DiRT: Showdown

As I make my way through another baseball season, I've been playing some other computer games as well. DiRT: Showdown is one of those games. Although I previously played a bit of DiRT 2 and DiRT 3, Showdown has a different style. This one is much more of an arcade racing game and doesn't aim for hardcore realism. For someone who isn't a racing fan, that suited me just fine. I used my Logitech RumblePad 2 controller and pretty much got the hang of driving. In the Tour Showdown, I enjoyed the racing events (race off, eliminator, and domination) and the demolition events (rampage, knock out, hard target, and 8 ball). What I didn't enjoy were the Hoonigan events (head 2 head, trick rush, and smash hunter). I was horrible at that style of trick driving. There are several tour levels: Pro, AllStar, Champion, and Legend. You need podium finishes in all of the events to move up to the next tour level. So far, I've completed the Pro and AllStar tours. I am currently in the middle of the Champion tour but my poor finishes in the Hoonigan events will probably keep me from advancing to the Legend tour.

I've had more fun with DiRT: Showdown than any auto racing game in a while. It was enjoyable to earn prize money, upgrade your cars, and purchase new cars. I also appreciated a game that not only tolerated ramming and banging other cars but actually encouraged it.