{"id":37758,"date":"2012-05-17T15:01:32","date_gmt":"2012-05-17T13:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=37758"},"modified":"2012-05-18T13:46:24","modified_gmt":"2012-05-18T11:46:24","slug":"dirt-showdown-hands-on-the-wheel-for-destructive-arcade-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/features\/37758-dirt-showdown-hands-on-the-wheel-for-destructive-arcade-action","title":{"rendered":"Dirt Showdown: hands on the wheel for destructive arcade action"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although I\u2019m not all that into racing games, I’m a pretty big fan of Codemasters\u2019<\/a> Dirt franchise, which you can tell by breezing over my reviews of the last two games in the series: Dirt 2 review<\/a> and Dirt 3 review<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was actually Dirt 2 that really won me over. The unprecedented production values, immersive and well balanced gameplay, and wide variety of interesting locations and high speed maps made it one of my favourite games of 2011. I also thoroughly enjoyed Dirt 3, although to be completely honest, they lost me a little with the Gymkhana stuff.<\/p>\n

So suffice to say I was pretty excited when a preview key for Dirt Showdown landed in my inbox. I was less pleased when I read up and discovered that Codemasters has pushed the game in a direction that doesn\u2019t necessarily excite me as much as a solid Dirt racer would have, but regardless, I happily downloaded and installed the files with great anticipation.<\/p>\n

As I suspected, Showdown treads further down the path which Dirt 3 set out on, and focuses and explores the gameplay components which it introduced. More than ever, Showdown feels like a pick-up-and-play arcade racer. The controls are simple and feel more forgiving than in previous outings, although as usual, they are highly adjustable. The introduction of a boost button is a dead giveaway that Showdown has stripped away all but the thinnest pretence that it is still striving to maintain a sense of realism.<\/p>\n

\"Dirt<\/a>

Dirt Showdown<\/p><\/div>\n

The preview code I played offers four unique game modes, all of which are based across a healthy variety of locations, each of which looks and feels different. There is a nice selection of cars to choose from, all of which have different attributes, making certain cars better suited to specific courses. As you succeed through the various events you earn cash which can be used to purchase new cars or upgrade cars you already own. It’s a formula which Dirt fans will be familiar with by now.<\/p>\n

Of the four gameplay modes on offer, I think Race Off was my favourite. It’s a pretty straight-forward beginning-to-end race format in which players are encouraged to exercise aggressive driving techniques to take out their opponents and ultimately make it across the finish line first. These races are fast paced and brutal, and brought me the exact brand of joy that I have come to expect from the Dirt franchise.<\/p>\n

\"Dirt<\/a>

Dirt Showdown<\/p><\/div>\n

Ram Rage is another gameplay mode, and as the name suggests, you are encouraged to destroy your opponents\u2019 cars. It reminds me of classics of old such as Destruction Derby and Carmageddon. Each car has a health bar, and drivers are awarded points for completing particularly devastating or stylish moves.<\/p>\n

Then we have Knock Out, which is similar to Ram Rage with the notable difference being that it takes place on a platform, and you get points for knocking other cars off it.<\/p>\n

Finally, we have 8 Ball mode, which reverts to the more traditional lap based gameplay, except that the tracks are designed to encourage high-speed crashes and maximise destruction. Again, there are health and boost bars and you can knock fellow racers out of the race by destroying their cars.<\/p>\n

I mentioned earlier that I was apprehensive going in. I really wanted a new off-road focused racing game from the Dirt franchise. Showdown is not that game. It is, however, totally awesome in its own right, and the new gameplay modes are a lot more exciting that the stunt and Gymkhana elements introduced in Dirt 3.<\/p>\n

\"Dirt<\/a>

Dirt Showdown<\/p><\/div>\n

The final release is set to feature more locations, vehicles and functionality than I got to experience in the preview code, and I am surprised at how excited I actually am to get my hands on it.<\/p>\n

Multiplayer is expected to be a key component of the final game, but we will see how that works out for local gamers. Speaking of multiplayer, Codemasters is set to introduce a new online hub called RaceNet with Showdown.<\/p>\n

Dirt Showdown takes the series in a bold, less serious and super fun new direction. I\u2019m glad it\u2019s not the direction Codemasters is necessarily going in with Dirt 4, and the diversion serves as a healthy pit stop for now.<\/p>\n

Related Articles<\/h3>\n

New Dirt Showdown trailer skids in<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Dirt Showdown \u2013 race hard, party hard trailer<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MyGaming hands-on preview of Dirt Showdown. It’s Dirt on acid!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[3710,4371,2318,4370,3708,21,2219],"class_list":["post-37758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-codemasters","tag-dirt-2","tag-dirt-3","tag-dirt-4","tag-dirt-showdown","tag-headline","tag-megarom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37758"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37949,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37758\/revisions\/37949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}