A change from just racing

DiRT: Showdown is a simple, yet fun game with just a few things missing. The change of pace with the encouraged car-colliding is certainly welcomed, and well executed. There is more game here to be played, but there just isn't enough of it.

The Colin McRae series began life as a semi-simulation racer where a conveyor belt of corner instructions played out to tight hairpins and handbrake turns, but after settling into a deadpan rut that was overshadowed by its more charismatic contemporaries, Codemasters has reinvented its rally game...

Mindless racing, crashing and good ole fashioned "smash em" ups!! If you want a derby style game that doesn't require a lot of depth or thought then this is the game. It's a fun game that you can just chuck in the xbox and enjoy.

Codemasters have been masters of many things with racing games over the years, and one of those things is definitely their expertise in making vehicles disintegrate with each collision.

Player(s): 1-2 Extra Features: Local Multiplayer (2 players), Online Multiplayer (2-8 players), Leaderboards, Download Content Dirt Showdown is a racing game developed and published by Codemasters. Like other Codemasters racers, the game looks gorgeous.

Codemasters delivers a spin-off of the DiRT franchise, but does it live up to it's namesake?

+ Slick handling; + Presentation is fantastic; + Nice array of modes

Modes wear out quickly; AI can be a bear; Just feels shallow at times

This is not a traditional rally game. It's an important point to remember for fans of Codemaster's epic DiRT series. What it is though, is fun. Car smashing, exhilaratingly arcadey fun.

Handling model is great for the occasion; Cracking fun with friends; 8-Ball events are terrifying; exhilarating and super fun

Some lazy track recycling from old games in an already short game; Tracks in Tour mode repeat and get too lengthy; Horrific new swear words will be invented by getting screwed out of points/places

With the rally events gone the emphases in this latest instalment to the series is aimed more towards collisions and destruction. Tracks tend to be very wide and have plenty of tires and barrels littered around them for you to destroy.

The DiRT series consistently pumps out some seriously good looking, and playing, racing games. They may not flirt too closely with realism, but when it comes to just-right handling and an empowered sense of track ownership, very few can compete.