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DIRT 4 (PS4)
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Publisher: Codemasters.
Developer: Codemasters. Released: June 2017. Genre: Racing. Other versions: XONE; PC. Posted 23rd August 2021. By Tom Clare © 2021 |
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Not only a stunning rally racer, DiRT 4 also has to count as something of a surprise, too. Just for a little while, it appeared the series had lost its way a little. With all the pops ‘n’ whistles of X-Games gymkhana came a new-found flirtation with extreme sports, lurid liveries, sponsors more naturally associated with skateboarding than rallying and Ken Block repeatedly telling you to ‘Youtube’ your best performances. All very slick, very commercialised and not at all where the series was at in its Colin McRae Rally heyday. With the release of DiRT Showdown came something of a low ebb. It offered lightweight fun but little substance and with the introduction of the seemingly separate DiRT Rally in 2015, the main series appeared to have been sacrificed as a populist option.
Strangely then, DiRT 4 is, by all intents and purposes, a sequel to DiRT Rally. It retains its magnificent Ego game engine, as well as a predominant focus on classic, challenging rally stages. It also sees the return of a much-improved, less long-winded version of the Rallycross mode, as well as introducing new Landrush and Historic Rally options into the mix. There isn’t a weak link amongst them. Whether its jostling with opponents on tight circuits, or battling the clock on attritional special stages that test your mettle and your concentration, DiRT 4 is a gorgeous racer. Difficulty tweaks and expanded options allow mere mortals to be competitive and this is a big step in the right direction, as DiRT Rally’s metronomic, super-competitive opponents meant it was easy to feel cut adrift, even after clean runs. It remains a formidable challenge, just not as impenetrable.
DiRT 4 is one of the greatest rallying games there's ever been. Even looking at its screenshots makes us happy
“Be Fearless”, that’s what the blurb on the box tells you. Loathed as I am to draw attention to gimmicky, motivational, hashtag-friendly slogans, it’s a pretty accurate one. Steeling yourself is the key to getting the most from DiRT 4, gauging risk and reward is a major factor. Rally stages can stretch as far as nine miles and you don’t want to get overly adventurous and smash your car during the early parts of a stage. That said, slow and steady doesn’t necessarily win the race, either. Overly tentative driving has its pitfalls and can see the player shedding time. The balance is on a knife-edge; the player must learn to trust the co-driver’s calls as you crest a hill at 120mph, appreciating the limits of your car’s cornering speeds and grip. When you really go for it, DiRT 4 is one of the most exhilarating, breathtakingly brilliant racing games there has ever been.
The handling is sublime, the feedback you get from each divot, each elevation change and terrain transition, the small but important factors behind how you tackle each corner. You can almost feel the gravel crunching under the wheels, or the tyres screeching on tarmac. In some of the Powys valleys, you’ll find dangerous dips into the trees, which can easily catch out the unprepared, whilst there’s also adverse camber, ‘deceptive’ corners and ‘line’ commands that see the player having to judge the optimum approach to a sequence of small kinks that ultimately lead straight on. A lot of time can be saved learning which corners can be cut and to what degree. It’s like a throwback to nineties rally racers: this isn’t something you’ll master in a couple of runs, it takes a lot of practice. Fortunately, the rewards for improving are steady and ongoing.
The handling is sublime, the feedback you get from each divot, each elevation change and terrain transition, the small but important factors behind how you tackle each corner. You can almost feel the gravel crunching under the wheels, or the tyres screeching on tarmac. In some of the Powys valleys, you’ll find dangerous dips into the trees, which can easily catch out the unprepared, whilst there’s also adverse camber, ‘deceptive’ corners and ‘line’ commands that see the player having to judge the optimum approach to a sequence of small kinks that ultimately lead straight on. A lot of time can be saved learning which corners can be cut and to what degree. It’s like a throwback to nineties rally racers: this isn’t something you’ll master in a couple of runs, it takes a lot of practice. Fortunately, the rewards for improving are steady and ongoing.
FOCAL POINT: THE ICING ON THE CAKE
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Many of DiRT 4’s coolest features are its peripheral ones. As well as the usual mix of wet and dry weather stages, you’re occasionally beset by extreme local climates. A moment of panic ensues as you descend into a woodland section only to be met with a blanket of fog. Once in a while, you’ll pass a rally car that has broken down at the side of the road, or be made to wait at the start a few seconds extra due to a delay. Flat tyres vibrate through the Dual Shock 4 pad, giving the player pointers as to how quickly they can nurse a damaged car to the end of the stage, without having the tyre come off the rim. Electrical issues sometimes cause the co-driver’s calls to go missing and you might even find Nicky Grist stumbling over his pace notes once in a while!
It would be tantalising to see what the Finnish and Safari rallies would play like in this incredible build, though the five locations DiRT 4 visits encompass dozens of stages and cover a rich range of surfaces and conditions. The Swedish snow in particular is utterly frightening in the fastest cars. Whilst its days of recreating a full WRC season are seemingly behind it, the line-up of vehicles ensures DiRT 4 is an incredibly thorough celebration of rallying.
Just about every major model and class is represented, all unique in their behaviour and engine notes. Front-wheel drive cars, such as the Seat Ibiza and the classic Mini Cooper are perfect for beginners because the cornering is more stable and predictable. Rear-wheel drive cars are trickier, demanding drivers shift the weight into the corners and apply throttle gently on exits. The most incredible, hair-raising experiences you’ll find in DiRT 4 however lie behind the wheel of the unrestricted Group B four-wheel drive cars. These behemoths remain ridiculously overpowered and so the challenge with the likes of the Ford RS200 and the Peugeot 205 is to judge how much is too much. You’ll rarely get a chance to accelerate concertedly for more than a couple of seconds at a time, such is the ferocity of the speed gain. Inevitably, these vehicles are very easy to crash, but trying to tame them is hugely enjoyable.
Just about every major model and class is represented, all unique in their behaviour and engine notes. Front-wheel drive cars, such as the Seat Ibiza and the classic Mini Cooper are perfect for beginners because the cornering is more stable and predictable. Rear-wheel drive cars are trickier, demanding drivers shift the weight into the corners and apply throttle gently on exits. The most incredible, hair-raising experiences you’ll find in DiRT 4 however lie behind the wheel of the unrestricted Group B four-wheel drive cars. These behemoths remain ridiculously overpowered and so the challenge with the likes of the Ford RS200 and the Peugeot 205 is to judge how much is too much. You’ll rarely get a chance to accelerate concertedly for more than a couple of seconds at a time, such is the ferocity of the speed gain. Inevitably, these vehicles are very easy to crash, but trying to tame them is hugely enjoyable.
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Everything in DiRT 4 looks outstanding. The lighting, the cars, the weather effects, the mottled sunlight peeping through a canopy of trees… It’s hard to pick one individual aspect of the visual design that stands out more than the rest. Perhaps it’s the endless, minutely different ways the cars crumple with prangs and crashes, an area in which Codemasters has always been superb. The menus are excellent and showroom-slick, meaning the game is a pleasure to navigate. If there’s one slight (and I emphasise slight) weakness, it’s the soundtrack. There are several really decent songs, but also a few that are a little morose for the high-octane theme. Licensed fare such as this so often feels a shade over-familiar. Some tunes are cropping up in racing games far too regularly: The Hives’ “Tick Tick Boom” has already appeared in MotorStorm and Forza games. The menu music is catchy though and having Colin McRae’s former co-driver Nicky Grist talk you through the stages is undeniably brilliant.
There’s oodles of longevity, as online and team building options serve as an excellent accompaniment to the single-player career. Online is similar to DiRT Rally: a mix of daily stages, weekly and monthly rallies each with a prize pot dependent on the portion of the leaderboard you place. In addition, there’s competitive, ladder-based Rallycross events where you can race others directly, if that’s your thing. Not only is it fun to challenge yourself against other players or their times, the credits you earn can be put towards buying new rally cars and bolstering your team. This encompasses all aspects of rallying: hiring mechanics, negotiating sponsorship deals and recruiting PR staff. You’ll need to improve facilities to keep personnel happy and there’s plenty of upgrades that allow for greater efficiency at service areas, better (and cheaper) vehicle parts and a larger garage. Oh, and you can of course adorn all your cars in a colour scheme and livery of your choice.
There’s oodles of longevity, as online and team building options serve as an excellent accompaniment to the single-player career. Online is similar to DiRT Rally: a mix of daily stages, weekly and monthly rallies each with a prize pot dependent on the portion of the leaderboard you place. In addition, there’s competitive, ladder-based Rallycross events where you can race others directly, if that’s your thing. Not only is it fun to challenge yourself against other players or their times, the credits you earn can be put towards buying new rally cars and bolstering your team. This encompasses all aspects of rallying: hiring mechanics, negotiating sponsorship deals and recruiting PR staff. You’ll need to improve facilities to keep personnel happy and there’s plenty of upgrades that allow for greater efficiency at service areas, better (and cheaper) vehicle parts and a larger garage. Oh, and you can of course adorn all your cars in a colour scheme and livery of your choice.
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There's all manner of event disciplines and vehicles to try, and its slightly less impenetrable than DiRT Rally
Whilst levelling in games is nothing new and at times something of a substitute for true replay value, here it combines so well with developing a team, unlocking new events and continuing to ply your trade online, that DiRT Rally remains compelling, and satisfying to play, for weeks on end.
It’s DiRT doing what DiRT does best. It’s not trying to be flashy, trendy or catering to a passing fancy. It’s an exceptional racing game that, because of a couple of common-sense improvements over DiRT Rally, is a truly definitive representation of its sport. I haven’t been this hooked on a racing game in a very long time.
It’s DiRT doing what DiRT does best. It’s not trying to be flashy, trendy or catering to a passing fancy. It’s an exceptional racing game that, because of a couple of common-sense improvements over DiRT Rally, is a truly definitive representation of its sport. I haven’t been this hooked on a racing game in a very long time.
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VERDICT
"A few key tweaks help elevate DiRT 4 above its predecessors and its competition. When you really go for it, it's one of the most exhilarating, breathtakingly brilliant racing games there has ever been." OVERALL: 9/10 |