14 DAY TRIAL // Codemasters has decided to make the Dirt racing simulation series more accessible with the new Showdown spin-off and the developers working on it believe that gamers will respond well to the more arcade minded approach.
Mike Chapman, who is the senior games designer working on Dirt Showdown, told Gamasutra that, “Dirt Showdown offers us the opportunity to fully showcase fun styles of play without any limitations. Dirt Showdown will be a more accessible experience in addition to offering a great amount of variety to players.”
One of the main concerns for the development team is to make sure that the new game has a unique look which makes it easy for players to distinguish it from the main Dirt series.
Chapman added, “We feel it's important for Dirt Showdown to have its own personality. The content and how the game plays will be unique to Showdown and it's still going to be offering a compelling racing and driving experience that existing Dirt players will appreciate.”
Dirt Showdown will allow players to engage in normal point to point races, with the mechanics closer to the arcade style than the simulation that Codemasters normally delivers, but the game will also include Demolition Derby style events that allow for more stunts and more car on car violence.
Codemasters says that just as the actual racing skill required to win is smaller than in previous racing games from the company, players will have to think strategically, ready to pounce on the leader and smash him out of the race while making themselves a target for the other racers.
The Demolition Derby events will have a lot of props like under stage areas, ramps for huge jumps and bowls.
Codemasters says that it will launch Dirt Showdown in May 2012 on the PC, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360.