Two Dirt Roads Diverged on a Muddy Track

Dirt Showdown swerves away from point-to-point rally.

January 27, 2012

 

2012 marks a turning point for the Dirt franchise. After a sly late-year hint it was working on Dirt 4, Codemasters also announced Dirt Showdown, an arcade-centric answer to gymkhana's inclusion in Dirt 3. Where Dirt 4 will stick to point-to-point rally, Dirt Showdown is about destruction, drifting, and big crashes.

Dirt Showdown: Video Preview

Imagine the classic arcade cabinet Off-Road. Throw yourself in the driver's seat of one of the vehicles, jump to a first person driving perspective, race in overlapping loops, and wait for chaos to ensue. That's the gist of Dirt Showdown's 8 Ball Destruction Derby mode. With overlapping figure-eights, a racer in last position can theoretically jump over a seven car pileup and land in first place. Alternatively, the leader can become the subject of a nasty wreck, destroying their chances at victory.

Stepping outside the usual rally jurisdiction of FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile), Dirt Showdown allows a little more freedom in both its rules and destructibility. Dirt Showdown's motives include dropping of point-to-point rules, dismissing clean overtakes, and focusing on the chaos that makes reckless racing fun.

Nice to meet you.

Gymkhana features Fords, Subarus, and other key brands to bring the experience closer to the real thing. After all, who's Ken Block without his Fiesta? The destruction derby events, on the other hand, feature no licensed cars. Despite the lack of logos, the destruction derby models are based on actual vehicles. Really, though, when you're dead set on rear-ending a van the lack of a name brand doesn't matter. Dirt Showdown isn't about tearing your favorite brand across muddy terrain, though, and quickly establishes itself as a different type of racer.

To further the arcade-side of destruction (let's not forget one can maul a car during rally in Dirt 3), there's also Knockout mode. Knockout pits eight cars against each other in a head-to-head battle to crush each other like a soda can underfoot. Depending on speed and the angle of impact, every smash earns points, and by crumpling through an enemy's life bar, you might just win the round. The last 30 seconds double all earned points, so it's a frantic scramble to wrap-up the round. The instructions are clear, but succeeding in the arena still requires the precision of solid driving fundamentals.

San Francisco and Nevada, two destructive levels from Codemasters' demonstration, beautifully showcase the engine Dirt 3 exemplified last year. The lighting, backgrounds, and physics already show off solid racing. Dirt Showdown has months left to polish off any last elements of glitched-residue hiding in its coding.


8Ball in Action



Drifting around a figure-eight track, or smashing head-first into an opponent makes for a fun day at the track. Dirt Showdown focuses on a kind of rally-cross racing with the volume turned up. Every track is a circuit, so racers will loop around the same well-trodden ground for multiple laps. The circular scenery may be a long way from Norway, but the feel behind the wheel remains exciting.

Codemasters promises the return to its trademark point-to-point rally racing in Dirt 4. In the meantime, Dirt Showdown looks like it'll still show you a good time this summer -- whether you're putting pedal to the metal on narrow tracks with nitrous boosts or holding your breath to brace for an epic collision.