14 DAY TRIAL // Codemasters announced that a version of Colin McRae: DiRT 2 featuring full DirectX 11 support had been in development along the versions for gaming consoles and that it would be released on December 1 in North America, on December 4 in the United Kingdom and at dates in between in other territories. The news came just as Microsoft officially released Windows 7, the newest version of its operation system that supports DirectX 11.
Bryan Marshall, who is the chief technical officer at Codemasters, stated that, “The opportunity to enter into a strategic relationship with Microsoft to fuse key DirectX 11 technologies with Codemasters’ EGO™ Engine and set the new standard in race gaming on home computers was irresistible. By taking advantage of the DirectX 11 feature set included in Windows 7, including hardware tessellation, multi-threading and Shader Model 5.0, we will deliver the most immersive and realistic off-road racing experience yet and set the technical benchmark in the genre.”
The only downside to the PC version is that Games for Windows Live will be used by Colin McRae: DiRT 2, which could prove a problem when it comes to the multiplayer component that is notoriously fickle.
Features that are to be found in DirectX 11 such as hardware tessellation and the new Shader Model 5.0 will allow the racing title to reach new levels of realism that have been unavailable until now, regardless of processing power. The game will offer more depth of field and shadows will be crisper.
Of course, players will need to get the new Windows 7 OS to enjoy all of this beauty, but they will also need to update their hardware, especially the graphics card. Moreover, there will always be gamers that are interested in the bleeding edge of graphics and video gaming and that will make the effort to get the new DirectX 11-powered DiRT 2.