Any good racing game needs to have rock-solid handling, and getting that just right has been a major focus of the Codemasters team. With Dirt 2, the physics wizards at Codemasters have changed the way the cars feel compared to the previous game. Each car now has realistic weight transfer modeling on all four wheels, and the entire system of how traction is transferred to tires has been updated. Whereas before the suspension as a whole had weight load treatment, now the differential and individual corners of the vehicle are independently modeled. How does that translate into car handling in the game? I'll let you know once I get behind the wheel.

The physics aren't the only part of Dirt 2 to get an overhaul. The third-generation Ego engine that's working under the hood has an all new lighting/rendering system that's designed to give unprecedented layers of depth to terrain and environments. The build I saw was based on pre-alpha code, and there's plenty Codemasters isn't showing off yet, but the environments already look stellar, despite missing textures, lighting, and so-called "crowd furniture." I caught a glimpse of what the developers are planning to do with particle and water effects, too, and rally fans won't be disappointed. In the races I watched, cars got progressively grimier until they looked like they'd been airbrushed with brown paint. One flick of the windshield wipers though, and you're right as rain. Water, always a rally-racer's enemy, has also been given close attention in Dirt 2. It may look pretty, but you don't want to plow into it unless you plan on slowing down by about 30 percent. But if you happen to land in the drink instead of hitting your apex, no worries. There's always the replay.

There was multiplayer, yes, but gamers wanted to see their friends racing alongside them. That's all changed in Dirt 2. Now, the new motto is all cars, all tracks, all online. In general, Codemasters is paying a lot more attention to online connectivity in Dirt 2. There's talk of including a system that will alert you in-game when one of your friends beats your lap time on a certain track (good luck, Goldstein). But before you head online to start battling real-life drivers, you'll need to get the basics down in the single-player mode. The main way you'll do that is through World Tour mode, which is the meat of the Dirt 2 experience. Codemasters is still keeping some secrets about what World Tour will include, but we do know you'll be playing as a rally driver who travels to events throughout the world to compete in races of all different types. And at least at the beginning, you won't get the Pastrana or Block star treatment. Instead, you'll start out the old-fashioned way - in an RV.