Dirt Showdown

It would be a grave error for racing fans to look down on DiRT Showdown because of a perhaps not ideal focus or a miniscule tarnish here or there. This game is solid, pure and simple, with tons of content, top of the line controls, alternating gameplay and a good multiplayer set to last for ages.

There's just a wealth of content in this latest title.  From split-screen multiplayer to joyride modes, there's plenty of things to do and see in DiRT Showdown that aren't just rehashed content from DiRT 3.

The graphics are just as gorgeous as ever and Codemasters continues to show that they can make some pretty damn slick menus. The soundtrack is full of dubstep and newer alternative music that I felt was pretty hit or miss, but for some reason it fits. More developers really should follow in SSX’s example of allowing us to not only use our own music, but customize the music in their soundtrack too. There are some solid tracks in the game but I’d have to sit through songs I didn’t care about until I finally got to hear the few songs I like.

Showdown may look heavy on options from its bombastic menus but ultimately it just feels like a narrow slice of Dirt 3 with some destruction derbies tacked on. There’s a good game in here, but there just isn’t enough of it. It’s perhaps eerily fitting Codies shipped this Dirt 3 follow-up with the subtitle Showdown; it may have swagger but this town really ain’t big enough for the two of them.

Now, where next?

Ever since DiRT 2 brought off-roading's 'extreme' aspects to the fore, embracing drivers like Travis Pastrana and Ken Block, the series has increasingly divided fans who've been screaming out for a return to the rally roots of old. There are those that love the OTT aspects and spectacle of the stunt-packed hoonigan and gymkhana events, as well as the variety of race types that this expanded outlook brought to the franchise. Then there are the purists that long for the simple mud and gravel of...