DiRT 5

I really didn't think that I'd give "DIRT 5" as much of my time as I did. Serious racing games are a genre that I usually don't enjoy but as this was a free PS Plus game (and one of the few genuine full release games on the service so far) I figured I give it a try. What I found was a game that better balanced the arcadyness and simulation than I anticipated and, until the repetition eventually wore me down, was an excellent time.

The latest game in the long running Colin McRae Rally series "Dirt 5" sees you able to race a wide variety of cars, across a number of different disciplines in various real (and quasi real) locations around the world. The game places a particular emphasis on realistic alterations across a race time, with weather changes, or a day night cycle affecting the laps. As well as trying to win the race your sponsor will provide mini challenges to be undertaken within it, which can help increase your reputation.

I have to say, I genuinely enjoyed playing the game. It was a fun racer, that allowed progression via standard play, but also lets you purchase cars early to increase your likelihood of winning the earlier races. I got used to the drift mechanic and was winning racers and progressing nicely. There are some story elements pushed into the game via a series of podcasts that play as your in the menu's - they seemed to highlight rival racers that I was apparently in a feud with, but if I'm honest none of that registered with me.

So it's fun, and I played it for hours - why did I stop? Repetition really. There are only six or seven countries that provide the wider courses, though they are remixed and reversed, I soon came to know each of them pretty well. There is DLC, that adds new locations, but I was never going to do that. There is also a course creation section, and you can download courses created by other people to time trial against.

It was, as I say, an awful lot of fun to blast around the courses and it was easy to quickly dash into a game and get going. It's not always the case with even the "free" PS+ games but this was one I recommend some time with.

Average is a word that was invented for games like Dirt 5. Absolutely nothing stands out here, now that's not necessary a bad thing because there is no real massive faults with the game. However the progression is non existent with zero upgrades for your car, story is something that doesn't exist here, and you find yourself just going from one race to another mindlessly until your done and move on to another game. The graphics are good on Xbox Series X but not exceptional. Rain/splash effects are noticeable and nice to see with the HDR effects of the sun shining brightly on my TV. The gameplay itself is your typical arcade racer with you spending 99.9% of your time pressing just two buttons - RT and LT (R2 and L2 on Playstion) You simply jump in and play as many races as you want and that's about it, with the only other thing to do being "customise" your cars and by customise I mean add a few childish stickers or change the colour. For a game that you can jump in and out of while waiting for your friend to get online or if you have a spare 30 mins to kill now and then it works well but apart from that it's really nothing to write home about.

I think one user on Reddit best sums up this game: DiRT 5 is a pure arcade racer with no vehicle tuning or even basic upgrades. You pick a car-shaped object and smash the throttle around some arcadey stages.