I honestly wasn’t expecting DTR 2 to be that much of a change from what we had already seen from RatBag in the past, but I have to admit that I’m pleasantly surprised at the changes they have made. In the early days of our beta testing for DTR 1, there was a heated debate about having tear-off visors implemented into the game which was one feature that I thought was more gimmick than substance. I thought this was something I would surely turn off in the “Game Options” menu, never to be used again. Initially it was something I had to experience in the game for the sake of the review. Now that I’ve played DTR 2 a few times, I can’t bring myself to turn it off. It just adds a little extra bit of realism of driving a racecar on dirt.

The physics seem to be much improved over the 2 previous versions. Although the earlier versions weren’t totally off, there were a few quirks in the handling of the cars that just were not correct. One being that the only fast groove at most of the tracks was right around the bottom. Even though it’s the shortest distance around the track, it is not always the fastest. The AI drivers are still hideously slow and they don’t seem able to enter the corner at the same speed as my car is able. But they will race with you if given the chance. All of the cars have a better feel to them than the earlier versions. If I get on the gas too hard coming off the corner, I can feel the car start to get loose. If I enter the corner too hard, the car wants to slide up the racetrack. One time I got in too deep and actually spun out. I don’t ever remember doing that before. :-)

The setup interface still needs a bit of improvement to suit my tastes. There are just too many adjustments available that don’t change the way the car drives. I’m not suggesting that every user be required to have an engineering degree to be able to setup their racecar. I just want to have a setup menu where everything you change makes a difference in the car’s handling characteristics, whether it be good or bad. I’m also a bit disappointed in the appearance of the cars. Most of the race teams in my area put a lot of effort into making their cars appealing to the fans. Most are brightly colored, clean, well kept and have their own distinct color scheme and paint job. Once the 3rd party artists get their hands on the tga files and start painting cars, that won’t be an issue. I’d just like to see more effort put into the detail of the default cars. RatBag has made a concerted effort to make the tracks more appealing, now they need to do the same with the cars.

Most of the sequel titles that we have seen have not measured up to the hype that generally preceded them. In this case however, Ratbag has kept a low profile with DTR, choosing to let the public decide for itself whether it is worthy or not. I am pleasantly surprised by DTR 2. The physics are better, the tracks look more realistic and all of the car classes are fun to drive. I cannot attest to the Multiplayer capabilities because I have not had a chance to race DTR 2 online. Although I would certainly like to have the option of racing with more than 10 people at a time online, if the gameplay is stable and warp free maybe that’s not so bad. Besides, I could never find nine other people that could keep their car on the track long enough to finish a race. If you do choose to race online, DTR 2 comes with the GameSpy applet that will guide you to the online servers in the usual convenient manner.

If you haven’t tried any of the previous DTR titles, then you definitely need to give DTR 2 a whirl. If you are like me and have tried them all, I think you’ll be quite pleased with this latest version. I think DTR 2 is the best one yet. Is it perfect ? No! If it was perfect, then what would we do?

Check here before you purchase to make sure you have the right stuff:

Minimum System Requirements:

• OS: Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP
  
• CPU: Pentium II 400 MHz or equivalent
  
• RAM: 64 MB
  
• VIDEO: DirectX 8 compatible video card with at least 8 Mb RAM
  
• SOUND: Any DirectX compatible card
  
• DISK SPACE: 200 MB
  
• CD-ROM: 4X

• OS: Windows 98/2000/XP
  
• CPU: 800 MHz or higher
  
• RAM: 128 MB
  
• VIDEO: nVidia GeForce, ATI Radeon, or better
  
• DISK SPACE: 520 MB
  
• CD-ROM: 8X
  
• CONTROLLER: DirectX compatible force feedback device