At first glance DiRT Showdown only has the DiRT motif and Ken Block in common with its prequels. Gone are the shiny cars (before they get all dirty), the simulation style driving and even the more refined stylistic sheen; in their place you'll find rickety scrapheaps, arcade realism, and heaps of...

Those of you that feared for Codemasters as they ditched action games in favour of a sole focus on the racing genre, you can be at ease. This is, after all, what Codies do better than anything else, and although DiRT Showdown isn't exactly the first fruit of labour to spring forth from that...

Dirt Showdown Review Publisher: Codemasters Platform: PC , XBox 360, Playstation 3 UK Price (as reviewed): £21.40 Incl. VAT US Price (as reviewed): $26.99 Excl. Tax Okay, let's get the obvious stuff out of the way first - Dirt Showdown is a big, brash, and occasionally ridiculous slab of game.

To clarify right off the bat, DiRT Showdown is not your typical DiRT game.  For years, Codemasters has been perfecting the art of the rally racing game, starting with the Colin McRae series and eventually moving onto the DiRT -y path.  But with Showdown , it takes things a little more extreme,...

Showdown takes the franchise on a new destructive course. Unfortunately it doesn't take long before it crashes straight into a brick wall.

Everyone has that one friend that constantly tells you all about this new thing they've found and they're now all about. They relate everything back to their new found obsession and try to find ways to get you and everyone else talking about it.

Introduction, setup, requirements Codemasters is well-known for its love of the PC, and has long supplied its fans on the platform with what they demand. Today I'll be taking a look at the studio's latest -- DiRT Showdown , an arcade-style racer built from the ground up for DirectX 11 and hosting...

Developer Codemasters feels the DiRT racing franchise has "outgrown a single game" over the last few years, hence its recent decision to split the franchise into two different flavours, one of which is a realistic simulation racer and the other a too-cool-for-school arcade one.

Thrilling arcade racing; particularly online; Satisfying range of events; Brash; colourful and unapologetic

Single player options could be deeper; More tracks and arenas would be welcome; Simulation fans might want to wait for DiRT 4

DiRT Showdown is one answer to an important question: how do you make a multiplayer-focused racing game? We've all been there. Heck, I was there just the other day - take a racing game online and it's more daunting than trying to play Counter-Strike and StarCraft II simultaneously while somebody...

Dirt Showdown provides thrills while it lasts, but afterwards you're left wanting the deeper experience of its parents.