Title: Dirt ShowdownFormat: PS3, Xbox 360
Release Date: May 29, 2012
Publisher: Codemasters
Developer: Codemasters
Price: $59
ESRB Rating: E
I've always been a fan of the Dirt series, but I never pulled the trigger on picking up one of the games. Since I played the demo for Dirt Showdown, I knew I had to give the full game a shot.
Presentation:The visuals in Codemasters' behemoth racing franchise has always been impressive, improving with each major release. I thought that Dirt 3 was the best the series was gonna look, it seems with Showdown, I was mistaken. The game's graphics rages with visual supremacy, the cars themselves are gorgeous. Throughout the race, the cars accumulate dirt and muck from the track, and deep deformation from your racing comrades. The environments are eye-popping as well, offering some of the best racing tracks I've seen in a racer, with lots of depth as well. While you're getting down and dirty on the race track, you'll notice ferris wheels, fireworks, and even hot air ballons surrounding you. On the audio side, things take a bit of a bad turn. The annoying commentary is probably some of the worst commentating I've heard in quite a while, even worse than the irritating "cool" DJ from Burnout. The soundtrack offers some solid music too go along with some bone wrenching car effects, banging into a rival car has never been so hard hitting.
Core Gameplay and Multiplayer:The core racing in Showdown feels a lot different from the previous games, its a lot more arcady. This is the main reason i love the gameplay so much, I'm not a good sim racer at all, so I stay clear of games like Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport. I find that a lot of the game has been simplified compared to Dirt 3, with the easier handling and simpler vehicle physics, it takes a lot out of the series. The game feels pretty light in content, in little time you'll see the same tracks play out. Even though the Baja tracks are great, it still doesn't justify the small number of overall tracks. The Domination and destruction derby offers more than the shallow career mode. My favorite so far has to be the hectic 8 player derby. Wreaking havoc with seven other players is a blast. Competing online with Racenet adds more variety than the single player modes. The races perform well, even though some of the matches were stricken with lag, especially when you collide with a friend. Overall, besides the minority of the matches, the game's netcode is rock solid.
Final Thoughts: Dirt Showdown is a good game, thats a little light on overall features. The gorgeous visuals will continuously leave in awe. With the simplified gameplay, its clear that this isn't Dirt 4. Hardcore fans will just have to wait for the next full numbered release of the Dirt series.
S&S Rating: 7.5/10 Email: [email protected] Twitter: @whatsPlay Apps: S&S Reviews on Apple and Android Stores
