Dirt 5 is a breath of fresh air into the franchise. Bringing in new and relevant influencers from car culture into the game, and having a blast behind the wheel, it’s a game for any gear head.
I try to be a very silly person. I’ve never been a lover of super serious situations. Breaking tension with humor/light-hearted jokes. That being said, I do have time for serious games. Since March, I’ve dumped countless hours into iRacing and F1 2020. While I love these games to death, they can be draining mentally. You’re dumping all energy and focus into every move and strategy call you make. It’s exhausting. Then comes Dirt 5 casually strolling onto my hard drive with its Alt Rock and crazy color palettes.
Dirt 5 drops the green with some great humor with your introduction to the game coming from James and Nolan from Donut Media (won’t lie, really love their content there) as they host/lead you through your up and coming path. Dirt 5 also features Troy Baker and Nolan North, so you know it’s gonna be packing a punch. From there you’re thrust into building your career as you kick it through a two laps rally course. From the get-go, you can tell this is gonna be a fun time as you rip and roar through the dirt (pun kind of intended). While I normally play racing games with a wheel and pedals, Dirt 5 was all controller-based for me, and it was totally the right call. Handling in tight corners and intense pack racing was a blast. Racing with the controller here was fine and never felt that overwhelming/unable to fully control as some other racing games. You never feel too scared around other cars, meaning you can lean on them, race up close, and get personal with the AI. Speaking of, the AI is aggressive and challenging to you. They don’t necessarily lean back on you and run you dirty but will make you work for the track position and to get by them. Handling and overall drive/power felt really well. I never found myself struggling to figure out how to maneuver or thinking why the car felt inept.
Your career is the biggest part of Dirt 5, and trust me when I say that it is a blast to do. As you run through the different events, you have to develop your skills to become the best driver you can. From asphalt to dirt, and sand to ice. You’re gonna have to become the best at it all terrains and types of vehicles. The number of actual cars you can drive was a really pleasant surprise. Something that is also pleasant is the graphics. When the game loads, it gives you the choice between frame rate and graphics. At first, I chose the frame rate but then doubled back to see the difference between the two. While you’ll notice the difference between the two, it’s honestly not horrible. You’ll definitely have fewer frames if you chose the resolution, but the game looks so good. I kept looking at the water and mud as I splashed through it and was just so awestruck at how the light shined off of it, or how my tire track left a detailed imprint in the mud. Plus the lighting, oh my goodness the lighting. Seeing light refraction and it bouncing off of objects is something that I love and look for in games and Dirt 5 has some beautiful lighting.
Overall, visually the game is really exciting to look at. The menus and layout of the game are really well thought out. Nothing feels too cluttered and all information on your HUD is easy to take in and understand and the color palette in both races and menus is gratifying. The only real negative that I have is that some things were hard to get used to reading on the HUD while driving. You have objectives that you can complete during events, but the font is kinda small and off to the side. It took me a bit to actually remember that they were there and needed to be complete. One of the biggest additions is Playgrounds. Custom, fan-made levels that you can rip around and test your skills. It’s like making your own little Hot Wheels tracks for you to race around and have fun with. I loved getting to run through other creations and just basically have track days through what people have made.
Dirt 5 is a breath of fresh air into the franchise. Bringing in new and relevant influencers from car culture into the game, and having a blast behind the wheel, it’s a game for any gear head. The gameplay is fresh and uplifting to be apart of. You can take it as seriously as F1 or any other racing game, but you can also just sit down and have a fun enough time just running around and braking everything. The depth and diversity of the career mode is something that can keep anyone around to play with such a wide array of races to choose from. My only real knocks are that the customization for cars is slightly limited livery wise and that the HUD takes a bit to fully grasp. Other than that, Dirt 5 is a game for any car enthusiast to pick up and go have a ball with.
