Who and what is Dirt 5 for? I don’t know the answer, and I’m not sure Codemasters does either. After all, this is a series that made a name by injecting a bit of extreme sports culture into the Colin McRae Rally series, which was itself beginning to feel a bit warmed-up by 2007. Colin McRae: Dirt was fresh and fun, chucking its pace-notes out of the passenger window, and doing a donut just because it felt like it.
The problem, is that recently Dirt Rally and its sequel came along. Lovely, strait-laced Dirt Rally. It was so brilliant it reminded us how much we missed pace-notes, and realistic offroad handling, and drizzly Welsh lanes. Just like that, we like the old style of rally game again. The one Dirt was invented to revitalize.
Which leaves game number 5 without a clear raison d’etre. All the core elements, its essential Dirt-osity, were devised as a deliberate departure from sim-minded, realistic driving. But right now, as Dirt Rally 2 enjoys a passionate community and sim-racing esports gain momentum, sim-minded, realistic driving is exactly where the excitement is.
Of course, you might really fancy a non-taxing racer, where braking is genuinely optional and a familiar pyramid of events wraps itself around you from the career menu like a comfort blanket. We all fancy that sometimes, and Dirt 5 is those things, certainly—it’s just a very familiar version of those things.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Special Report- Stacked Deck - Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big.
Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big. Four years later, its successor Inkbound’s launch from Early Access was looking more like Sandwich Big.I’m not just saying that because of the mountain of lamb and eggplants I ate while meeting with developer Shiny Shoe over lunch, to feel out what the aftermath of releasing a game looks like in 2024. I mean, have I thought about that sandwich every day since? Yes. But also, the indie team talked frankly about the struggle of luring Monster Train’s audience on board for its next game.
SCREENBOUND
How a 5D platformer went viral two months into development
OLED GAMING MONITORS
A fresh wave of OLED panels brings fresh options, greater resolutions and makes for even more impressive gaming monitors
CRYSIS 2
A cinematic FPS with tour de force visuals.
PLOD OF WAR
SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE 2 fails to find a new path for its hero
GALAXY QUEST
HOMEWORLD 3 is a flashy, ambitious RTS, but some of the original magic is missing
FAR REACHING
Twenty years ago, FAR CRY changed the landscape of PC gaming forever.
THY KINGDOM COME
SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE is the culmination of decades of FromSoftware RPGs, and a gargantuan finale for ELDEN RING
KILLING FLOOR 3
Tripwire Interactive's creature feature is back
IMPERFECTLY BALANCED
Arrowhead says HELLDIVERS 2 balancing patches have 'gone too far'