The DirectX 11 version of Dirt 2 from Codemasters was shown off at the Windows 7 launch in New York. We must tell you that the additional DX 11 features that the game offers are clearly impressive and a step up over the console versions of the game.

The updated version of the EGO engine that Codemasters uses adds full DirectX 11 support, including support for hardware tessellation, multi-threading and Shader Model 5.0. Our sources tell us that upcoming releases for the PC that will use the EGO engine will also offer DX 11 support, which includes a new F1 title next year and Grid 2, both of which are expected for the PC when they finally are released.

From the video that we saw of Dirt 2, however, the one thing that is very obvious if you are the one playing the game is that it is unlikely that you will notice the difference that the DX 11 support makes, beyond the fact that the game looks good. In order to really see and savor the difference you will likely have to be watching a race replay or being a spectator. In the end, however, it does paint a very compelling picture of what the future could hold for DX 11 titles on the PC in the future.

Oh, by the way, we have to tell you that we have being playing at lot of the Xbox 360 version of Dirt 2 and it is a big jump over the last version of the franchise. Of note is the excellent user interface, which we have to say is exceptionally well done and a model of the right things to do when building an interface for a gaming title. The game has been a lot of fun and kept us very entertained, and we would recommend it to those that like driving games; and it is simple enough to get the hang of so that even those that don’t normally play driving titles might find it to be a lot of fun.