Colin McRae: DIRT

The only disappointment so far is the proposed way the online multiplayer will work. In order to avoid mismatches and cliques forming, DIRT ditches straightforward races in favor of grouping up to 100 players via a lobby system and letting them compare their times (both after each checkpoint and at the end of a race) in rally and hill climb events. At the moment, it sounds a bit like a glorified leaderboard with very little interaction and direct competition, but it's still early and perhaps there are more details to be revealed soon. We'd be amazed if you couldn't race anyone online.

Even without a strong multiplayer mode, we're getting the same buzz from DIRT that we got from seeing MotorStorm for the first time several months ago. Indeed, the high-octane, dust-filled delights of the first few Colin McRae titles were what first sprang to mind after the initial few minutes with MotorStorm - and if that same magic can find its way into DIRT, it'll be onto a surefire winner. The sheer variety of vehicles and events on offer elevates the game to TOCA's mind-boggling level of choice, and with a significant graphical improvement on top of that, there's every chance McRae could reclaim his crown as the daddy of dirty rally-racing games.