Dirt Showdown Broadens Appeal To Arcade Racing Fans

Dirt developer Codemasters today revealed the next title in the popular driving series, marking an arcade-styled installment for the series. The Dirt series has its roots in more realistic driving games that bore the name of late Scottish rally racing star Colin McRae. A full-on action-arcade take on the series, Dirt Showdown is a departure for the franchise. The game, due to be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC in May 2012, has players completing stunts and tricks to better the competition. The regular racing levels will be joined by Demolition Derby arena battles, and Hoonigan mode, in which players perform tricks in sizable stunt parks. Julian Widdows, VP of development at Codemasters, explained that Showdown is meant as "a brand new experience from the Dirt team," rather than a direct sequel to Dirt 3. "We're building on Codemasters Racing Studio's world-class strengths in track design, graphics, AI, damage and online to create a new theatre of racing with the emphasis on accessibility and fun from race one," he noted. The previous title in the series, Dirt 3, was released earlier this year to criticial acclaim from the press.