Dirt: Showdown is a simple, yet fun game with just a few things missing. The change of pace with the encouraged car-colliding is certainly welcomed, and well executed.
DiRT Showdown offers an arcade experience that follows the path taken with Dirt 2 and Dirt 3, leaving the simulation part of the series. Those looking for something that resembles the original gameplay of the Colin McRae series should keep searching, but if you are looking for fun arcade races this is your game.
Codemasters adds a "Destruction Derby Twist" to the core formula of its rally series. The result is a fast-paced arcade, capable to entertain every fan of the genre with an accessible driving system.
There's a scrappy little multiplayer brawler to be had with this game, but the fact DiRT Showdown feels a lot like DiRT 3 with a new lick of paint is both the game's greatest strength and its ultimate downfall.
Dirt Showdown is all the in-between stuff from other racing games. It's those filler events you had to play to get to the next actual race. Basically, driving game gametax, now given its own game. It's as if someone lifted up all the rally races from the previous Dirts, swept out the detritus that was left, collected it into a tidy little pile, and then slapped a name on it. Dirt Showdown.