Reviews// DiRT 4

The only one I didn't quite get on with was the Land Rush mode. It's fun at first but the slow down in speed as you drive the land buggies and trucks along the loose dirt takes the edge off slightly. It's a nice diversion but can't match the other modes for overall experience.

The most impressive side of DiRT 4 sits within the tracks themselves. It has the usual licenses you expect with real tracks perfectly rendered to test your skills, but the exciting side to the game sits within the Your Stage portion of the game. A randomly generated race course to offer near unlimited tracks.

It's not the idea that makes this special, it's the execution. These tracks aren't pieced together with noticeable stitching. They feel designed and match the quality of the official ones. Because of this, if you fall in love with DiRT 4 there's more than enough content to keep you going. If you like a track you can save it, and if you want to show it off and you can share it with friends.

As fun as DiRT 4 is, I can't help but feel that this is a foundation to work on rather than a true classic. The career mode is enjoyable to work through but feels like it's lacking spark and drama. The five locations and four styles of rally driving offer enough variety but never really feel like they progress much from your first few hours of play.

Graphically, it just doesn't hold up against its competitors. In places it can look nice, especially in terms of damage and build-up of mud on the cars themselves, but hold this up against the likes of Driveclub or Forza and it looks a generation apart.

Also, as important as the in-game speech is it's lacking in personality with phrases repeated far too often and no emotion behind any of the voice acting. Sure, this may represent the motorsport itself, but it seems like a missed opportunity to add drama and engagement. When I make mistakes I want my passenger to get the hump with me, when I smash a record I want him to sound at least a little impressed.

These are issues that wont kill the game though. They're minor gripes that I can see being improved on in future outings of the series. If this is the base to build on then it's solid and I'm happy to play DiRT 4 while waiting for DiRT 5.

Unfortunately I can't tell you what this game is like compared to the likes of DiRT Rally. This is the first in the series that I've played since Colin McCrae was all over the cover. I'm also unable to tell you if it meets the needs of fans of rally driving as I've only ever watched crashes and that on YouTube.

What I can say, though, is that as someone who likes driving games and has had a particular soft spot for this style of driving ever since playing SEGA Rally in the arcades as a kid, DiRT 4 does an incredible job of bringing you up to speed and keeping you on the track for hours.

Pros:
+ Great for newcomers
+ Four great driving styles
+ Your Stage is impressive

Cons:
- Visually Lacking
- Will get a tad repetitive after hours of play

SPOnG Score: 8/10