Are you a fan of arcade-racing and demolition derby? Are driving sims just a tad too much? If so, then Codemasters future addition to the DiRT franchise will be the perfect cup of tea for you. DiRT Showdown is promising us a fast-paced, action packed, destruction-laden racing title which will step away from the gear-head stylings of the original DiRT series and throw players into a world where cars are meant to be crashed and nothing is to be taken too seriously.

Basing the tracks and gameplay on a gymkhana-style of racing and mixing it with classic stunt driving, DiRT Showdown offers gamers a tightly-controlled and streamlined racer. Car tuning will be held back to simply three elements: speed, handling, and durability. This enables the game to focus on what gamers are probably playing DiRT Showdown for: insane stunts and crushing other cars at high speeds. There will be some strategy to beefing up your vehicle. For example, more armor may slow you down but enable you to take out other racers on the tracks more easily. Regardless, there should still be plenty of autos and tracks along with other content to offer a solid racing experience.  

Codemasters has refined the graphics of this DiRT release even further by concentrating on vehicle damage (a huge part of this game), insane particle effects, and detailed backgrounds outside the track. Unlike those flat backgrounds racing fans may have experienced in F1 2011, DiRT Showdown is looking promising as far as graphical detail all-around.

There will be three types of races to choose from: Race, Destruction, and Trick. Race mode is a straightforward series of racing tracks which will reward players not only on finishing position, but strategies and skills used to jockey for those positions. There will also be plenty of "beat-the-clock" races. Trick will be in the vein of the gymkhana style many gamers saw in DiRT 3, in which points are given on stunts performed and skills used during the race. Destruction mode will pretty much be how it sounds, ramming and smashing cars for a win. In addition, a Rampage mode will put you into a demolition derby arena where points will accumulate based on how many hits and combos you execute, and how you go about it. Points will also add up by executing other moves such as near-misses (the point system will work much like Driver: San Francisco, for those who played it).

What makes DiRT Showdown even more exciting are track designs, which will put in a slew of intersections, creating edge-of-your-seat near-misses and dizzying crashes. Multiplayer will let eight players in on the action; however, a local, two-player split-screen mode will also be available, and series of party like mini-games will be part of the multiplayer as well.

DiRT Showdown may not be the next true installment of the DiRT series, as it is an attempt to reach out to those arcade-style racing fans and gamers who seek something a bit fresh in the racing genre. Even better, Showdown still takes the styling, attitude and ambience of previous DiRT games and throws them into something completely new for the franchise. 

DiRT Showdown is set for a May 2012 release. Will this be a game for you? Let us know below!

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