Codemasters make the best racing games. Fact. The reasons for this are simple: Its EGO engine is the best racing engine out there, providing the best graphics, the best crashes and the best manipulation of time. But more importantly, Codemasters understands the concept of the word 'race'. DiRT 3 takes that essence of competition, distils it and rubs i🤡t liberally into your console's aging circuitry, lighting it up with new excitement and adrenaline. Offline is as exciting as online racing - it is superb.

How is this accomplished? The impeccable car handling, the cleverly designed tracks, the undulating terrain that leaves you breathlessly clinging to something resembling control - everything comes together as a whole to create a frighteningly intense experience. It's akin to a fe🃏stival mosh pit: a blur of knocks, mud and noise. You're walking a perfectly-strung tightrope as you throw the car into corners, deliberately wiping out the feeble tape barrier as you hunt for the real apex that lies beyond.

Cut it too fine and you'll clip a tyre wall, sending individually-rendered tyres flying into the sky along with your shattered vehicle. Fully-licensed bodywork warps and rips apart, sending familiar brand names flying throu💎gh the air, catching the light from the sunset as they spin through the sky. GT5 isn't even in the same league as this &nda💝sh; if DiRT 3 is the digital incarnation of the real-life X Games, GT5 is the 20p-a-go kiddy cart ring over by the hotdog stand.

Above: A screenshot taken while the game was being played. Nothing comes close to the EGO engine

Very flash