After last year’s successful Dirt Rally, Codemasters are aiming to take “the passion and authenticity of off-road racing to the next level” with Dirt 4. The latest in the acclaimed racing franchise is slated for release in June this year.
How will Dirt 4 stack up against the best racing games on PC?
‘Dirt’ is the new label for Codemasters’s venerable Colin McRae Rally series of off-road racing games. Offering something a little different to your F1s or your Forza Motorsports due to its focus on rallying, players can test their driving mettle in the official FIA World Rallycross Championship, open events in Joyride mode, or the chaotic truck and buggy races of Landrush. The game will feature five rally locations with “millions” of routes between them: Australia, Spain, Michigan, Sweden and Wales.
A headline addition new to Dirt 4 is Your Stage, in which you choose a location and tweak a few parameters, and the game generates a unique rally stage according to your request. You can then race your new track, share it with your friends and challenge them to beat your time.
See below for a thorough breakdown of features in Dirt 4.
- Over 50 authentic off-road cars, including the Ford Fiesta R5, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI, the Subaru WRX STI NR4 and the Audi Sport quattro S1 E2
- An official partnership with the FIA World Rallycross Championship. You’ll get to race at Montalegre, Lohéac Bretagne, Hell, Holjes and Lydden Hill in many different series
- Landrush mode – short-course dirt track racing in pro buggies, pro-2 trucks, pro-4 trucks and crosskart vehicles in California, Nevada and Mexico
- Joyride mode – lap time challenges, ‘smash’ challenges, free-play area and the ability to send challenges to friends
- Dirt academy, where you can learn and practice your skills at the DirtFish Rally School in Washington, USA
- Career mode, in which you’ll create your driver, compete across the disciplines, gain sponsors and build your team, working toward clear goals and rewards
- Daily, weekly and month-long challenges against fellow players around the world
- RaceNet, with a live ladder, leagues and tournaments, cross-platform leaderboards, and the CREST telemetry system
- Tweak your set-up based on vehicle, track and weather conditions to best suit your racing style
- Wear and tear is faithfully recreated with an improved and realistic damage model. Hire engineers to repair damage in your service area between stages, but with a finite amount of time available.
Dirt 4 is coming to Steam on June 9 this year.