Happy Thursday! Today we’ve released the latest episode in the DiRT Rally 2.0 Dev Insight series, talking about the improvements made to the game since the launch of the original DiRT Rally. The new trailer is available to view here:

In the new video, Chief Games Designer Ross Gowing and Rally Consultant Jon Armstrong talk about the improvements made to the cars, environments and the way that the new tyre models interacts with the improved road surfaces. It’s an interesting watch which covers a whole bundle of improvements, that all work together to create the ultimate authentic rallying package.

And, in other exciting news… We’ve announced a DiRT Rally 2.0 Steelbook! Before I go any further, I just want to show it to you all. It’s beautiful. And might remind you of a certain game…

The DiRT Rally 2.0 Steelbook will be available free with purchase from selected retailers, including Amazon in the UK and GameStop in Germany – but the exact details of availability will be confirmed shortly. The Steelbook design is a nod to Colin McRae Rally 2.0’s packaging, using the hallmark turquoise and minimalist lowercase font seen in stores 18 years ago. Codemasters’ Senior Graphic Designer, Dave Alcock, worked on the original design as well as the DiRT Rally 2.0 Steelbook: ‘I had an amazing sense of déjà vu using the same design features as we did back in the day, but it’s great to see it still holds up. The Steelbook design just looks as modern and sleek as it did back in 2000 – the screenshots look a lot better though!’

‘For us, using the same design principles as we did for Colin McRae Rally 2.0 felt like a natural fit,’ said Codemasters’ Product Manager, Matthew Beckett. ‘After all, the “2.0” of DiRT Rally 2.0 was on homage to the title of Colin McRae Rally 2.0 – and although the games have changed a lot since then, our raison d’être has remained the same: to represent rally racing as truthfully as possible. Using this design is a nostalgic tribute to one of our most-loved rally games, but also a promise to our community to deliver the same, white-knuckle experience that Colin McRae Rally 2.0 did all those years ago.’

Chief Games Designer Ross Gowing said of the Steelbook: ‘it’s a great nod to where the studio has come from, and reminds us all of the amazing quality benchmark that Codemasters have always set.’

For anyone that doesn’t remember (or for those of you who are too young to remember!), the award-winning Colin McRae Rally 2.0 released in July 2000, two years after the release of the original Colin McRae Rally in 1998. The game topped the UK video games charts and won critical acclaim from the likes of IGN, who said of the title: ‘In every single way, CMR 2.0 just crushes the competition… Codemasters once again has created the best rally game on the planet with Colin McRae Rally 2.0.’