Building comparison
head to head
Colin McRae: DirtvsHalf-Life 2
Colin McRae: Dirt asks more than Half-Life 2, and the gap is execution.
Colin McRae: Dirt
Execution · Pure Mechanics
Throttle and counter-steer precision on loose surfaces against the clock.
Half-Life 2
Execution · Pure Mechanics
Landmark FPS built on physics puzzles and tight gunplay.
Colin McRae: Dirt leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Half-Life 2 leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Colin McRae: DirtHalf-Life 2
Axis by axis
Execution8 vs 6
Colin McRae: Dirt leans clearly harder on execution.
Colin McRae: Dirt
Car control on loose surfaces is the entire test
Half-Life 2
Gravity gun and shooting demand precision.
Reads1 vs 1
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Colin McRae: Dirt
Racing the clock or AI lines, nothing adapts
Half-Life 2
Combine AI scripted, non-adaptive.
Variance2 vs 1
Colin McRae: Dirt leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Colin McRae: Dirt
Surface grip and damage add mild run noise
Half-Life 2
Almost no randomness.
Optimization4 vs 3
Colin McRae: Dirt leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Colin McRae: Dirt
Setup tuning and corner-line knowledge underpin pace
Half-Life 2
Linear progression with no builds.
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.