DiRT 3 on the way, sporting a new EGO 2.0 Engine

Codemasters seems primed to unleash its upgraded EGO engine 2.0 on the racing genre.  For those unaware, Codemasters has used the critically acclaimed EGO to power its successful racing lineup including DiRT, GRiD, and the DiRT follow-up – DiRT 2. EGO has also been used on last year’s Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. Just over a week ago, the company confirmed that EGO 2.0 would make its debut in a “massive title” coming in 2011. Shortly thereafter, the company also announced that next year would see the releases of DiRT 3, GRiD 2 and Operation Flashpoint: Red River.





Obviously any of the 3 could be considered a major release for Codemasters. However following the events of the past weekend, it seems as if DiRT 3 will be the “massive” title that they speak of. At ESPN’s annual X-Games, Codemasters showed off the first teaser trailer for its upcoming 2011 racer. According to the lastest edition of Edge magazine, DiRT 3 will have “snow and ice, dynamic weather, YouTube uploads, fierce rides and epic tracks, splitscreen support, party modes, an open-world playground and more real-life sponsors and stars than ever.”


FIRST TEASER TRAILER

First pic from the upcoming DiRT 3

There are few gaming experiences that give me goosebumps, but some of those moments always seem to come with Codemasters racing games. I’ll admit that I have a certain passion for racers. When it comes to Codemasters’ games, I can’t figure out if it’s due to the perfect balance between simulation and arcade racing, or the incredible Ego Engine graphics put into their racing products – but they are all rock solid.

Codemasters is currently putting the finishing touches on their upcoming 4th racing title for the current generation of consoles. F1 2010 is expected to follow in the footsteps of its predecessors and use the most up-to-date EGO as its engine. F1 will use dynamic weather for the first time, and Codies’ VP of Studios Gavin Cheshire has gone on record saying “it will have the best weather and rain effects ever in a game”. Look for F1 2010 to hit store shelves in late September.