I've been into rally games a long time and playing the Colin McRae games were the high point of that.
But when Dirt first came out it took a drastic turn for the worse, the concept was all new, there were new race modes and not just the regular rally-stages. I went into it with a fresh mind, and thought 'hey, this is a pretty cool game!' so I played it a bit, but it just... didn't grow on me. There was something missing, not in the racing, they had that down, but just the overall feel of the game, it just wasn't there for me.
But now that the new game is out they've given the game more of a personality and more feel for the overall rallying community that the first one lacked and certainly needed for my personal taste with the new direction the series had taken.
The gameplay is like the first one I think, not much have changed except the rewind-feature which they have incorporated from the game Grid which I have never tried, but I like it and it's a nice little feature that will make the game more accessable for new players.
The graphics are really really great, I can't stretch that enough (Halo 3 kid reviewer reference ftw).
One thing I though have to complain about is the map which tends to blend in with the sky, but that may just be my plasma screen...
Great game, check out the demo if you enjoy it - Get it.