Dirt 5

On the eve of the new console generation's birth, Codemasters enters the arena with one of its most popular franchises in a new and unprecedented off-road experience: let's discover Dirt 5 together.

Codemasters has always been synonymous with racing video games, and throughout its extraordinary career, it has produced titles of absolute quality. DIRT is no exception: the long series of editions of this game has always represented excellence for everything related to driving off the asphalt. Of course, over time, the competition has become fierce, and with this DIRT 5, it was desirable that a point of discontinuity with the past be marked. It was essential to bring new ideas, both to refresh the gameplay dynamics and to make the most of the features of the nascent new generation of consoles. The introductory video already betrays the new nature of the game, showing breathtaking scenery, unconventional cars, mud, water, snow, and ice instead of the more common asphalt. In short, everything suggests that Codemasters' new title will be completely different from what we have seen so far. DIRT 5 has indeed gone far beyond rally, including extreme four-wheel sports specialties that are often niche and little known: Cross, Land Rush, Icebreaker, Stampede are some of the modes you will find within the game and that you will have to master during your career as an aspiring star of the steering wheel.

Career

In Career mode, you'll be called upon to race in the disciplines just listed, aiming to gain recognition within the circuit of these quirky races with cars derived from series production but adapted to the very selective context of the tracks. The Career is divided into phases whose names also refer to stages of mechanics: so the first phase, which introduces us to the world of racing, could only be Ignition. Once the injection is engaged, all you can do is accelerate, and this is indeed the name of the second phase of our career, in which we face increasingly difficult and selective races before moving on to the next phase, which is Velocity. A touch of class from the Codemasters guys that adds a sparkling context to the game experience. To move from one phase to another, and thus progress in our career, winning isn't essential, but a good placing, at least in the top spots, helps to get rewards that allow us to buy suitable cars for the various races, represented by a stage route that touches South Africa, Greece, Italy, Norway, Brazil, China, New York, and Arizona. After each race, we receive rewards proportional to our final position, divided into experience points, reputation, DIRT Dollars, and sponsor rewards. Each of these rewards allows us, respectively, to access new and different cars and customizations, gain new and more important sponsors, and purchase cars, liveries, and stickers.

The circuits are set in visually spectacular locations, characterized by specific peculiarities such as the race surface, the type of circuit, or the basic weather conditions. The diversity of surfaces and cars requires different driving styles in order to win and earn points, and thus progress in your career. As our reputation grows, we may be invited to challenges against famous names in various disciplines, in direct challenges on a circuit and discipline of their choice. The biggest brands competing in these types of races are present: from Volkswagen to Audi, from Citroen to Porsche, and there are also exotic vehicles that are essential for tackling some challenges, such as the Pathfinder mode (car climbing).

Car and driving

The robust car collection also includes a vintage section: the fantastic Lancia Stratos and 037, the Fiat 131 Abarth, and many other models that made rally history are present to roar back onto the track (or rather, off-road). Vehicle customization isn't as meticulous as in other games, but you can achieve a good level of personalization thanks to pre-set patterns where you can only choose colors from those included. You can also add fun stickers and sponsor logos to decorate the car in pre-determined positions. The car models are sufficiently detailed, not at the level seen in other games that put the car at the center of the experience, but that's probably for the best. The models are derived from production versions but heavily modified for use in DIRT 5's various race types. To fully develop our potential, we also have a tutor, AJ, who accompanies us while navigating the career mode menus, the car selection screen, and at the beginning and end of races. AJ doesn't hold back on advice, and along with James, he often hosts us on his podcasts, where he recounts his racing adventures and introduces us to characters we'll soon meet in the various challenges the game will present.

The driving model varies from specialty to specialty: since these are purely off-road races, you'll need to quickly learn how to use drifting to tackle the tightest corners by using the handbrake, accelerator, and steering appropriately and at the right time. Compared to other, more purist games in this regard, executing this maneuver is quite instinctive and easy to perform, while still retaining a degree of difference between those who execute it perfectly and those who overdo it. Despite what might seem like a limitation, the difference in road holding and performance between the various car models is clear and distinguishable. For this reason, during the selection screen, these two characteristics are indicated by letters, allowing you to choose from the cars suitable for competition those with better performance and drivability, in addition to their standard characteristics such as power, weight, and acceleration. As soon as you've chosen your car, you're immediately thrown onto the race track, and here we find one of the confirmations we expected from a company like Codemasters: the scenarios and tracks are very beautiful, detailed, contrasting, challenging, and very realistic because they reproduce not only the geometric characteristics of the course but also those of mud, puddles, jumps, sand, ice, and snow. All of these things make this game a real treat for the eyes, which you can capture in photo mode.

Weather

To complete the realism, the weather and lighting conditions change dynamically during the races, adding another touch to the beauty and believability of the setting. The onset of rain or snow not only changes lighting and weather conditions but also affects the track by increasing water and the size of puddles, significantly impacting the grip in corners or the braking characteristics of the puddles along the track. There are also lightning bolts and flashes that will distract you with their glare while driving. The snow, particularly from the interior view of the vehicle, is absolutely believable and significantly reduces visibility, making driving more difficult. The lighting, both natural and artificial, allows us to appreciate Codemasters' graphic performance and even better the generational leap on next-gen consoles where every single puddle becomes a spectacle of reflections.

The races are fast and furious, and you'll have your hands full controlling your vehicle through a succession of hairpin bends, jumps, barriers, and climbs. But that's not all. Along with the more classic circuit races, Codemasters has decided to add the Gymkhana mode, which consists of performing daredevil stunts in closed courses suitable for carrying out the most unimaginable acrobatics. You'll have to master drifts, obstacles to overcome with jumps, obstacles to smash, and markers to hit to achieve the highest possible score within the given time limit. This mode is a great diversion to break the monotony of career competitions, which will inevitably become a bit repetitive sooner or later. Despite being numerous, both the tracks and the settings are still limited in number, and the weather and time components, while useful, certainly don't multiply them.

To increase the longevity of this title, additional modes are added to the Career mode: the unmissable Arcade, Online, and Playgrounds. The Arcade mode allows you to compete against yourself in an attempt to set your fastest laps on various circuits or the possibility of building custom events, choosing the location, the class of car to use, the weather and time, and the race setup. But that's not all, it's also possible to play in multiplayer, in split-screen for up to 4 people on one console, making DIRT 5 a game with unparalleled longevity in the current driving game market. Unfortunately, during the period when we tested the game, the Vampire, King, and Transporter modes were not yet available. They will be released with an update next week.

Online

Naturally, the online mode can't be missed, where you can compete in races or party games with other players from around the world and up to 4 friends to invite to your lobby from your lists. The online modes are simple and immediate, and the waiting time for connecting to the servers, at the time of writing, is within the norm, just as any form of lag seemed minimal or entirely absent. Even so, DIRT 5 would be an excellent video game, but Codemasters didn't want to stop at the classic modes, which is why they added an additional mode: Playgrounds. This mode allows you to enjoy and build circuits where you can compete in Gate Crusher, Smash Attack, Gymkhana, I Feel Lucky, and Always Racing modes. Each of these modes is a game in itself, where you need to pass through gates, destroy objects along the way, perform a gymkhana, or simply race on a circuit, always with the goal of getting as many points as possible within the given time. All these “games within the game” can be accessed through a marketplace where you can search for your favorite challenges according to different parameters, as well as contribute with your own creation. In fact, you can create new circuits thanks to the circuit creation feature that Codemasters has added to DIRT 5: editing takes place within outdoor or indoor arenas to be used locally and then shared with all players worldwide.

The editor isn't particularly complex, though it requires a bit of familiarity with the components needed to build circuits. Sometimes, in the early attempts, it's difficult to judge the component's characteristics. In particular, the height is especially hard to understand and leads to the creation of a circuit where the newly placed piece isn't level with the others, turning it into a frustrating, insurmountable obstacle in the middle of the track. Despite this, after a little training, it's possible to create your own courses to test yourselves against friends in challenges where you can take turns on the circuit, aiming for the best score. For those, like me, who experienced the golden age of local multiplayer, where multiplayer was experienced together in front of the console, this is definitely a feature that's been missing for a long time and makes the game much more replayable and accessible to everyone. The rest is done by good old-fashioned automotive rivalry, which is sure to surface during your party games.

The garage, where you can store the cars you've acquired and customized, is a must-have. Inside, you'll find all your owned cars, which you can inspect thoroughly, not just externally but also the interiors, engine hood, and rear trunk, to see your creation from every angle, including modifications made for competitions. Within the garage, you can create new paint jobs to customize the appearance of your owned cars by utilizing car bases obtained as rewards during races, adding fantasy or sponsor stickers to your vehicle. We also find the ability to customize our driver with a badge that represents them during races, by customizing their nickname, the stickers on the badge, and the effects within it. This way, our driver will have a unique insignia to identify them in races.

Next gen!

DIRT 5 is one of the first titles developed for the new consoles: a distinctive feature of these new titles is the ability to operate on a display setting that allows you to choose between frame rate and video quality. It will be a constant presence in a world of console video games that increasingly imitates the best of the PC world. In the mode that focuses more on the number of frames, it's possible to reach even 120fps refresh rates, a godsend for owners of TVs capable of handling these update frequencies. In both modes, it will still be possible to calibrate various image parameters such as HDR brightness and audio (2D or 3D) to allow the video game to make the most of not only the console hardware but also the output device such as the television and home theater system.

We like it

Drive in all conditions I have to confess that I've never been a fan of off-road racing games, but DIRT 5 has simply captivated me. The driving model is consistent with what you'd expect in those conditions, and the cars’ behavior is consistent with their dynamic characteristics. These features, along with absolutely top-notch track design, with breathtaking jumps, tight corners, dangerous puddles, and sudden changes in weather conditions, make driving in DIRT absolutely fun, engaging, and challenging. At times, with the in-car view, you gain full awareness of the madness you're engaging in, racing in certain conditions and/or on certain tracks. The additional modes are absolutely enjoyable and provide a fun, unusual, and varied diversion.

Next-gen experience We were able to test DIRT 5 on Xbox Series X as well, and to the keen eye of those who know what to look for, the sophistication and attention in leveraging the new features made available by the new platforms do not go unnoticed. The frame rate is absolutely solid, the HDR is realized in all its effectiveness, and the reflections (which we assume are realized with Ray Tracing, although we are not certain) that enhance the quality of the tracks make the graphical aspect of this game a true masterpiece in its field. The surrounding elements, which in other games were components disconnected from gameplay, now forcefully enter into it with fireworks that are reflected on the ice, city lights that change the shadows of the cars; many small things that make the game look better, exactly like when you upgrade your PC and everything runs faster.

 

And of course I'm not bored – The great variety of modes, the possibility of using a very large number of cars (with significantly different driving characteristics) and, above all, the presence of the track editor, make this game very long-lasting and capable of offering something for everyone. In the early moments of the game, it might seem like a typical car video game, but the deeper you go, the more you discover the infinite combination of cars, tracks, weather conditions, and lighting conditions in which you can race alone or with others. The Career mode might not be as rich as in other games of the same genre, but it is well-executed through the clever use of combinations of cars, tracks, and weather conditions.

However...

To be perfected – Despite the good things we've found in the game, it seems to still be missing a final polish. It wasn't difficult to experience frame rate drops and clear screen tearing on Xbox One X. This primarily occurred at the start, when a large number of cars and objects were present on screen: the hardware clearly struggled to render the scene. As soon as you pass some cars, the FPS rise again and everything returns to normal: fluid and smooth. Nothing too dramatic, we're not talking about drastic drops, but given the overall quality of the game, it's noticeable and even a bit annoying. We are confident that Codemasters will release a patch to fix this and other issues.

The editor: good but not great The use of the editor is not within the reach of a novice; it's not possible to build usable paths in a short time without a considerable amount of training. I would have liked it if, upon selecting and placing an element, the editor displayed all compatible ones with the one just chosen, making the selection process easier among the considerable variety of very similar objects. This would have made creating new circuits a very fast process with few iterations, a fundamental characteristic for building a strong community of creators. Obviously, this doesn't mean the editor is unusable; it's just that the learning curve for creating a circuit is not friendly and could alienate more occasional users like myself.

Bottom line

From such a renowned pedigree, nothing less than an absolute top-tier driving game could emerge, although very different from the usual rally games we're accustomed to. DIRT 5 has personality to spare and captivates us in a gameplay dynamic where you race one after another, in one scenario after another, without ever getting tired. It's enhanced by next-gen hardware (to which it will be upgraded for free and automatically), but it doesn't shy away from current consoles, on which it continues to showcase all its qualities. The game modes are varied, and the availability of an editor allows enthusiasts to build tracks that continue to fuel the gameplay system. Codemasters proves once again to be a guarantee when it comes to driving games, with this latest, highly recommended DIRT 5.

Article by friends of mondoxbox.com, whom we thank for their collaboration.