Dirt 5 Preview – Playgrounds Mode

I remember playing Dirt back when it was called Colin McRae Dirt which was some time ago, now we are onto our fourteenth game in the series and honestly, I have to say it looks promising. This preview will cover my time in the new Playgrounds Mode that will be a part of the full game a launch 16th October 2020. If you have been living under a rock for god knows how many years then the Dirt franchise is a racing game that heavily focuses on off-road racing, which is the same for the upcoming Dirt 5 title. You’ll be able to take part in rallycross, ice racing, stadium super trucks and off-road buggies and if this wasn’t enough to tickle your taste buds this time we have a whole new mode called Playgrounds.

Playgrounds allow players to create unique events and challenges that test themselves and others in the Dirt 5 community. There are a few different playground challenges, the ones I got my hands on were Gymkhana, Smash Attack and Gate Crasher. These challenges can be constructed any way you like with the helpful editing tool that this mode has to offer. If you don’t feel up to putting your imagination to the test, then you’ll be able to play other players events and enjoy playgrounds that way. A quick overview of the challenges:

• Gymkhana – Earn as many tricks and combos as possible in the time allowed
• Smash Attack – Earn points by smashing into the inflatable objects. It’s a race against the clock to hit the target score in the fastest time but you need to avoid the time penalty objects
• Then we have Gate Crasher – Drive through all the arena checkpoints in any order before crashing through the finish gate.

Playgrounds come with three Arena sizes that allow you to choose the best size that suits your design, challenge and car, on top of this the arenas are based at big locations such as Arizona and Cape Town. This mode reminds me of the GTA V track editor because you can make some awesome and wacky things that normally wouldn’t be present in a Dirt game. The editor is really user friendly and easy to use. There isn’t a build tutorial but I felt like it wasn’t needed because it was pretty self-explanatory, I had a go at building a few arenas and playing around with the editor and have to say it was really enjoyable and can see a lot of players enjoying this new feature and coming up with some crazy things.

You have the option as well when making your challenges to pick whichever car you want that best suits what you are going for with your event, so if you are using huge jumps in your arena then it’s better to go with the car that can handle that and if you are going for a checkpoint challenge then you want something that’s going to be quick and handles well around tight corners. Once you have chosen your ideal car for your particular arena that is the car that everyone has to use when playing your arena, this helps keep the leader boards fair and everyone is on a level playing field when trying to smash the boards. It offers something for everyone and I can see it being a huge thing for the game and I can’t wait to see what other members of the community come up with as the game launches.

I, however, left the building to the experts and decided to try out what others had created and have to say was blown away with just how many there were in the build and how complex some of them are. I got to admit my ones were nowhere near as good but boy did I have fun, I mainly enjoyed the Gate Crasher challenges because they were the most enjoyable ones for me personally. I liked the idea of trying to get the fastest time and getting to the top of the leader boards. I also liked the fact that you had so many cars available in this build because it showed you more than enough to get you hooked and wanting more from Dirt 5. Graphically it all looked fantastic, the cars as always were a big selling point and looked gorgeous and the fine little details make the game pop. The bright colours that some of the cars have help them shine and be the centrepiece of the arenas but all in all everything looked polished and eye-catching.

Codemasters has delivered another cracking entry to the Dirt series and I can’t wait to get my hands on the full game at launch. I have spent hours of my time playing this build and it was only when I was writing this preview that I realised that this was only a small portion of the game, there is still so much I haven’t played and that makes me even more excited for the full game. October can’t come quick enough and for any fan of the franchise, it’s a date that you want to mark on your calendar because it’s going to be one of the games that you’ll want on day one. To keep up to date with Dirt 5 go to their website: https://www.codemasters.com/game/dirt-5/ and if you are thinking about pre-ordering then I can honestly say you won’t be disappointed. Just from playing the Playgrounds mode, I can see players playing this game for years to come, make sure to check out Dirt 5 when it races onto shelves on the 16th October 2020 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Steam and Stadia.

Grab more information on DiRT 5 here.

DiRT 5 is heading to Xbox One, PS4, Stadia and PC.

Pre-Order the game here if interested starting price £44.99

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