I would advise you, dear reader, to go ahead and check out Matt’s review of the Xbox 360 version. My thoughts largely echo his own, but there have been some changes to the PlayStation 3 version, and I toss in my two cents as well.

I’ll give you a moment to go check it out.

Good? Great! So, how does this compare to the 360 version? Most notable, and only real improvement, is that the framerate dips that Matt experienced are nearly gone now. Codemasters spent the additional months in-between the releases to enhance the PS3 version so that it has a more stable framerate throughout.

The rest of DiRT is the same as the 360 version, so there is no real trade-off here. That also still means that this version still benefits from the solid design of the PC and 360 version. In either a career, championship, rally, or online mode, racers will take all sorts of trucks and bus type things over hazardous dunes and narrow mountainside roads. The game’s difficulty is customizable, with harder races bringing higher cash prizes. On the lowest setting the game is similar to a pure arcade racer while, along with tire and control options, more like a sim on the harder settings. In all, though, the game errs on the side of arcade. This setting is where most people would be, but considering the assets are already there for a more realistic experience, it’s odd that Codemasters didn’t go all the way and have the hardest setting be the sim that diehard rally fans crave. Still, for the most of us, DiRT does its job well.

There are still some obscurities from the sport that will be lost on newcomers. I cut my rally teeth on Sega Rally, so I had a basic notion of what the navigator’s orders meant. Others, however, won’t be able to make heads or tails of what ‘Right. High. 20. Long.’ means – some pop-up descriptions would’ve been great.

The menu narrator does provide for a relaxed atmosphere though. He has a lot of painful cheesy dialogue, but the tone is a mellow one that isn’t as grating as it initially seems. Given that rally isn’t huge in the United States, and the game’s namesake, it is a bit odd to have an American narrate. I think the narrator’s tone is more to invite newcomers than anything else, as the messages are generally supportive and far from technical. The menu system itself is also helpful, condensing a lot of information in a refined design that is easy to use and very attractive. It’s strange to have such a clean, futuristic menu to go with a game that is about kicking up dirt and gravel everywhere, but it’s so concise that I don’t mind the game breaking character for it.

For those coming from the rally portion of Gran Turismo or of another more sim-oriented release, the lack of a garage or available cars to purchase will come as a surprise. Cars can be purchased, but often only one or two at a time, with the rest of the purchasing options going towards a new paint job. This helps to streamline the process, and a beefier system would be excessive for the direction DiRT is taking the series, but I can see some gearheads being put off by this.

The only real disappointing aspects have to be the multiplayer and the sense of traction. Multiplayer is limited to online and LAN, no split screen, and those are severely hampered. When entering a room online, the option is to vote on the course presented, and that’s about it. The races can have up to 100 players, but it's actually racing against times rather than the opponents themselves - there is no car-to-car on screen. Online is about as barebones as it could possibly get, which stands in stark contrast to all of the options offered in the other modes. One cool thing that connectivity offers is that the leader boards for each track are always updated, and a ticker at the bottom discussing recent accomplishments from other players. Reading about the success of others doesn’t seem like it would be noteworthy, but, and this is especially for the ticker, it gives the game a sense of community and continuity that is very clever.

There was also a mediocre sense of traction as well, as if the tires weren’t catching a grip on the surface. Despite the vehicles bouncing around like they operate within their own gravitational field – reminiscent of Rally Cross – the tires don’t look to actually connect with anything, and the general sense is that the vehicles are a bit too flighty. The debris kicked up does help to alleviate this somewhat, but it isn’t a true compensation. While vehicles not destroying the earth below isn’t a huge problem, the poor online mode boggles my mind.

Overall: 8/10