It's all very dramatic, and heaps of fun, despite the incredibly cheesy and quickly grating quips from the commentator. Enclosed arenas give you barriers to ram them against, while open arenas mean mistimed boosts send you spiralling out of control onto the surrounding sandy ground. The licensed cars are ditched in favour of made-up machines that are turned into crumpled heaps of scrap as you're launched into the centre of an arena to ram, slam, and boost your way into opponents, doing everything you can to whittle down their health bars and to score points. But while the bright, neon fireworks and explosive confetti cannons certainly add excitement to the proceedings, it's the process of improving bit by bit, drawing ever closer to success and perfection that makes such events so entertaining and incredibly addictive.īut there's another side to Dirt Showdown, one that sheds the skill for mindless and supremely satisfying displays of destruction: Demolition events. The turns are tighter, the jumps larger, and the pyrotechnics even wilder.

Most challenging are the head to head Gymkhana events, where you take on the mighty Ken Block in a trick-filled arena course. With each trick your multiplier climbs ever higher, resulting in a mad dash to rack up points before the timer runs down. There's more challenge to be had in Trick Rush events, where drifts, doughnuts, and jumps are scattered throughout cleverly designed environments. The destructible blocks of Smash Hunter are intricately arranged to reward delicate turns and tight drifts, while a timer for high scores keeps the pressure on, and your speed up. Some, like the Hoonigan events, are all about precision and showmanship in licensed cars. It's a dramatically different feel, but one that lends itself beautifully to the events at hand. The skill lies in the timing of your turns and the judicious tapping of your hand brake and boost to perform impressive drifts and show-stopping doughnut rings. You can whip your car around the tightest of corners without ever easing off the accelerator, while even the most dramatic twirls of the steering wheel don't send you hurtling headfirst towards a barrier like they used to.

The biggest difference between Showdown and its predecessors is that the handling is surprisingly forgiving. By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's

Dirt 3 vs dirt 4