For the last 15 years or so, if you wanted an off-road racing game, you turned to whatever the most recent entry in the Dirt series was. First launched in 2007 as a spin-off/successor to Codemasters’ Colin McRae Rally franchise (indeed, the first two games still had the Scottish rally legend’s name in their titles), it branched out from pure stage rallying to encompass all manner of other off-road racing disciplines, from Dakar-style rally raid to short-course truck racing to hillclimbing in bananas Pikes Peak machinery.
Now that Codies has gained the official licence for the WRC video games, the future of the Dirt franchise is a bit up in the air so, just in case it has been laid to rest, we thought it was about time to reflect on the series and its highs and lows (or jumps and watersplashes, if you will). This is our ranking, worst to best, of every Dirt game.
8. Dirt 5
Dirt 5
Unfortunately, the most recent Dirt game is also, in our book, the weakest. Dirt 5 wasn’t actively bad and had perhaps the biggest variety of cars and race disciplines seen in the series as well as undeniably stunning visuals. But it just felt a bit… flat.
Maybe it was the oddly wooden handling model, or perhaps it was the repetitive career mode that felt like it hadn’t had anywhere near the love or effort of earlier entries poured into it. Also, it was the only one of the main numbered series not to feature any traditional stage rallying at all, which seems like a massive misstep for a game with its roots in Colin McRae Rally.
7. Dirt 4
Dirt 4
Like 5, 2017’s Dirt 4 wasn’t bad, just a little… forgettable. It featured a solid selection of rally machinery from across the decades, as well as rallycross and ‘landrush’ – the series’ name for short-course truck and buggy racing.
It looked great and had fun, accessible handling, but we’re struggling a little to tell you much more about it. One of its party tricks was procedurally-generated rally stages that meant you’d in theory never race the same stage twice. A neat idea, but in practice, it just led to repetitive environments lacking in visual personality. The career mode wasn’t particularly engaging, either.
6. Dirt Showdown
Dirt Showdown
You have to give Dirt Showdown some credit for trying something different. Rather than traditional off-road racing, its focus was on high-contact, demolition derby and banger-style racing – almost a spiritual successor to the Flatout series, although it did also feature freestyle gymkhana events.
It had pretty limited single-player appeal and simplistic handling, but what it lacked there, it made up for with good looks, an appetite for honest-to-goodness metal-bending smashes and appeal as a quick-fire party game for mindless entertainment with friends. It probably wasn’t worth the AAA prices charged for it at launch, but for something that can be picked up for literal pocket change these days, you’ll have a surprisingly fun time with it.
5. Colin McRae: Dirt
Colin McRae: Dirt
The first game in the Dirt series was the closest spiritually and stylistically to its Colin McRae Rally predecessor. Rally was still very much the focus, but it expanded into other previously unexplored disciplines – raid, rallycross, and so on.
It was by far the most grounded of the main series in terms of the cars and locations it featured, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing – there was a good spread of tracks and machinery, and we’ll always have a soft spot for the fact it included some more obscure British rallycross venues like Croft and Knockhill.
For a game that launched in 2007, its graphics and sound design hold up well too, although playing it in 2024 exposes a pretty stiff handling model.
4. Dirt Rally 2.0
Dirt Rally 2.0
Choosing where to rank the two stripped-back, hardcore sim Dirt Rally games is tricky, as both are incredibly similar, sharing very similar graphics and handling models. Ultimately, though, 2.0 loses out for a couple of reasons.
While it did have a greater spread of historic cars at launch, with more added through DLC, it lost out on some content through no real fault of its own. Other games’ exclusivity deals prevented it from featuring both the then-current WRC cars and the Pikes Peak Hill Climb that the first game included.
It did have a fresh batch of rally locations, but none with snowy conditions at launch, and when extra stages did arrive, they were mostly just recycled from the first game, docking it another couple of points. On the other hand, it was probably more fleshed out as an actual game than the first one, which could sometimes feel like a glorified tech demo.
3. Dirt Rally
Dirt Rally
And so the first Dirt Rally comes in third for the same reasons its successor is in fourth: the inclusion of Pikes Peak in both historic part-dirt and modern fully-paved forms, and a small handful of cars for tackling it, as well as more varied locations at launch and a cherry on top in the form of the contemporary top-flight WRC cars.
Either way, though, you’re going to have a good if punishingly difficult time with either of the Rally games. Just make sure you budget for a replacement controller for when you’ve yeeted yours out the window after one too many stage-ending crashes.
2. Dirt 3
Dirt 3
With the undeniable peak of the Dirt series coming around the turn of the 2010s, it was a tough job splitting the second and third games, and we’d certainly not judge anyone who put Dirt 3 (which was the first to officially ditch the Colin McRae prefix) at the top of their list.
It built on its predecessor’s fantastic graphics, solid AI and massively entertaining handling, throwing in some previously absent snowy locations and the inspired choice that was a gymkhana discipline. It also catered to the CMR faithful who perhaps felt that Dirt 2 had moved too far from the series’ rally roots, with a good list of classic and modern cars and iconic locations like Kenya and Monte Carlo.
Perhaps the only reason it misses out on the top spot is that it didn’t quite recapture the impeccable vibes of the game that is at number one, which is of course…
1. Colin McRae: Dirt 2
Colin McRae: Dirt 2
Dirt 2 couldn’t have arrived at a better time for arcade-driven racing games, just before online play became the major focus but when graphics and physics were advanced enough to still hold up now.
Everything about it is a straight-up good time, from its accessible but satisfying-to-nail handling model to its incredibly 2009, sun-drenched visual style that hits us with waves of nostalgia now, to its brilliantly designed courses and variety of racing styles. Throw in some incredibly cool cars (rally-spec Nissan 350Z, anyone?) and challenging AI, and you’ve got a gem of an off-road racing game.
Parts of it risked being contrived, like its globetrotting, woah-gnarly-dude ‘Dirt Tour’ campaign or the inclusion of drivers who’d chat over the radio during races, but it was all judged just right. As a time capsule, it’s satisfying, but as a racing game, it holds up brilliantly 15 years on.
On a more sombre note, it also serves as a memorial not only to McRae, who tragically died during its development but to Ken Block and Dave Mirra, two of the real-life drivers it featured prominently who we’ve also sadly lost since.
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