Throughout my gaming years, when it comes to racing games the one team of developers that comes to mind is Codemasters and what they do, they do well. Rally Cross has never really been a sport I have watched, but as a game, it offers a unique driving challenge for players and the Dirt series is a popular and highly regarding one and following a successful release last year, this year’s Dirt 4 promises the same quality experience. A someone unfamiliar with the sport, I had my reservations about the learning curve of such a specialty driving game, but fortunately, Dirt 4 surprised me with one new feature.
Dirt 4 instantly surprised me with something I had not expected, a choice to choose what kind of experience I wanted with it. Players are given the option of picking a more Arcade driving style or pure simulator style like traditional Dirt titles. Arcade makes the driving a little easier and more accessible allowing the player to really just focus on the racing itself whilst simulation is pure Dirt action, every little detail matters from how the car is setup to handling on environments. Both offer two different experiences but for me, to see the series become more open to those players, who like me tend to avoid such simulation focused games just because of that level of detail required, is a positive one. I can see how the fans of the pure Dirt games might feel it has become diluted but making the game more open to more players is always a good thing and with the simulation option still offering what Dirt is known for, nothing is really lost for the die hard fan base.
The core of Dirt 4 is the career mode, which challenges the player to progress and succeed through a series of courses to obtain new licenses and new cars to become the top rally driver. The mode starts off with very basic courses and cars to ease players into the career mode which is handy because the element of the co-driver can be strange for newcomers. The co-driver is there to help the player navigate the different stages in this point to point racer with the job of giving advice and information on the course pointing out bends and hazards for the driver. Now at first, this feels strange and on the opening straightforward courses it does not feel needed but very quickly, the environments change and it is made very clear why a co-driver is very much needed. One particular stage was set in pure fog and after the second turn visibility just vanished for me which showed another strength but even with selecting the arcade driving option a steep learning curve..
Dirt is as much a case of needing to have faith in what the co-driver is saying as it is about having the skill to follow and react to that advice, and Dirt does this brilliantly. It is a real Adrenalin rush to use pure reaction yet maintain speed when you are unable to see the course ahead. Point to point rally racing is all about getting from the start to the finish as quickly as you can and not being able to see the track ahead or tricky turns coming up on the different courses and environments relies on having that trust and faith in the instructions from the co-driver who in some cars is right beside you and at other times just a voice on the radio. I did find this tricky to get used to, and even after hours of play, I never quite found the confidence to blindly follow the instructions, my brain is just too programmed by other racers to go on my own instincts based on what I can see.
The goal of becoming the best racer in career mode allows for some nice touches such as creating your own team of co-driver and engineers to look after the car whilst you as the driver focus on winning but also gaining and keeping sponsors happy along the way. Keep them smiling and sponsors will continue to help make money to spend on cars but go on a losing streak and they will quickly become unhappy with you. Career mode offers a great deal of content with an increasing difficulty to keep players motivated on improving.
Whilst Dirt 4 certainly has plenty to do in it with various car types, race environments and modes, it fails to really take a leap forward from last year’s release. Visually it is still great but remains on par with last year, there is nothing really new here for those familiar with Dirt Rally. Weather effects add a lot to the stages and do actually show improvement with the rain effects looking visually stunning. Dirt 4 is very much the best of Dirt Rally from 2016, with some tweaks rather than big improvements.
For fans of the series this is certainly a good entry and for long term fans it has enough to challenge what their skills whilst the new feature for selecting a more arcade toned down experience offers a way in for newcomers to this long running series but still keeps the degree of challenge high enough to be rewarding. It may not be making massive jumps forward but it keeps the quality in good stead for the series and you enjoy the series, this is definitely deserving of being in your collection right now.
