With the DiRT series, Codemasters took a big step in diversifying the rally genre to make it more approachable, and in turn it attracted quite a following. Coming to a head in DiRT 3 with the introduction of Gymkhana, this new gameplay style shook up the series for long-time fans, but acted in an attempt to attract new comers who may be after some more variety. This approach seems to have rubbed off on Codemasters however, as now they’ve split the series in two. We’ll have to wait a little while for DiRT 4, but in the mean time why not get down and dirty with DiRT Showdown, a brash, louder and more action packed racer. Traditional rally racing is nowhere to be found here, and while long-term fans may be a little perturbed by the lack of certain core features, does what’s been added make up for it? Is this a right step for Codemasters, or have the changes made for a broader audience harmed the franchise for fans?

While the style may have changed, there’s no denying that this certainly is a DiRT game, as Codemasters’s high production values shine through once again. From the flashy menus to the environments, they are on top form once again. Subtle touches such as de-saturation when boosting, to the satisfying crunches and camera movements of crashes, it all adds to the new flavour Showdown provides; the races are packed with spectators, there’s enough fireworks to make pyromaniac faint, and every track is littered with obstacles from tyres to barriers show off the fancy physics, all while maintaining a very stable frame-rate. There’s nothing quite like barrelling straight through a pyramid of tyres, and I honestly would have paid someone to shoot an air-zooka in my face every time I did it.

Variety is the spice of life in Showdown, and you won’t find any point-to-point rally races here. You’ll instead be jumping back and forth through a whole host of new modes from destruction derby to the expanded Gymkhana events, now branded as ‘Hoonigan’.

The core Showdown Tour is a pretty linear affair, offering up diverse racing through a number of environments and event styles, and only requiring a podium finish to proceed. There’s a much lesser focus on the real world locations and sponsorships this time around compared to previous DiRT games, and while I’m not complaining, there’s not quite the same feeling of beating the final as opposed to winning the X-Games in DiRT 3. Working through the four levels of events, Showdown really doesn’t show its hand until a few hours in, with the snow and forest tracks appearing later in the tournament. As Showdown’s approach is much more of an arcade racer, boosting makes an appearance, and is topped up with heavy smashes. Tracks are also filled with jumps too, but in a seemingly missed opportunity, they are purely just for fun. I often felt that a deeper boost system rewarding drifting and jumping could have benefited the core races.

By far the biggest addition to the DiRT franchise is the inclusion of destruction derby, and to be honest, considering that the DiRT series has always had a solid damage model when it comes to crashes and scrapes, it doesn’t seem out of place at all. Thankfully they’ve done their homework and there’s a whole host of different gameplay modes within, ranging from a sumo-style knock out event, to a survival event as you attempt to weave, dodge and avoid becoming scrap metal. There’s no co-driver in sight in any of the modes either, as he’d probably have a heart attack with the stunts you’re pulling. As expected, it’s important to be aggressive as the big points only come from the big impacts, and as you’re given unlimited lives, the action is always frenetic. The scores double in the last thirty seconds as well, so it’s easy to make a comeback if you can tactically pick off the weaker opponents. The mode is solid, well featured, and is one of the best game modes to play when you head online as rivalries start cropping up pretty quickly.

The new Hoonigan events, in a similar fashion to the Destruction Derby mode, split the core gameplay in a multitude of events. The timed trick events make a return, asking you to jump, drift, smash and pull 360’s to top the leaderboards, but there are also many new events to tackle. From more linear smash routes to one on one cross over tracks, it’s certainly evolved from DiRT 3. The new Joyride mode gives you free reign over the Yokohama Docks and the Battersea Compound, each split into three zones, where you’re given missions and milestones to do, providing a much more open, free-form experience where there’s no pressure of a ticking clock.

Unfortunately, while all these additions work in its favour, the attempt to increase the approachability of the series hasn’t worked in all areas. Notable omissions include the lack of manual gears as well as no cockpit view. The sense of speed and realism was greatly added to in previous DiRT titles with these features, and for me they are a sore loss. It’s sometimes is hard to notice these though, as your senses are constantly battered by the soundtrack featuring a broad range of artists from Rise Against to the Qemists, all suiting themselves perfectly to the atmosphere, upping the adrenaline and keeping the action intense.

Don’t expect to be customising your cars either, as there’s no tinkering under the hood when it comes to gear ratios or tyre types. You are able to upgrade each car to a limited degree, but the process can be rather arduous, requiring a few too many button presses, and when you’re attempting to quickly made changes during a multiplayer lobby, the interface often gets in the way.

Flashbacks make their return, though in a rather strange design decision, they’re not available in the race events, instead being relegated to the Hoonigan events. It’s nice to be able to rewind a bad jump or trick, but when you get flipped round in the 8^th lap of a race, being thrown from first to last, it’s rather frustrating that they’ve removed the feature from the racing mode. The AI is as expected, pretty aggressive, so you’ll often find yourself being battered around quite a lot during all modes. Crashbacks are a nice addition, allowing you to rewatch a particularly gnarly collision, however, as it breaks the flow of the race, I didn’t end up using it a whole amount, though if you get into a particularly impressive scrap, you can clip the replay and send it straight to YouTube

As is common with nearly every release, Codemasters have brought new social integration hooks with RaceNet. Sure, it’s another service you’ll have to sign up for, but along the same lines as SSX, timed community events are on offer, not to mention the ability for you to send challenges to friends, download exclusive content, and compare your stats with other members of the service. While initially being introduced with Showdown, it will link into future Codemasters titles, providing a more cohesive link between all their racing games. It’s an important feature that many developers are employing to encourage gamers to get more involved with their titles, and in this case, it’s a nice addition.

Expanding on the more competitive party games introduced in DiRT 3’s multiplayer, Showdown expands on these with a varied amount of modes, ranging from capture the flag to survival, while of course offering up all the racing, destruction derby and Hoonigan events from the single player. All the modes offer up to eight players online in both solo and team play, and it’s certainly a lot of fun. As the game is more aggressive, rivalries will occur quickly as all the rules are out of the window, resulting in some very messy, albeit fun, action packed races.

Overall –

DiRT Showdown sure chose to mix things up for the series, and for the most part it’s very successful. The removal of some of the core features from previous DiRT titles may rub long-time fans the wrong way, but once you get stuck into the new modes on offer, there’s not a huge amount to complain about. It would have been easy for Codemasters to rest on their laurels and spit out a half-baked racer while they work on DiRT 4, but Showdown definitely adds something new to the series, giving new comers a more approachable entry point, though still retaining the high production quality from graphics to sound that the studio is renowned for. If you fancy something a little different from your average racer, give Showdown a shot, it won’t disappoint.

A Playstation 3 version of DiRT Showdown was provided for review purposes

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