DiRT 2 published by Codemasters and developed by Sumo Digital for Wii features a roster of contemporary off-road events, stadiums, and racers, ranging from the X-games stadium and racers such as Travis Pastrana and Ken Block. The game is suppose to take players to the most diverse and challenging real-world environments, feature a world tour will have players competing in aggressive multi-car and intense solo races at extraordinary new locations, from canyon racing and jungle trails to city stadium-based events.
World Tour gives you the chance to see various tracks and locations from all over the world in forty different events. DiRT allows you to drive on the snowy tracks of Iceland, drive through the exotic area of Japan and even go off road in Ethiopia. Besides World Tour there is also a few other modes such as Arcade that gives you the quick feeling of the game, and a Career mode that includes circuit and point to point racing.
The Wii version of DiRT features various control set ups from a Classic Controller, Wii Racing Wheel, Wiimote, and of course the Wiimote Nunhuck combo. The game can tell automatically when there is a Nunchuk or a Classic controller plugged in and switches game play styles automatically. While you can use the regular WiiMote to play the game the controls and reaction to the Wiimote is sluggish and unpredictable at times, as the game seems to struggle with detecting the motion controls. Whereas the Nunchuck and classic controller handle better overall while using the analog stick to steer, and using the the trigger buttons for gas and brake.
This also depends on the type of car you are racing as some cars seem to control better than others, and some just don’t seem to like being driven. Sliding around the track, even with careful driving and breaking on turns the game is hard to play normally. I thought it was just me so I passed the controller over to my friend who graduated from UTI and is a fan of working on cars, racing cars, and racing games in general.
Even he had problems with controlling the various cars and trucks, and was flipping around the track. His main problem had to do with the vehicles  traction on the track, saying that some of them seem to be weird, and was disappointed with the game in general. Although amazed to see the various cars the game feature such as the Subaru Impreza WRX STi, and the Nissan 350z.
While DiRT 2 for the Wii does not feature any Wifi online racing modes, it does feature four player split screen. Although it is not the optimal way to play a racing games now a days, having a local versus mode built into the game allows you to have fun with people who come over to challenge you.
Overall, the game is disappointing at best, and if you’re a racing fan looking for your fix on the Wii this really isn’t all that. Although it lacks some things present in the other versions of the game, the Wii version does provide some fun for those looking for a quick shot at a racing title. Just remember, it is not the end all racing title for the Wii and you should approach with caution since it does suffer from down port syndrome.
Review based on retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.
