Joyride lets you go through various objective-based trials, which are part of either the heart-pounding and clock-ticking Time Attack mode, or Smash Attack, which has you breaking as many of the objective items as possible before the time runs out. There’s also some pretty decent modes-some of them ones you would expect, like a career mode or multiplayer options, but some of the most exciting fun can be found in Joyride, which finally returns from 2011’s DiRT 3. It’ll still put up a challenge regardless of your choice, so don’t feel bad about choosing it over simulation. It’s nice to get this level of control over how the game plays, and it should be noted that the gamer setting isn’t an easy mode. You can also go on to customize difficulty to your liking, kicking it up to the highest setting on simulation mode for the best possible challenge. The gamer style will be far more familiar to you if you’re into the older DiRT titles, and simulation is significantly closer to Rally.
Right off the bat you’re presented with two vastly different handling styles: gamer and simulation. The way DiRT 4 works for both simulation and arcade rally racing fans is done through the amount of customization it gives you. That sadly doesn’t result in a quality Xbox One version of the game, but the core gameplay remains fast-paced, exciting, and most importantly, fun. Codemasters announced DiRT 4 back in January, and it tries to-and succeeds at-providing a quality experience for both fans of simulation racing titles and the first three DiRT games. That ended up leaving some fans out in the cold, but the original numbered titles weren’t done.
The two both took the series in very different directions-Showdown focused more on extreme fun, and Rally focused on providing a tight simulation experience. After three successful main entries, the series branched out with both DiRT Showdown and the somewhat recent DiRT Rally.
The DiRT titles have been one of Codemasters’ flagship franchises for almost a decade now, with Colin McRae: DiRT launching in the middle of June 2007.