GOTY 2011 Driving / Racing

You may not think of driving and racing games as all that diverse, but this year’s picks certainly go some way to quashing that stigma, with many sub-genres such as arcade, sandbox, action and simulation all making an appearance in our line-up. From Driver: San Francisco, with its interesting body-shifting mechanic and back-to-roots in-car only engagement, to the groundbreaking Dirt 3, with its dynamic weather system and impeccable gameplay functionality; the genre has never had a stronger showing than in 2011.

Dirt 3  (PS3, 360, PC)
What better place to start than with the aforementioned Dirt 3, which introduces a weather system that works wonders for the overall realism of the driving experience. Codemasters are quickly becoming the ones to beat in the genre after gaining a wealth of experience with their Colin McCrae and Toca Touring Car series’.

Driver: San Francisco  (PS3, 360, PC, Wii)
The shift from “just another sandbox game” to a true and exclusive action-driving experience is a direction that was important to the survival of the series. The game had lost its original spark and I’m glad to say with Driver: San Francisco the team at Ubisoft have put it back where it belongs.

F1 2011  (PS3, 360, PC, 3DS, Vita)
Another Codemasters hit, adopting things they’ve learned from their other games and applying them here to devastating effect. The games handling is a particular treat, as is the introduction of the KERS and DRS system from the real-life sport that make their transition to video games without a hiccup.

Forza Motorsport 4  (360)
Those who have lived and breathed Gran Turismo for a long while find it hard to accept that another series is flourishing. There’s no denying that this series is here to stay and while you can argue which is better at this point in time, Forza Motorsport isn’t far off the top of the pile with this latest title no exception.

Mario Kart 7  (3DS)
It’s hard to think back to a single Mario Kart title that wasn’t hugely fun and enjoyable and this follows that trend. Despite the formula not changing all that much it still remains king of the arcade racers and if you’ve enjoyed what they’ve been doing for the best part of two decades you won’t be disappointed.

Dirt 3 is the first game in the series that doesn’t feature the name of the legendary rally driver Colin McRae in the title, who we sadly lost a few years back. That hasn’t stopped the Dirt sub-series gaining momentum though, and building on the successes of the first two entries. It’s a perfect example of how to do a racing game right, with a solid engine in place and then everything else centred around that. One of the more intriguing additions here is the inclusion of Flashbacks that allow you to track back and erase a limited number mistakes you may have made, which may seem easy, but with a ramped up difficulty that isn’t the case. The visual and audio is top quality as is to be expected from a modern Codemasters racer, but this goes the extra mile, making it one of the most well-presented racers of all time.

Best Fighting Game