Mud, Sweat And Gears: Dirt Showdown

Dirt! I've always thought it was an odd name for a series of racing games no matter how you choose to muck up its capital letter placement, although I quite like the idea of a snooker game called Chalk. Here is the newly announced Dirt Showdown, a spin-off from the main series that has more of the destruction and less of the speedy driving. It's the kind of game that the press release informs me will be 'uncaged' in May 2012 rather than just released. That should tell you something about how off the hook Showdown is going to be. Cars spin around for your pleasure in the trailer below and I've also included some easily digestible details.

I liked the bit when the car did the thing.

Even to those who find the destruction derby aspect entirely offputting, this could actually be very good news indeed. You may remember that Jim enjoyed aspects of Dirt 3 very much but felt the gymkhana events were a bottleneck through which he was forced to pass, displeased and humiliated upon realising that he must make his car dance like a bear for a crowd of yokels. It would seem that Codemasters have recognised the error of their ways and will now put all the extreme events into Showdown, leaving Dirt 4, which we are also promised, to concentrate on the racing side of things.

Here's the word on what Showdown's extreme events will be. You must read them aloud, shouting everything in capitals at the top of your lungs in an exaggerated American accent. This applies even if you are already American.

NO HOLDS BARRED RACING EVENTS - Trade paint and use nitrous to blast past rivals in DiRT Showdown’s racing modes. Courses are littered with obstacles, pinch points, multiple-routes and ramps to deliver adrenaline-fuelled racing across spectacular courses.

BONE CRUNCHING DEMOLITION DERBY EVENTS - Crash, smash and bash your way through a range of demolition derby events, pushing our stunning damage engine to its spectacular limits.

EDGE OF CONTROL HOONIGAN EVENTS - A new accessible handling system lets you go wild in free-roaming, freestyle stunt parks. Compounds flooded with obstacles play host to a range of new challenges, from performing trick runs to competitive stunt events, explorations challenges and more.

Clearly I'm being dense, but can anyone explain 'hoonigan'? A hooligan who has the appearance of former Parliamentary Chief Whip Geoff Hoon? Uncanny.