Dirt: Showdown

As a fan of arcade racers, Dirt: Showdown was a game I was very excited about back in the day and I even pre-ordered the Xbox 360 version. I like this series of games, ever since they had the name of Colin McCrae attached to them and with this one, I feel like they gave us a more stripped back kind of arcade racer. It is one of the more forgotten about games in the franchise and if I am being honest, I can see why. Still, this is a fun time while it lasts, it just does not leave much of a lasting impression on you.

Going For The Top

The main gameplay mode that you will be spending most of your time with in Dirt: Showdown is the career mode. Here you start out at the bottom with a rather modest racing car. The idea is that you build up your reputation and your wealth by doing well in races. You can then use your money to upgrade the cars you have as well as buy new ones. You will unlock more and more races as you progress and once you are done, you unlock the next difficulty which is much more challenging. It is kind of barebones, but it is still fun and quite addictive when you are deep in it.

Driving Stick

One of the reasons that I have always liked this series is the gameplay and I feel that Dirt: Showdown is a solid arcade style racer. It is not trying to be a sim where you have to break every two seconds, but at the same time, it is not quite as arcadey as something like Outrun or Burnout. I think that this one here holds up very well and after a couple of races, I found my groove and started to remember why I enjoyed this game so much when it was first released many years ago. I will say that a huge reason why this may not keep your attention is the game modes. As this is a much older game, the servers are long dead so you are really just stuck with the career mode and time trials. To be real with you, back when this was released it was not exactly the most substantial multiplayer racer anyway!

Dirt On The Screen

As I write this Dirt: Showdown is like ten years old and even when it was released it was not exactly the best looking game out there. These days, impressive visuals are a staple of the series, but this is one of the more basic and barebones entries in the series. You go all over the world to race, but nothing ever makes you say wow. Stuff like snow, mud, and rain looks cool, but it has a kind of “budget” look about it if we are being honest. However, I do feel that the reception this got when it was first released is what spurred Codemasters to make visuals a priority for the games that would follow it.

Pros:

• It is a fun arcade style racer
• The handling is very easy to figure out
• The career mode can be quite addictive
• It is not as bad as some people make out

Cons:

• The game is pretty barebones in terms of its modes
• The visuals have not aged all that gracefully