Dirt 4

Blending Dirt Rally’s hardcore sim credentials with a gentler learning curve.

We’ll admit to wincing a little when Dirt 4 was announced in January. Dirt Rally, released last year, was an uncompromising, snarling return to Codemasters’ racing roots that entirely dispensed with the series’ long-running grabs for mainstream success. It spat anyone who didn’t understand throttle steering and load transfer violently into the verge. So talk of a more approachable Dirt game that also encompasses a partial return to the brash American motorsports of former entries felt like an unfortunate backwards step.

When we first sit down with the game, during a visit to Codemasters’ Southam HQ, our fears appear to have been justified. We barrel through an unfamiliar course and set some leading split times, despite rolling the car cutting a corner. We politely smile at the devs who are sat in with us and let them know that it feels… nice. And it does: the car is fun to shake through the turns, corners feel fast, and there’s a surprisingly buttery feel to the handling that recalls the accessibility of the earlier games. It’s bold and enjoyable, but it all feels a bit muted in the wake of Rally.