Reviews of DiRT Showdown - Xbox 360

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I know a lot of players are looking beyond DiRT Showdown and not really interested in it as it moves further away from the days of Colin McRae and more X-Games. This game isn't a rally game though, instead it is more like Destruction Derby and while it has the DiRT name it is a spin off for the franchise and not a true sequel to DiRT3.

Positives

Graphically it looks like DiRT 3 and even shares some of the same courses. So the game runs smoothly and you'll likely know some of the tracks already

Multiplayer is where most fun can be had although the rounds feel pretty short at times.

The addition of Racenet adds an extra level of interaction with the game and is a welcome addition.

Negatives

The game uses a rubber banding system so you can never get too far ahead which is find in normal racing games but when the game involves crashing into your opponent like this it can result in some race loses that feel "cheap" as they catch you on the last lap and spin you out.

The connection has some hiccups and you'll fail to connect to Racenet or will drop from a multiplayer session

The distribution in North America was 2 weeks after Europe. This meant European players played and moved on which can sometimes leave the Multiplayer rooms a little bit empty at certain times of the day.

They made some achievements only possible if people on your friends list buy the game too, so if you are an achievement hunter be sure to buy two copies, one for you and one for a friend.

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Let me start off by saying I am a HUGE fan of the DiRT series, and also, an achievement hunter. I have 1000/1000 in the first and second DiRT, and the full 1250 in DiRT 3. I like achievements, and I enjoyed playing the games. In short, DiRT Show Down just sucks. But rather than be a negative nancy, I'll list the positives first -

-Great graphics

-Great refined graphics and game play. It's a well polished series that works well.

The down sides

-Rubber band racing. If you don't know what this is, it's when the CPU adjusts its speed according to you. Say for example in a race, a "beginner" lap time would be 1:30, "intermediate" would be 1:15, and "expert" would be 1:00. If you have the difficulty set on beginner, you can run 1:00 lap times and the CPU will still be right on your tail. Why is this just a HUGE downside? Well, it's annoying. Two, here's a way you always, always win. Just sand bag the race until the last lap, then just use the boost on the last lap in the last couple of corners and pass everybody and win the race. Seriously? Why would you try to achieve the best lap times if the CPU will be right on your tail anyways?

-The game was made for kids with ADD. Seriously. I'm surprised I've never had a seizure yet from the explosions in the game. This game would make the movie series "The Expendables" blush. There's fireworks, exhaust flames, and random stuff exploding... ALL the time. I haven't driven more than 15 seconds without seeing some kind of flames or explosions. Cute for about the first two minutes, then just extremely irritating.

-No in dash camera view. Seriously?

85% of the maps are from Dirt 3. Again...seriously? can't even create new ones? How lazy have they gotten?

-They spelled "synchronizing" wrong in the loading menu when you play multi-player. I noticed this the very first time. How in the heck did this go unseen? Well, I'm really not that surprised.

-No option for manual transmission. Again, seriously? I LOVED DiRT 3's multiplayer "hardcore" mode, where it was fixed interior view only, manual transmission, no driving aids, etc.

-No option for map view.

-Zero skill needed for races. Just hold down RT (Throttle) and go.

-Random freezes. My xbox won't lock up all the way, but it will freeze every 15 minutes or so for about 15 seconds, then suddenly will resume game play like normal like nothing happened. Never had this issue in the previous DiRT series.

-All cars now sound the same. There was very distinct differences between the Subaru's, Mitsubishi's, etc. Not anymore. All bland. All sound the same. And, of course, all shoot ginormous flames. There's one car that shoots these ungodly bright white flames every time it shifts. Extremely irritating...kind of like the rest of the game.

If you think I'm too hard on this game, I challenge you to try to find a multiplayer game, then compare it to DiRT 2 or DiRT 3. There's more people playing the older games...what does that tell you?

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This is NOT rally racing and it's nothing like the previous Dirt games. That being said, it's not a bad thing! There is awesome variety to this game. Most of the game involves balls-out, no holds barred full contact automotive competition. No, there is no simple Destruction Derby here. There is more to it than that. There is circuit track racing where you try to win at all costs, using whatever tactics you can muster. There is "8 ball" a variation of figure eight racing where the track might have several intersections to cross paths with other racers. There are demo derby type games, one where you must simply survive the onslaught of other cars all trying to take you out. The longer you survive, the better your ranking. There is also demo derby types that involve scoring points depending on how hard and where you hit your opponents. Another one that involves a "sumo" type platform where you can only score points while demo'ing on the platform. Another competition is "eliminator" where every 15 seconds, the last place car on the track gets eliminated from the race. Very challenging in that it requires you to stay out of last place for as long as possible and the eliminated cars simply stall out on the track, creating an additional obstacle and challenge. Towards the end of the race, you have to dodge 5 or 6 busted cars parked on the track. Then it takes a different tact by throwing in some gymkhana style competitions that require more precision and finesse (and a steeper learning curve). You can also try a "joy ride" mode where you can simply drive around an area filled with jumps and other obstacles while scoring and performing certain tricks to gain access to additional areas. While this is not a sequel to Dirt 3, it is a great new game and getting it here on Amazon saved me more than half the cost of buying it anywhere else. After playing this game for one evening, I am very happy with my purchase. If your a rally purist, maybe you won't like this. But I am an all-around racing game fan and this is a great one.

Honest reviews on DiRT Showdown - Xbox 360

Bought this about the time I was getting past Dirt 3, and into Forza 4. Held my interest for about a day. Not as good as Dirt 2 or 3, lots of smash-'em-up rallycross and demo derbies. Like Burnout on an enclosed track. Could have been an add-on to any rally game. Typical of Codemasters' M.O.: "According to Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens, future games could be sold incomplete at retail, with mandatory downloadable content required to get the remainder of your newly purchased title.". That was 2010, and this was released years later--you do the math. A shame. One of racing games' brightest stars dimmed by crass commercialism and greed. Everything before this: GRID, Dirt 1, 2, 3, F1 2010 and 2011: all brilliant. But Dirt 3 really started to show signs of this new "incomplete" business. Good luck to you Codies, I'll have no truck with you or your wares now.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for DiRT Showdown - Xbox 360

This game is fun for those who enjoy a good ol fashion car beat down. Love the derbies but the rest is a bit monotonous.