With this year’s game releases showing more racing titles, Dirt 4 is one of the first off the line. Although there have been other titles this year it’s the first racing simulator style to come out for this year. Primarily it focuses on rally driving and but also includes rally cross and a few other off-road racing meets.
The main game modes still remain much the same as previous titles. You start with local race meetings and need to impress sponsors through your racing ability. this is measured with and experience-based system that levels up your reputation. to progress, you need to also earn licenses for other race types. Once you’ve earned some cash you can keep going with sponsorship or purchase your own car. Then you can hire people for your own team.
This was a feature I really liked as it gave you a sense of achievement as you unlock more crew and sponsors for your own team.
The multiplayer features are a lot of fun and seemed to function better than the previous title. The competitive mode has community events and offers some tough competition for the hardcore racers out there. I was a little late to the party so I did not get to play a lot of this mode. What I did play was a great experience though.
The freeplay mode allows you to build your own race meetings and championships. whats good about this is you can still earn the in-game currency. You can also share these with your friends.
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The gameplay was clearly Codemasters’ main focus. It makes sense for a racing sim as most people want that realism. The driving feels great and depending on your play style can be modified. When you start the game up it asks you to choose from game or simulation.
Obviously, this adjusts things like steering assist and control details. I played mostly on the game setting but once confident I switched to simulation. It was a lot of fun, I made it so I was driving manually and it gave me a real challenge. Once I was comfortable I started to get a real sense of control with the amount of detail in the controls and the games reaction to them.
The visuals can be impressive at times and be lacking at others. To be honest you don’t notice so much when racing. the track and car designs are impressive. I found that some of the rally tracks surroundings can look a little off. it’s not off putting and doesn’t take away from the experience it’s just something I noticed as I was looking for it.
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Dirt 4 was a really enjoyable experience. It’s a very good mixture of gameplay options and playability. Hardcore driving sim fans can ramp the difficulty up and modify settings to achieve realism. On the other hand, a casual gamer can jump straight into the career mode or multiplayer and have fun with it.
Dirt 4 was reviewed on PS4 Pro using a promotional copy provided to PowerUp! by Codemasters
PowerUp! Reviews
Game Title: Dirt 4
Game Description: Rally driving simulator for all racing fans
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Carving Squiglies Off Road - 8/108/10
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Driving Difficulty and Detail Options - 8/108/10
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Being Told Off For Going Too Fast in the Marshal Section - 9.5/109.5/10
