Colin McRae: DiRT 2

In single-player there are 100 events across nine racing disciplines, including Rally, Rally X and Trailblazer. "Over 40 licensed vehicles" feature, reckons Horsman, including the Subaru STi used by Block and Pastrana, the Mitsubishi Evo 10, Class 1 buggies and trophy trucks.

Nevertheless, Codemasters would sooner the player be a one-car kinda guy than an insatiable, bonnet-humping speed slut. So you are encouraged to build an attachment and expertise in a single vehicle which you can keep for the full duration of career mode, and the game showers you with amusing tat to clutter up the dashboard, like furry dice, hula girls and - in a neat touch exclusive to 360 owners - your avatar dangling from the wing mirror, all visible using the in-car view.

DiRT 2 is gorgeous in motion, whether thrashing around Battersea Power Station after dark as fireworks bloom, spotlights swirl, lasers criss-cross and thousands of spectators (up to 100,000 per course) roar you along beneath the amplified ravings of a DJ, or you're zipping through the tight lanes of a deserted Asian idyll with mountains looming in the distance.

Car handling has been reworked from scratch, Codemasters says. This was apparently in response to criticism from the community, with a particular focus on ensuring there isn't such a dramatic loss of speed when sliding sideways through turns. Its hard to gauge how much has changed without putting the sequel and original side-by-side, but with DiRT 2 the third game from the same team (after DiRT and GRID), these guys are amongst the best in the business at core driving mechanics.

As to whether it's a realistic experience, the ultimate compliment is perhaps Ken Block's aptitude when racing like a racer rather than a game. Moreover, Codemasters claims that at a recent event where the game was linked up to ludicrously expensive hydraulic racing simulator, the professional rally drivers beat everyone else by a significant margin.

A feather in the cap for Codemasters, for sure. But if you don't sniff petrol for kicks, what matters is that it's fun, responsive and an undoubtedly positive experience during the first couple of hours of play.

But thrilling moments, slick presentation and a robust driving model are only part of the equation. They need to be matched by effective balance and pacing in the meat of the game's single-player mode, in both progression and engagement with other drivers, of which the studio is making a big deal. And we can't call that until we've dug deep into a review build, so hang tight. Impressive in practice, let's hope DiRT 2 makes a clean jump in the final.