DIRT Showdown- PC Review

And Codemasters Racing do it again. But this time with more car-nage than before. Dirt showdown is an action filled, full contact alongside with the ecstasy of destruction you would love to get. Codemasters retain the familiar Codemasters aesthetic, complete with crashing option overlays and smooth transition between menu levels.
As far as the story is concerned one shouldn't bother much really. Instead take a super heavy vehicle and head out for rampage. Isn't that fun?
You play as a pro level player from the beginning with two events unlocked. The cars are nicely detailed and accumulate muck and dust as the races progress. The environments are raging with spectacle and bursting with fireworks, and the tracks themselves are peppered with destructible objects. It’s a good looking racing game, no doubt, with the kind of visuals for which Codemasters has earned itself a reputation.


Gameplay 
While Dirt Showdown doesn’t really have a narrative, the game keeps you hooked on its various experiences by ramping up the difficulty across multiple competitions and always keeping things from getting stale.


There are four difficulty levels- pro,All stars,Champion, Legend. As the game progresses, the difficulty level increases, AI become much stronger and sharper and the game starts to become more fun. Well i wouldn't agree with this point entirely though, you will find out why. 


Dirt showdown has gone a long way if compared with previous release from codemasters-Dirt 3. Talking in terms of gameplay mechanics, style of presentation and mainly the types of events available for us to play. 


Although the gameplay has gotten better, the commentary can make you frustrated. The commentary is usually of very few words, intermittent and boring. Also the game becomes repetitive as it progresses. Also the customisation present doesn't really serve the purpose. Only three options-strength, power and handling making us think the developers did not put much time in making the game.


Events 
They are many type of events starting with usual Race-off to Destruction mania events. Certainly the events are fun to play, and to play demolition events it is quite gruesomely awesome and ecstatic. 


Each race has about 8 players with the AI players giving quite the required edge making it more fun. As you progress, AI players never leave a stone unturned to take out and wreck your car out giving you a stiff competition. 




Of course, one of Dirt Showdown’s biggest claims to fame is the introduction of demolition derbies and various other destruction-based events. These can take place either in the classic bowl-like arenas or on elevated platforms from which you can push your opponents and score big points. There are also reversal events called Hard Target, where you need to avoid getting crashed into for a certain time.


The type of events present in the game are 
RACE-OFF-Usual sprint -***


ELIMINATOR-With the time split of 14sec, the player in the last gets eliminated-****


KNOCK OUT- This is my favourite. In this event the player has to stay on the platform while scoring points by demolishing other players and throwing them out of platforms-****


HEAD TO HEAD- Well this race gives goose pimples. In this event, the player is asked to do as told. It can get fun if you master the track and the cars first. :P-**


TRICK RUSH- This event is all about scoring points and finishing your way up to to the first-***


8-BALL- Well this is new?!! And so much fun. Race tracks in this event cross each other giving a new possibility for mass destruction. This maybe fun at start since the drivers in the start aren't much competition but in the end it gets better and destructive-*****


RAMPAGE-Well if this isn't about carnage then what is? This is one of my favourites. Just pick your best muscle car and get out on the platform to destruct. 
I find this one very cool-*****
(The stars indicate the rating out of 5 i would like to give them)


Well these are some of many events available in the game. Events are certainly fun to play. 


" All's well need NOT not end well" Wondering what this means? 
Although the diversity, slick presentation and a good competition from AI is definitely are strong points for this game, but as you progress the number of laps increase and types of events remain the same leading to repetitive gameplay. It becomes boring once you in a lead in 8-lap race and noway your opponent can catch you. While the destruction events are quite fun, the scoring is all over the place because there isn’t that big of a difference between scoring crashes in the low hundreds and scoring over 1,000, even if you use boost.


Keeping the bugs and boring at bay, Dirt Showdown marks the return of Gymkhana competitions, although this time they’ve been refined and tweaked for a less annoying experience, while being renamed into Hoonigan events.You can enter experiences where you drive head to head 
against another driver on special courses designed to get you to execute all sorts of manoeuvres, from drifts, to donuts or jumps. There are also Smash Attack events, which challenge you to do things like smash items of different colours in quick succession, as well as Trick Rush ones, which are the most reminiscent of the Gymkhana from Dirt 3, as you drive around an abandoned compound and do whatever tricks you want.


Graphics and Sound

Very slick Graphics...simply superb

Dirt Showdown may not look that much different from Dirt 3, but this isn't a bad thing as Codemasters' Ego engine once again shines and recreates some really satisfying crashes without any bit of a slowdown.




Cars look great and the whole visual design of the experience makes the game stand out from other racing titles. Throw in some impressive level design complete with different types of weather depending on your location and Showdown will definitely delight your eyes. The menus look great with blocks falling from above.

Menus look great

Your ears, on the other hand, are in for a mixed experience. The soundtrack is filled with progressive rock, rap and quite a lot of dub step, which may not be everyone's cup of tea. Throw in the awful commentator who feels the need to keep you up to speed with what's going on the screen by shouting corny one-liners and you might want to play your own music while experiencing Showdown. This is too bad, as the sound created by engines and crashes is quite satisfying.


Conclusion
Dirt Showdown delivers a decent racing experience. 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. While the destruction theme may not be pulled off perfectly and the Hoonigan events can still be a bit frustrating, racing fans who are looking for a bit of fun, both offline and online, can't go wrong with this one.


My rating is 7.0....

So...what are you waiting for ? Be there, be the winner..:D