future videos and keep up to date with the latest news, screens and videos straight from the studio by visitingwww.facebook.com/dirt3game and http://www.twitter.com/dirt3game.

Coming Q2 2011, DiRT 3 will boast more cars, more locations, more routes and more events than any other game in the series. With more than double the track content of 2009’s hit, players will enjoy a career as an elite professional driver, competing in off-road racing events on the intense, weather-beaten rally stages of Europe, Africa and the US and pushing car control to the limit in all-new Gymkhana inspired showpiece challenges.

WRC demo available now on live

gazzara — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 11:47:16 +0000

Black Bean Games officially announced today that the WRC Demo is now available for Xbox Live Gold members, while Silver members and PC users will have to wait until September 24th.

The Demo will be downloadable through Playstation Network starting from September 29th.

You can now start experiencing all the fun of the most sensational and rewarding rallying adventure available. From the dusty deserts of Jordan to the legendary fast, gravel roads of Finland, challenge yourself through this single stage mode. It’s you pitted against the clock and elements.

Start your engine and feel the thrill of stepping into the shoes of some of the worlds’ greatest drivers, including six times World Champion Sebastien Loeb representing Citroen Total World Rally Team and the 2009 WRC runner-up and BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team driver Mikko Hirvonen.

Save the date and get ready to challenge yourself. WRC the game, the only videogame that exclusively features the real 2010 WRC drivers, cars and events, hits the shelves on October 8th. In the meantime, for more information visit the brand new product website www.wrcthegame.com and check http://blog.milestone.it/regularly to get more information and facts & figures from behind the scenes.

New WRC title detailed

gazzara — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:52:05 +0000

Leading videogames publisher, Black Bean Games, announced today the first features of the official WRC videogame at the official WRC Season Launch in Paris.WRC is scheduled for release around the world in Autumn 2010 on PS3, 360 and PC. It is currently under development at Milestone, Black Bean’s Milan-based in-house production studio, which has specialised in the motorsports simulation genre since 1996.

The main goal of the game is to bring the action of the World Rally Championship to the living rooms of both rallying and gaming fans. As a first step toward this goal, Black Bean is proud to deliver an overview of the main game features:

The World of WRC. The official locations, the official cars, the official drivers and co-drivers. Everything is designed to give the player the sensation of taking part in the real championship as they race against their heroes.
Huge career mode creates ultimate satisfaction when the player wins the championship after a long and challenging road to the top!
Unique offline and online game modes
13 different locations around the world
Realistic physics model
Advanced car tuning that allows players to find the best settings for every single stage
Breathtaking graphics for drivers, co-drivers, cars, tracks and environments
Visually stunning car damage effects
Full 3D cockpit and dashboards
Much more to come…

This is just the beginning. Fans will soon be able to discover the full range of features. This new, exciting game promises to deliver all this and more, offering the most realistic virtual rallying experience ever.

Stay tuned and get closer to the action!