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Game review: DiRT 4 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 from Codemasters

The series of DiRT rally games seems to go in a different direction with every iteration, and in DiRT 4 we get the fruits of that journey

Since morphing out of the iconic Colin McRae titles, what started as an underwhelming follow-up to those games has been through varying stages of fun, addictive gameplay, followed by what can only be described as a 'Ken Block' era, before sharply swinging towards full-on stage rallying simulation with 2016's DiRT Rally.

That first attempt on the Xbox One/PlayStation 4 generation of consoles was a labour of love for its creators at Codemasters, and this year's follow-up, DiRT 4, has taken the best bits from the series' history (sorry, Ken) to produce the most complete game for rallying fans yet.

For fans of hardcore simulation stage rally games, DiRT Rally was the closest thing they've had since the peak of the official World Rally Championship series and Richard Burns Rally during the PlayStation 2 era. The game was hard.

For DiRT 4, branching out to expand the rallycross element of its predecessor, and bringing back the entertaining 'Landrush' category that was previously a highlight for short bursts of dirt-track action in buggies and trucks, raised concerns that Codemasters was backing away from the traits that earned it so many plaudits among the simulation community with DiRT Rally.

But those fans have nothing to worry about. To borrow a phrase from the recent UK general election battle, DiRT 4 genuinely delivers on being "for the many, not the few". Apologies if you are sick of that cliche by now, but it suits this game perfectly.

DiRT 4 caters for all levels and tastes in driving games better than any title has before. For those who want it, the challenge and complexity of stage rallying remains, and is enhanced from the previous game, but the other types of competition, and a wide range of handling tuning options (including 'gamer' or 'simulation' presets) opens the series up to potentially its widest audience yet.

One of the clearest examples of being able to tailor the game to different types of player comes from one of the flagship new features in DiRT 4 - 'Your Stage'. This function allows players to choose the length and difficulty of the stage they want to play, and the game can generate "an almost infinite number of unique stages at the press of a button".

So if you want long (over 10 minutes), narrow, technical stages, with full simulation handling and improved impact and damage models, this game has everything you could want. Except, that is, any modern-day official World Rally Championship machinery.

With the WRC licence belonging to a rival publisher, Codemasters has had to steer clear of any of the current or even 2016-spec World Rally Cars, so it's left to the R5 category to play the role of top class. But the R5s have been well produced to offer all the sensations of modern rally cars, and the army of classic machinery going back through the decades makes up for a lot of the missing content.

And, frankly, if you decide to take the in-depth route in the career mode, when it comes to raiding the showrooms or the classified listings to buy cars for your own rally team, the Group B and Group A cars on offer are so hard to turn down that you'd probably struggle to have room in your garage for a Toyota Yaris anyway.

If the thought of building your own team to navigate the career, which offers paths through rallying, rallycross, landrush and historic competition, sounds a bit much, you can avoid that, progressing through the ranks as an arrive-and-drive 'gun for hire' and splitting the prize money with the team you negotiate to drive for. Yet another example of players having a choice on how deep they want to jump into the game.

Lots of the little touches that will appeal to the hardcore fan need not get in the way of the more casual player, either. The impact of start times (such as changes in sunlight/weather/stage conditions) in rallies that can have as many as 90 cars if it's a multi-class affair will pass some players by, for example.

The same goes for the notes on each competitor at the end of a stage - detailing problems such as damage, fans in the road, stopping to change a wheel or even picking up penalties for being late out of service or not following a marshal's instructions.

They can change the complexion of an event's standings, and will make serious rally fans feel more immersed in their event, and it's all there for you to investigate after the finish line if you want it. If you don't care for such detail, it won't get in your way as you click through to start the next stage.

At the same time, if you just want to blast through high-speed, simple stages, or swap paint in trucks, buggies or rallycross cars (including an official World Rallycross Championship licence, but missing some venues and reigning champion Mattias Ekstrom) while the game does some of the work for you in terms of keeping the car facing the right way, DiRT 4 has more than enough to keep you entertained.

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