What’s the one thing that the Xbox 360’s extensive collection of driving games has been missing? Project Gotham  Racing 3 provides the flamboyant style, Test Drive Unlimited has you covered for gorgeous scenery, and Forza Motorsport 2 is spot on when it comes to flawless realism. But there’s one thing that’s been absent so far in all these games: Mud.

No matter how fast or expensive the virtual car I’m driving is, sometimes I just want to get the whole thing covered in thick, sticky mud. And my filthy fantasies are about to come true thanks to Colin McRae DIRT. It’s the latest game in the Scottish rally driver’s legendary series and the first racing game on Xbox 360 to really get down and dirty.

It’s a total reinvention of the rally videogame, introducing several new rally modes to keep the off-road fun fresh. If you ever get bored of chucking a Subaru Impreza through narrow, tree-lined lanes (well, it could happen) you’ll be able to try your hand at Hill Climb events (ridiculously over-powered motors scrabbling up steep inclines while trying to avoid falling off a cliff), CORR Pro 4 truck racing (big heavy beasts galloping across treacherous terrain), or the insane speeds of Super Buggy racing over bone-shattering bumps and gravity-defying jumps.

Colin McRae himself had a large part in the making of the game, advising on how the cars should feel. The result of that is a handling and physics system that is terrifyingly real, especially when you’re heading for a tree at 150mph. There’s a real sense of pressure when you’re playing DIRT, because you know that to put in the fastest times you need to push your vehicle to the absolute limits – and that’s usually when you end up putting your car into a barrel roll! But don’t worry, DIRT is all about fast, filthy fun, and it doesn’t take long to get off and running again – just like Colin McRae did in real life in last year’s Summer X Games, when he rolled his car and got it going again in the blink of an eye! Check out my blog, AceyBongos.com, for footage of the amazing stunt and an interview with DIRT’s developers.

Finally, DIRT’s got one other supercharged feature under its bonnet. Realising that competitive rally racing is more about going against the clock than going bumper-to-bumper with an opponent, Codemasters came up with a genius idea for DIRT’s Xbox Live mode – having you race against 100 opponents at the same time! They won’t appear on the track with you, but a constantly-updating leaderboard to the right of the screen keeps you informed in real time of your position relative to the pack. It’s probably the most intense Xbox Live driving experience I’ve ever had. Imagine coming into the last corner of a race knowing that 99 other players are nibbling your heels and that a tiny mistake could have you plummeting down the list...

So while Colin McRae DIRT has finally brought some much-needed grime to the Xbox 360’s driving games, there’s a lot more the game than a bit of muck. Strap yourself in and prepare yourself for a face-full of filth! 

By Graeme Boyd, Xbox Community Manager, Gamertag: AceyBongos