DiRT Showdown
Preview
Get ready for some DiRTy Driving
by Matt Porter
previewed on PC
Hitting the Gym
First introduced in DiRT 3, the Gymkhana game mode is back. Gymkhana is a recent innovation in the world of motorsport, and involves drivers pulling off skilful manoeuvres in a veritable playground of ramps and obstacles. You are given a set time limit, and are free to roam the environment as you please, spinning donuts, performing drifts, getting air off jumps and smashing through targets for points. The longer you perform a specific manoeuvre, the more points you get, but if you keep doing the same one, the point gain will reduce. You can rack up a multiplier by doing different tricks in succession. Crash in the middle of a trick though, and you’ll lose all the points you’ve accumulated since you began it, along with your multiplier.
Along with these modes, there are standard races thrown into the mix as well, but with a little more emphasis on aggression and speed, as you will be using nitrous and sometimes dirty tactics to get past your opponents, and the tracks themselves will be littered with obstacles to avoid. The campaign mode will have four main tiers based on the touring motorsports festivals, and all of the game modes will be mixed together within these events, culminating in a final showdown which you will have to complete to progress to the next tier. Completing events will earn you cash that you can use to upgrade your vehicles and purchase new ones.
To complement this new style of driving, the handling system has been tweaked to make it a bit more accessible to those just looking to have a good time. Where in the standard DiRT games you had to slow down and choose your line carefully through a corner, in Showdown it will be a lot easier to drift through the corner at speed while maintaining control of the car.
DiRTy Driving
Driving games have been producing some of the best graphics each generation of hardware has to offer for years now, and DiRT Showdown is no different. Codemasters is currently showing off a Destruction Derby track that takes place in Nevada at sunset, and it is absolutely gorgeous. Despite still being in pre-alpha, the lighting effects, sky box and track deformation are superb, not to mention the level of damage seen on the cars and the persistent debris on the track. The fantastic replay mode seen in the previous games is also here, with camera angles being taken straight out of the action sports handbook, and the RGB separation effect which happens when you crash makes it seem as though you are watching these amazing scenes unfold on real life video.
A major driving force behind the replayability of these games is the multiplayer, and the game modes added in for the latest entry in the series certainly look like a blast to play with other people. Online you will be able to play with up to seven other people, and offline there is a split screen mode so you can play with a friend. The cash you acquire in the career mode can be used in wagers online, where you can challenge your friends to beat your score on a certain event, with the winnings going to the victor.
Codemasters is a trusted developer when it comes to making driving games now, and DiRT Showdown looks set to continue that trend. If fast cars, cool tricks and gnarly crashes appeal to you, I’ll see you on the track in May.
