DIRT 5

DIRT 5 sees the franchise drift back to an arcadey experience, and it's a great success. Despite some technical issues here and there, this is a rock solid off-road racing game from top to bottom. Brilliant handling, festival-style presentation, and a wide variety of ways to play make this one of 2020's standout racing games. If you've missed the showy style of DIRTs 2 and 3, you're in for a treat.

As great as Dirt 5's presentation may be, the gameplay is lacking. It looks and sounds incredible at times, but there isn't too much engaging content here to challenge players to do more and perform better as the driver. That changes if you're primarily racing against friends online or offline, but as a single-player experience, it feels flat once you peek under the flashy hood. It's fun for a few races at a time, and it's easy to jump in, but it's even easier to drop once you've had your fill.

Dirt 5 can afford to be vain, because it’s the kind of game you play because you think the levels are pretty. And you’re not wrong. They’re very pretty. But it’s not the game you play if you want to play a racing game. It’s barely the kind of game you play if you want to play a driving game. It’s the kind of game you play if you just want to move through pretty levels, which is something lots of videogames do these days. So Dirt 5 at least has that going for it.

DIRT 5 is an amazing game with a lot of content to keep you going for days on end. The sound design has been done really well thanks to Donut Media for fully narrating the career mode and the realistic sounds from the vehicles and cars. The adjustable graphics could be great for people who want the best of both worlds, yet if you have a good PC then you just better lock them in place. The gameplay is really smooth and with the large library of cars and tracks, it will feel like a new experience every time you play the title.

Dirt 5 is a departure from earlier entries in the series, as it goes full arcade racer. That’s to its credit though, as the actual racing is satisfying and exciting. This means that the vehicles and their customization options feel a bit shallow, which could disappoint some fans. Thanks to an incredible Playgrounds mode and some pretty next-gen visuals, Dirt 5 is a solid offering from Developer Codemasters.

All in all, Dirt 5 sets the gold standard for a next-gen arcade racing experience. It’s good when played solo, but the experience is even better when played with a friend.