I really enjoyed the Dirt series of racing games.  I actually started with the Colin McRae Rally 3 demo, which came before Dirt.  Dirt 1 was a nice game with lots of different types of races in varied environments, including Pike's Peak.  You got to race semi trucks, cargo trucks, trophy trucks, SUVs, and rally cars in Dirt 1.  The advancement was like a pyramid, unlocking levels as you go. I have a Toyota Tundra, so it is easy to like a game that has a Toyota Tundra to race in it.  Dirt 2 made it more radical with nice music and an attitude.  The races were longer and became more X-Games like. I enjoyed the Baja races very much. But, I did not like the Microsoft Live part of it where it takes a long time to get initiated, patched, etc before you can actually play for the first time. Once you get past this, things get better. The choice of vehicles were more limited, but the liveries try to make up for it. Dirt 3 keeps the same attitude and cool music, but also has the same Microsoft Live treatment: sign in, patch , etc. before the first game time.  Once you get past this, it does get better.  At first, I could not get used to the way the game downshifts automatically in the turns to automatically slow you down.  I moved the difficulty up a notch to intermediate and it was much better and more of what I was expecting.  I use a gamepad to play on the PC.  I was pleasantly surprised that my 9800 GTX 512 MB plays this game rather well at 1680x1050 (no AA).  The races are largely rally with some interesting winter-time truck races in the snow.  The cars are not quite as varied as I would like.  I also hate that there is in-game content that can be purchased additionally from Microsoft Live.  Come on! I already paid for the game and there are some levels that are pay to play, so you won't really finish the season until you pony up more funds to Microsoft Live.  Many of the cars are available to purchase too.  That is cheesy and not appreciated.  You don't need to purchase these to advance though.  The gymkhana events are interesting and challenging. Being a hoonigan takes practice, patience, and many banged up cars. The Ken Block videos on youtube really inspired me to practice as I had no idea what gymkhana was before Dirt 3.  I do miss the Baja style of offroading from Dirt 2.  Dirt 3 seems to have a focus on other things, but it is still fun overall. For $12, I got my money's worth.  Maybe I will get Dirt Showdown for some demolition derby excitement, or maybe not.