Dirt 2 on the PSP is quite poor, that may seem harsh but it is the truth, straight from the beginning you will be scratching your head wondering why the game looks half finished, standing this game side by side with Gran Turismo will show you a huge gulf in the quality of the visuals and unfortunately the sound doesn’t fair much better either due to unrealistic engine noises and a general lack of atmosphere.

 

 

You could probably forgive the presentation if the gameplay was any good, unfortunately then there will be no forgiveness here. There are many types of vehicles in the game but the handling in all of them is quite poor. Taking corners is a real task with vehicles skidding all over the place instead of having any sense of true control like you get in the excellent console version of the game, you can’t really take corners at any sort of speed without crashing out of the course, which is a real shame. You will also find yourself trying to avoid the many obstacles on the course and generally failing too, meaning that you will have to try and recover your car to get back into the race, which is very frustrating.

 

The computer controlled cars don’t really do the game any favours, quite often you will see your opponents slowing right down to allow you to catch up, which let’s face it is very unrealistic, though there are probably plenty of real life drivers out there who wished it would happen.

 

The only real similarity between Dirt 2 on consoles and the PSP is the trailer, from here you can access the World Tour Mode, which sees you start as a Rookie and work your way through the various tours which are broken into four events each. To progress to the next event drivers have to earn at least a bronze medal in each race they take part in. Playing through the World Tour mode will allow you to unlock cars and other rewards though to be honest playing in this mode feels more like a task than actual fun.

 

You will also find an Arcade mode in the trailer, this allows you to take part in Single Player races, a Championship racing over five different courses and also a Time Trail, allowing you to set the fastest lap on the leaderboard. The trailer also includes some challenges, these see you take part in the Airtime, Powerslide, Gatecrasher, Trailblazer and Last Man Standing Challenges. Unfortunately most of these challenges are not really that fun due to the handling of the cars, but at least the offer you a break from the tedious racing.

 

 

Finally the game also includes Ad-hoc and Game Sharing multiplayer modes. Ad-Hoc allows you and up to three other players to link up and race together. The main problem here will be finding three others who own this game, but if you can do that then it may offer some fun. The Game Sharing mode allows you to share the game with one other player, allowing for you to race together, which may be a better option than the Ad-Hoc mode for some.

 

Dirt 2 on PSP is not a good game and should probably be avoided. Gran Turismo and Motorstom Arctic Edge were both recently released on the system and are both good fun and look great, therefore we would suggest you consider one or both of those titles instead.