Dirt 5 rally racing game unveiled for Xbox Series X
The latest entry in Codemasters' long-running series is the first racing game we've seen for next-gen consoles.
Who doesn't want to ice race some old Mustangs?
Microsoft on Thursday revealed the first details for a number of games launching on the upcoming Xbox Series X console, marking the first time we've actually seen gameplay footage for the next-gen system. The most important one (here at Roadshow, at least) is Dirt 5, the latest in Codemasters' long-running rally racing series.
We only got to see about a minute of gameplay, but it gave us a great look at the kind of racing that we can expect from Dirt 5. In the first scene, sports cars including an Aston Martin Vantage, a Porsche 911 GT3 and a first-generation Ford Mustang are sliding around an ice track in a city locale. There's also a scene of Ariel Nomads and off-road buggies racing on a muddy, jump-filled course, with a split-second video cut showing the same track in multiple different seasons.
There will be more traditional rally cars, too, like the new Citroën C3 WRC racer and classics such as the Ford Escort Cosworth and Lancia Stratos. The trailer shows varying weather conditions such as thunderstorms and snow, and the physics for elements such as mud and dirt look incredible. The game looks stunning overall, with wonderful lighting effects and detailed car models. There will be realistic damage modeling, too, but no word as to how much damage will actually affect your car's drivability.
Dirt 5 will have 10 different locations with over 70 unique routes. There will be a fully fleshed-out career mode with voice acting from Troy Baker and Nolan North, of Uncharted and The Last Of Us fame. The game will support local split-screen for up to four players, including the offline career mode. Codemasters says it also has a detailed photo mode and Dirt's "deepest ever livery editor." In terms of technical stuff, Dirt 5 will run at 120 frames per second on Xbox Series X and supports 4K resolution and HDR.
Weather in Dirt 5 looks incredible.
What we don't see here is any sort of traditional point-to-point rally racing. The past few Dirt games have been skewed more towards the arcade side of things, focusing on rallycross and the like, with the Dirt Rally games taking up the sim mantle. We may see a Dirt Rally 3.0 game in the near future, but it's likely Dirt 5 will have at least some sort of regular rallying mode.
Codemasters says Dirt 5 will be released in October for the current Xbox One system and it will be a launch title for the Xbox Series X, which is set to go on sale in late 2020. The game will be available for the PlayStation 5 too, which also is set to come out in late 2020, as well as PS4 and PC.
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