Review: DIRT 5 (PS4) - Rambunctious Off-Road Racer Returns with Plenty of Personality (2024)

Review: DIRT 5 (PS4) - Rambunctious Off-Road Racer Returns with Plenty of Personality (1)

Republished on Wednesday 29th December, 2021: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of January 2022's PS Plus lineup. The original text follows.

The DIRT franchise has gone through a lot of change over the years. The second and third entries deviated from the pure rally experience, going big on personality with more varied events. Codemasters pivoted to a more serious rally focus in DIRT 4, but with the DIRT Rally games already catering to the purists, it left the series in an odd position. The solution: pull another U-turn, and bring back the fun factor. We're pleased to say DIRT 5 really benefits from this approach.

Presented like an off-road racing festival, the game has a lot of style. Booting it up, you're introduced to the pair of podcast hosts who accompany you throughout the career, and dropped straight into a race before you see the main menu. It's made immediately clear what the intention is here — this is a return to the more arcadey roots of the series. With colourful, eye-catching presentation, a great licensed soundtrack, and a forgiving handling model, this is the tonal opposite of the previous game in the series.

Review: DIRT 5 (PS4) - Rambunctious Off-Road Racer Returns with Plenty of Personality (2)

That handling model, by the way, is wonderful. Though you can tweak driving assists if you like, the default settings deliver super satisfying controls. With all the events taking place on loose or slippery surfaces, drifts are easy to initiate and maintain; you can really throw all the vehicles around without worrying about it impacting the race results too much. There are lots of car classes, and they all handle differently, but the overall feel is fantastic.

You'll get to wrangle all kinds of vehicles in the lengthy career, which can be played in optional split-screen co-op. Divided into chapters, the main mode doles out a series of varied events. In addition to regular off-road circuit races, you'll drive through point-to-point stages, tackle seriously rough terrain, fling a car around a Gymkhana arena, and much more. Some of the event types bleed together a little, but they're consistently fun to play. Mix them up with different vehicle classes, and there's plenty here to keep you going. Fortunately, if there are certain races you're not interested in, the career path is flexible enough that you can ignore them and play the events you enjoy. That being said, the more events you complete, the more money you'll earn and the more cosmetic items you'll unlock. You're constantly rewarded for playing, and it doesn't take too long before you can start buying some more cars to fill out your garage.

Review: DIRT 5 (PS4) - Rambunctious Off-Road Racer Returns with Plenty of Personality (3)

As you make your way through the career, podcast-style moments of dialogue help contextualise the action. Alongside notable characters like Troy Baker's AJ and Nolan North's Bruno Durand, these brief conversations provide a sliver of narrative. It's nothing earth-shattering, but it serves to make the game's world that little bit more real.

Elsewhere, you can play time trials and single events in the Arcade mode, and online multiplayer gives you access to races or a suite of party modes to play with others. The likes of Vampire and King add some more casual ways to enjoy the game if you're not feeling up to a regular race.

Then there's Playgrounds, DIRT 5's level editor mode. Here, you can build your own arenas outfitting them for checkpoint time trials, stunt events, and more. It's very easy to put something playable together and, once you've verified it's completable, share it with other players. You can of course browse other user-made content, and given how simple it is to make decent tracks, we're confident it'll populate with worthwhile creations.

Review: DIRT 5 (PS4) - Rambunctious Off-Road Racer Returns with Plenty of Personality (4)

So, there's a lot to be getting on with — it's just a shame that loading screens pop up so often. At their worst, they aren't too long, but they're dotted throughout the experience. Preparing an event takes longest, but there are loading screens when you finish a race, when you've spent some time in photo mode, when you customise a vehicle's paint job. Thankfully the game is fun enough that it's worth dealing with.

There are some other technical issues, too. The game's visuals are generally very good — we love the vivid colour palette, and the weather effects are great — but every now and then we noticed some small graphical bugs. Additionally, telling the game to prioritise performance is a double-edged sword. It means the action runs at a smooth 60 frames-per-second, which feels excellent, but it comes at the cost of a noticeable hit to image quality. It's worth mentioning this occurs on a standard PS4; it's likely those with a PS4 Pro won't have the same problem. Again, none of these things are deal-breakers, and we're assured a day one patch will make some last-minute tweaks.

Conclusion

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.

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Review: DIRT 5 (PS4) - Rambunctious Off-Road Racer Returns with Plenty of Personality (2024)

FAQs

Does dirt 5 have realistic driving? ›

Another departure from its predecessor is that Dirt 5 trades away realistic racing in favor of a more arcade-like approach to racing. This means that Dirt 5 has gone back to the simcade nature of older games and leaves the realistic driving behind in Dirt 4 and Dirt Rally.

Is Dirt 5 worth? ›

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.

Is Dirt Rally 5 good? ›

Dirt 5 represents a complete about-face for the main Dirt series, shedding virtually all semblance of simulation in favour of an unabashed, arcade-inspired racing experience that draws from just about every influence you can name except its direct predecessor.

Is Dirt 5 underrated? ›

The title was another notch in Codemasters' Dirt belt since the original was released in 2007. After 13 years and over 8 games in the series, despite the name, Dirt 5 is a game that inoffensively returns to its roots.

Is Dirt 5 good for beginners? ›

Dirt 5rides the line between simulation and arcade racer, so players might need a little help to get started. Fortunately, one does not need an understanding of driving that Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport requires, but it is also not as loose and smooth as Burnout or Forza Horizon.

How many hours of gameplay is Dirt 5? ›

When focusing on the main objectives, Dirt 5 is about 8½ Hours in length. If you're a gamer that strives to see all aspects of the game, you are likely to spend around 23 Hours to obtain 100% completion.

Which dirt game is better? ›

Dirt 2 is the best in terms of content and visuals and I find it the most entertaining and balanced. Dirt 3 has better graphics but the tracks seem quite bland and repetitive, the driving style in Dirt 3 is slightly more challenging than 2 and showdown is fun and looks very nice but the smallest game and far too easy.

What is the difference between Dirt 5 and dirt 5 year 1 edition? ›

Year 1 Edition players get access to all DIRT 5 content in the 12 months after launch, including a minimum of 12 new cars, 60 new Career events, new player sponsors, rewards, liveries, and more!

Is Dirt 5 hard to play? ›

It's obviously going to be nothing like Dirt Rally, but in many ways it's even more of an arcade racer than Dirt 4 was as well. If you want a complex racing game that'll put your racing skills to the test, Dirt 5 isn't it. If you want a mellow, forgiving, stripped-down racing game, then Dirt 5 will appeal to you.

What is the best rally car in DiRT 5? ›

You're welcome to choose between ten different cars in the Rally GT class, but when you're really looking to secure the win, go with the Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4. This Aston Martin is in the top five fastest cars featured in Dirt 5 and is dependable as a high-performing car on most tracks.

Is DiRT rally easier on controller? ›

For the best racing experience, we recommend that you play DiRT Rally with a steering wheel or a gamepad with analog triggers. This is because the game provides the most realistic driving experience if the accelerate and brake commands are mapped to analog inputs on your wheel or gamepad.

What type of racing is DiRT 5? ›

Dirt 5 is a racing game focused on off-road racing. Disciplines within the game include rallycross, ice racing, Stadium Super Trucks and off-road buggies. Players can compete in events in a wide range of locations, namely Arizona, Brazil, China, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Nepal, New York City, Norway and South Africa.

How realistic is driving in Forza 5? ›

Forza Motorsport is somewhat realistic, but it is nowhere near the realism levels provided by games like rFactor 2 and iRacing. It does have very realistic graphics for the genre, and the cars and tracks feel about as realistic as you might expect from a simcade style racing game.

What type of racing is on Dirt 5? ›

Dirt 5 is a racing game focused on off-road racing. Disciplines within the game include rallycross, ice racing, Stadium Super Trucks and off-road buggies. Players can compete in events in a wide range of locations, namely Arizona, Brazil, China, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Nepal, New York City, Norway and South Africa.

Does Forza 5 have realistic driving? ›

Video games have become unbelievably realistic these days, and racing games aren't an exception. The Forza franchise has brought gamers closer to the true experience of racing. Now, with its latest installment, Forza Horizon 5, it has delivered the most realistic and immersive experience from a racing game.

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